Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a leading cause of infertility among women throughout the world. PCOS is an endocrine abnormality that presents as hyperandrogenemia, anovulation, and/or polycystic ovaries. The exact causes of PCOS are not entirely understood. However, PCOS may be hereditary and associated with abnormalities such as high body mass index (BMI) and obesity, among others. This study is carried out to assess the prevalence and awareness among adolescents and young girls belonging to South India. This was a prospective study that included 250 adolescent and young girls aged between 13 and 25 years. Demographic details including age, educational status, and family income were collected from all the participants after obtaining informed consent. BMI was measured in all the participants. A pre-test was conducted to assess the level of awareness followed by a 30-minute informative briefing on PCOS. All participants were asked to fill up a post-briefing questionnaire. The data collected were processed using statistical software SPSS 11.0, and the chi-square test was applied to find out the significance of the results. Of the total 250 participants included, the mean age was 16.96 years and most participants (78%) belonged to the age group of 13 to 19 years. Most (78%) of the study participants had normal BMI (18-24.9 kg/m²), 17.6% were underweight (BMI < 18), and 4.4% were overweight (BMI > 25). A PCOS prevalence rate of 6.8% was noted among the study participants. A majority (78.4%) of the study participants were unaware of PCOS, and 6.8% were being treated for PCOS. The source of knowledge of PCOS was majorly teachers (37%), followed by doctors (31.5%), the internet (11%), and friends (7.5%). Lack of information and publicity (63%) were found to be the most significant reason for low levels of awareness. PCOS is a common health problem among adolescents and young girls. Most study participants were unaware of the symptoms and management of the condition. Therefore, the disease burden noted in this study does not necessarily depict the real prevalence. Increasing awareness programs will facilitate improved understanding, increased diagnoses, and effective management of PCOS.

Infants depend exclusively on mothers’ milk for nutrition in their early months of life. However, some infants are given cow/buffalo milk during insufficiency. After six months, the children are supplemented with complementary food, including solid food, to meet the nutritional requirements of a growing infant, a process known as weaning. Therefore, it is important for mothers to have a clear understanding of the nature of food, and the nutritional requirements of the children. This study aimed to understand the knowledge, awareness, and practice of breastfeeding, weaning, and complementary feeding among women. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based observational study was carried out between May and June 2021. The study included 150 women attending the outpatient department of pediatrics attached to Mahavir Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS), Vikarabad, Telangana, India. After taking the informed consent, the researcher filled out a pre-validated questionnaire based on the subjects' responses. The data regarding socio-demographic details and information regarding knowledge, timing, practices of weaning, knowledge of nutritional requirements, and child feeding practices were collected as a pre-test. An educational briefing of the essentials of child feeding practices, weaning, and dietary requirements was undertaken using chalk and board and audio-visual aids, among others. In the post-test, the knowledge of mothers regarding weaning practices, the importance of weaning, and understanding of the nutritional requirements and their inclusion in a child’s diet was assessed. The quantitative data were represented as percentages. The Chi-square test was applied to find out the statistical significance of the results obtained from the study. Of the 150 women who participated in the study, the majority belonged to the age group of 18-23 years (66.7%). Most women were illiterate (34%) and only 12% were graduates. More than 70% of the participants belonged to the middle and lower middle class. The majority of participants (96.7%) had carried out exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, and 63.35% of mothers had initiated weaning their child between the age of 6-12 months. Only 37.4% of mothers started breastfeeding within hours after the delivery. A combination of all foods (36%), rice/wheat (29%), processed food (18.8%), fruits and vegetables (9.2%), and pulses (6.7%) were chosen for weaning. Many felt that eggs and meat supplementation can be done between 12-18 months. The knowledge of breastfeeding and best practices of weaning and complementary feeding habits significantly affects the child’s growth and overall health. The women in this study had a moderate level of understanding regarding the aspects of breastfeeding, weaning practices, and complementary dietary requirements during weaning.

The indoor air in hospitals could play a significant role in the transmission of a wide array of infections, especially in respiratory intensive care units, pulmonary outpatient departments, and other areas. Unprotected coughing and sneezing may facilitate the release of aerosols and contaminate the indoor environment. The majority of infections transmitted through these modes include viral diseases, including tuberculosis (TB), influenza, and measles, among several others. Moreover, the possibility of direct and indirect transmission of microbes by air has been underestimated in hospital settings, especially in developing countries. This study therefore was carried out to assess the burden of microbes in the air of selected wards in a tertiary care hospital and evaluate the occupational risk of some infections among healthcare workers (HCWs). This study was carried out between September 2019 and February 2021 at a tertiary care teaching hospital in South India. A total of 30 symptomatic healthcare workers (HCWs) were included in the study and were screened for present and past tuberculosis (TB) as well as other lower respiratory tract infections. A tuberculin skin test, chest X-ray, and sputum acid-fast staining were performed on all the HCWs who were negative for other bacterial infections and were symptomatic. The study was conducted in coordination with the pulmonology department. Active monitoring of air was performed by microbiological air sampler in the respiratory intensive care unit (RICU) and other high-risk areas including the pulmonology outpatient department (OPD), the radiology OPD, and the microbiology department. Sputum for tuberculous bacteria was positive in four (16.6%) HCWs. The chest X-ray showed radiological findings suggestive of TB in five (20.8%) HCWs. Three (12.5%) HCWs who were screened for extrapulmonary TB revealed one (33.3%) was positive for TB of the hip joint. Among the HCWs, eight (33%) returned positive tuberculin tests. Assessment of the hospital air in the RICU revealed the bacterial count (288 CFU/m³) exceeded the normal limit (≤50 CFU/m³). The COVID-19 isolation ward showed the lowest bacterial count (06 CFU/m³) and no fungi. The predominant bacterial isolates were gram-positive cocci in clusters (Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus). After proper disinfection and correction of ventilation techniques, the resampling results noted microbial colonies under normal limits. A high burden of TB was noted among the HCWs. The airborne infection control strategies are essential to minimize the risk of nosocomial infections and occupational TB risk to HCWs. Most microbes are transmitted through the airborne route and therefore it is extremely important to take measures to control the transmission of such pathogens in hospital settings.

