Determinants of health-seeking behavior among people living with HIV (PLHIV) are important. This study aims to develop and assess the content validity of an instrument that measures health-seeking behavior for tuberculosis among PLHIV in India. An instrument was developed using deductive methods and the Modified Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services (BMHS). We identified three domains using the BMHS. Ten subject experts validated the tool between June 2022 and August 2022. Lawshe’s Content Validity Ratios (CVRs) and Scale Content Validity Indices (CVIs) were computed. The items with CVR and CVI values ≥0.62 were considered for the final tool. The health-seeking behavior among PLHIV, based on the BMHS, identified knowledge regarding TB (domain 1), healthcare accessibility and factors leading to delay in treatment-seeking behavior (domain 2), and client satisfaction regarding diagnostic and treatment-seeking behavior (domain 3). Content Validity Ratios (CVRs) of all the items related to domains 1 and 2 were ≥0.62. The Scale Content Validity Indices (for relevance), i.e., S-CVI (average) and S-CVI (proportional relevance), were ≥0.62 for all domains. The items with CVR and CVI values ≥0.62 in the domains were accepted in the final tool, which contained 69 items.

Background: Children with disabilities are expected to have poor nutritional status in comparison to children without disabilities. However, limited data on nutritional status of children with and without disabilities in rural settings in India. Objective: To assess and compare the nutritional status of children with and without disability. Methods: A cross-sectional study among children aged 5–15 years was conducted in the rural practise area of a medical college in Karnataka. 290 children (145 with and 145 children without disability) of similar age and sex were studied. Age and sex-specific World Health Organization (WHO) BMI centiles, 24 h dietary calorie and protein intakes were assessed and compared. Median and interquartile ranges were calculated for quantitative variables. Mann–Whitney U test was used to assess the differences in quantitative variables among the two groups. Results: As per WHO BMI centiles, 33.1% with and 37.20% without disabilities were undernourished. The median calorie consumed by children with disabilities was 1169.0 (946.5–1586.0) significantly lower compared to that of children without disability, that is, 1362.0 (1167.0–1641.0). The median protein consumed by children with disabilities was 28.0 (22.5–38.0) significantly lower compared to that of children without disability, that is, 32.0 (28.0–40.0). Conclusions: Children with disabilities had similar rates of undernutrition as that of their non-disabled peers and their lesser dietary intake in terms of calories and proteins.

Background/Objectives: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a serious public health threat worldwide. Among the various surveillance domains, hospital wastewater (HWW) has been overlooked, and it is the major reason for the threats posed by AMR. Therefore, the HWW domain is of paramount importance for tackling the AMR. In this regard, the present study investigated the occurrence of Gram-negative bacteria from HWW and evaluated the isolates’ multi-drug-resistant (MDR) pattern in the study environment. Methods: This descriptive study involves HWW samples (n = 24) consecutively collected across 6 months. The samples were cultured for bacteria, identified, and subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing via Kirby–Bauer. PCR confirmed the presence of drug-resistance genes in Gram-negative bacterial isolates. Results: High rates of Enterobacterales resistant to carbapenems and cephalosporins observed in isolates from final treated effluent. The molecular screening showed tetD, tetE, tetG, catA1, catA2, bla_NDM-1, quinolones, qnrA, qnrB, qnrS, and qepa. Conclusions: Overall, our results suggest that microbiological surveillance and identification of resistance genes of clinically important pathogens in HWW can be a general screening method for early determination of under-detected antimicrobial resistance profiles in hospitals and early warning of outbreaks and difficult-to-treat infections.

Background: Endosulphan was extensively sprayed in the cashew plantations in over 90 villages in Dakshina Kannada district for almost two decades before a ban was imposed. Areas where Endosulfan spraying was carried out, disability screening camps were conducted. The study aimed at describing the distribution of attendees of the disability screening camps among the population residing in the Endosulfan exposed area of Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, India. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive was undertaken with the permission of district health authorities by specialists in the villages of five taluks, on the patients attending the disability screening camps conducted in the year 2014-15. The patients were consecutively listed and classified based on the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 and analysed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: Of the 4214 patients who attended the screening camps for disability held in the taluks mentioned above, 2190 (52.0%) were males. The most common affected age groups were between 5-19 years of 1606 (38.1%). The most common disability was intellectual disability (including cerebral palsy) in 2474 (58.7%) followed by physical disability seen in 384 (15.5%). Infertility was seen among 297 (7.09%) of the attendees of the screening camps. The total number of cancers patients attending the screening camps was 71 (1.6%), and 21 (0.5%) were cancers related to the reproductive tract, and 6 (0.1%) had breast cancer. Conclusions: The most common age groups reporting with disabilities to the screening camps conducted by the district health authorities in Endosulfan sprayed villages of Dakshina Kannada district belonged to 5-19 years, and the most common disability was intellectual disability.

Background: Autoantibody detection is a promising approach to cancer screening. Serum p53 antibodies have been time tested in various cancers, including oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). This study is aimed to detect and determine the level of p53 autoantibodies (p53-AAbs) in saliva. The association of clinicopathological features among patients with and without OSCC was also explored as a novel method for the detection of autoantibodies. Methods: One hundred preoperative saliva samples from patients with histologically confirmed OSCC and a hundred from normal healthy individuals were collected. Anti p53 detection kit assessed levels of salivary p53-AAbs. The cut-off value was 1.3 U/mL by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The p53-AAb levels were expressed in terms of the median and interquartile range (IQR). Fischer’s exact test and Chi-square test were used to determine the association with clinicopathological features among patients with OSCC and healthy controls with tobacco consumption habits. Results: Median level of p53-AAb is 0.234 U/mL (IQR 0.18-0.37U/mL) in healthy controls and 0.285U/mL (IQR 0.16-0.58U/mL) in OSCC. p53-AAbs was positive in 15% of 100 patients with OSCC, which was statistically higher (P < 0.001) among OSCC, and controls were negative for p53-AAb. No significant correlation of p53-AAbs with the patient’s age, gender, site, clinical staging (TNM), and pathologic grade was observed. However, a significant association was seen between the node involvement and salivary p53-AAbs. Conclusion: Salivary p53-AAb positivity was seen in a higher proportion in OSCC patients than in healthy controls with tobacco consumption, and the levels did differ significantly among OSCC and healthy controls.