Indian J Med Res
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Prevention of infection in burned patients poses a great challenge as infection is the most common cause of mortality after burn injury. An analysis of burned patients, admitted and treated between January 2004 and December 2005 in a nine-bed burn unit in Turkey, was performed prospectively to identify the common pathogens and incidence of nosocomial infection in these patients. ⋯ Our findings emphasize the need for careful disinfection and more strict infection control procedures in areas that serve immunosupressed individuals, such as burn patients.
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Non syndromic hearing impairment is a common sensory disorder, which affects one in 600 newborns. Though more than 50 nuclear genes are involved in causing non syndromic hearing impairment, mutations in the connexin 26 (GJB2) gene explain a high proportion of congenital deafness in several populations worldwide. The diversity of genes and genetic loci implicated in hearing loss defines the complexity of the genetic basis of hearing. This review focuses on the role of connexin 26 and mitochondrial 12S rRNA genes in hearing which will be helpful for better understanding of genes in sporadic and aminoglycoside-induced non syndromic hearing impairment.
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Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is a difficult-to-treat form of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). High rates of XDR-TB have been reported from India. We sought to ascertain the prevalence of XDR-TB among patients with MDR-TB treated at a tertiary care centre in New Delhi, India. ⋯ Our results showed that XDR-TB was rare among patients with MDR-TB treated between 1997 and 2003 at our centre. Unreported selection bias might have been responsible for the high prevalence of XDR-TB reported in previous hospital-based studies from India.
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Stroke is a leading cause of deaths, and disabilities in India. Reliable and good quality data on epidemiological characteristics of stroke are essential to plan, implement and evaluate stroke prevention and control programmes. A feasibility study was undertaken in Bangalore to examine the possibility of establishing stroke surveillance and to develop methodology for a larger programme. ⋯ The present study has shown that stroke surveillance is possible and feasible. Institution based (hospitals and vital registry data) stroke surveillance supplemented with periodical population based information can provide comprehensive information on vital aspects of stroke like mortality, risk factors, disability and outcome. There is a need to develop stroke surveillance in a phased manner along with mechanisms to apply data for prevention and control programmes.