Globally billions of people have vision impairment (VI) or blindness, and at least half of the VI could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed. With the policies focused exclusively on treating ailments, we need to recognize the need to educate the country's population regarding diseases and their outcomes. This is evident in the poor eye donation rates, as documented by the Eye Bank Association of India (EBAI). The National Programme for Prevention of Blindness (NPCB) also advocates the need for active campaigning to promote eye donations and improve the corneal procurement rate by increasing health awareness. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, awareness, and perception regarding eye diseases and eye donation among the rural population of Telangana, South India. A cross-sectional study involving 150 participants who were randomly selected from non-triaged attendants in the outpatient queue at Mahavir institute of medical sciences (MIMS) was included. Trained enumerators used verbally administered, semi-structured questionnaires on their awareness and knowledge of cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and night blindness. The Chi-square test was applied to determine the statistical significance of the results obtained from the pre-test and post-test. The significance threshold of the p-value was set at <0.05. The population studied belonged to a mean age of 34.98 years. The study included 72 (48%) male and 78 (52%) female subjects, and the majority (48.6%) of them belonged to the age range of 21-30 years. More than 85% of subjects belonged to the middle and lower middle class, and the majority (74.7%) were Hindus by religion. Regarding cataracts, 64 (42.7%) did not know, and 86 (57.3%) had varied perceptions. The awareness regarding glaucoma was the least (88.7%) of all common ocular diseases. The study showed a significant association between knowledge of eye diseases and literacy status plus the population's socioeconomic status (p<0.05 ). A significant association was found to exist between willingness to eye donation and the religion of the study population (p<0.05). This study identifies that the awareness regarding various ocular diseases was poor. Moreover, the participants had an alarmingly high misconception regarding different aspects of eye donation. Increasing public awareness is essential to minimize eye diseases, improve eye care, and encourage eye donations.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) represents a pathological condition wherein pregnant women (PW) suffer from glycemic dysregulation, which predisposes them to an increased risk of developing complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. The most commonly used guidelines to screen for GDM include those provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Canadian Diabetes Association, and the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Group. The Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group India (DIPSI) guidelines are national-level recommendations to screen for GDM in India. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of DIPSI criteria versus the WHO guidelines in screening for GDM among the rural population of Telangana, South India A total of 300 PW aged 19-35 years with a gestational age of 24-28 weeks attending the antenatal clinic attached to Mahavir Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS), Vikarabad, Telangana, India were included in the study. The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of MIMS, and informed consent was obtained from all the participants. Of the 300 subjects included, 75 PW were categorized as at-risk for GDM based on risk factors and were included for further analysis. The data relating to body mass index (BMI), oral glucose tolerance test, and the diagnosis of GDM based on DIPSI and the WHO criteria were collected. Out of the 75 PW included in the study, an overall GDM prevalence of 32% was noted among which 20 (26.7%) were diagnosed using the WHO criteria, 12 (16%) by DIPSI criteria, and the remaining 73.3% were non-GDM women. The mean gestational age and BMI among non-GDM and GDM patients were 24.74±4.15 weeks, 22.24±3.60 kg/m², and 25.70±4.40, 24.48±3.37 kg/m² (p<0.01), respectively. The activities of glucose at the second hour after a GTT among non-GDM and GDM cases were 113.70±20.4 mg/dL and 128.04±18.6 mg/dL (p=0.004), respectively. DIPSI criteria could identify fewer numbers of GDM women as compared to the WHO criteria. Although the DIPSI criteria are convenient and prescribe less number of interventions, they could possibly miss many cases of GDM. Moreover, PW who remain undiagnosed could, in the future, be at risk of developing diabetes. Based on the study results and because risks should outweigh the benefits, we propose that DIPSI cannot be implemented as a single criterion to screen for GDM among PW in Indian settings.

People with gynecologic neoplasms have the highest risk of having an ischemic stroke. A 76-year-old woman came into the stroke unit of our hospital complaining of anosmia and acutely developing dysarthria. She was ultimately determined to have ovarian cancer after extensive testing. Ovarian carcinoma is one of the neoplasms that cause ischemic stroke and is most commonly documented in case studies. Identifying the underlying neoplastic condition in female ischemic stroke patients who are otherwise "healthy" is crucial as an early surgical intervention on cancer offers therapeutic treatment for both malignancy and thromboembolism.