been running, running, running and now look back to find some of the best years of life gone down the memory lane...
Atypical Bong - a blog on Life and Perspectives
Silent student drive lights up village lives
Anyone who is cynical about today’s youth could draw some inspiration from a silent movement sweeping across colleges and schools in the country.
Working under the aegis of Project Chirag with its origin in Mumbai’s HR college, the initiative has been lighting up lives in the rural hinterland by way of solar technology.
What started out two years ago when five HR college students informally decided to step out and “do something” has today snowballed into a movement involving over 12,000 students across 15 schools of Mumbai. Numerous corporates and benevolent individuals have loosened their purse-strings — allcollectively contributing to bringing light to over 4,000 homes across 106 villages in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, UP and Karnataka.
“When we started out in 2010, we randomly visited a few villages in Wada tehsil of Thane district of Maharashtra. We were shocked to find that some of the villages were plunged in darkness,” recalls 25-year-old Jyotirmoy Chatterji, who co-founded Project Chirag, saying the stark disparity had hit them hard.
Barely a few kilometres from the financial capital, villagers didn’t even have electricity poles and the few who had mobile phones often walked over 10km to the district town to charge them.
The friends started out by snapping lights in their college corridors to sensitise fellow collegians
about living in the dark and doubled it up with a modest fund-raising plea for Rs 10. They raked up an overwhelming Rs 5.5 lakh in the first week itself, motivating them to broaden the canvas of their work. At a budget of Rs 4,000 per home, they involved students in setting up a solar light, solar panels as well as mobile charging facility in over 100 homes in Ujjaini village of Maharashtra. Interestingly, they involved differently abled children to assemble the solar lights.
With their first project a runaway success and enthusiasm scaled, they started approaching schools to involve more under-20-year-olds. Gradually they won the faith of corporates who agreed to fund the solar lights.
“Satisfying,” is how Chatterji describes the journey, saying the best reward was when they re-visited Ujjaini village a year later and found that more students had cleared the Xth standard SSC exam than previous years. “They said the lighting enabled them to study through the night.”
Earth to contact aliens in 12 years!
Humans could make contact with alien life within the next 12 years, says a former official from the British defence ministry's UFO project.
The development of a supersized radio telescope called Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will unleash "new and exciting possibilities" on whether there is life out there in the universe, former UFO Project leader Nick Pope told the Daily Express.
Pope, who studied UFO sightings at the ministry for 21 years, said: "I will be controversial and give you an exact year of when I believe first confirmation of contact will be made - and that is 2024, the year in which if everything goes according to plan (when) the SKA will be fully operational."
The SKA, to be started in 2016, will be the world's largest radio telescope made of thousands of receptors covering around 5,000 square km of the Earth's surface in the Australian outback.
Scientists have said the SKA will be 50 times more sensitive, and will survey the sky 10,000 times faster than any other telescope.
"If there is a civilisation within 100 light years this telescope could find it," Pope said.
The belief in aliens - or euthology - has received worldwide support and a recent poll suggested more people actually believe in aliens than they do in God, the daily said.
Nearly 60 percent of people believe we are not alone in the universe and that alien life forms exist, according to the poll by Opinion Matters.
Another study by the University of Chicago claims that just 37 percent of people believe in God.
The development of a supersized radio telescope called Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will unleash "new and exciting possibilities" on whether there is life out there in the universe, former UFO Project leader Nick Pope told the Daily Express.
Pope, who studied UFO sightings at the ministry for 21 years, said: "I will be controversial and give you an exact year of when I believe first confirmation of contact will be made - and that is 2024, the year in which if everything goes according to plan (when) the SKA will be fully operational."
The SKA, to be started in 2016, will be the world's largest radio telescope made of thousands of receptors covering around 5,000 square km of the Earth's surface in the Australian outback.
Scientists have said the SKA will be 50 times more sensitive, and will survey the sky 10,000 times faster than any other telescope.
"If there is a civilisation within 100 light years this telescope could find it," Pope said.
The belief in aliens - or euthology - has received worldwide support and a recent poll suggested more people actually believe in aliens than they do in God, the daily said.
Nearly 60 percent of people believe we are not alone in the universe and that alien life forms exist, according to the poll by Opinion Matters.
Another study by the University of Chicago claims that just 37 percent of people believe in God.
Ireland govt plans law to legalize abortion
Ireland has finally decided to allow termination of pregnancy in cases where the mother’s life is in danger. The Irish government said that it would bring legislation to allow abortions in hospitals when doctors determine that a mother’s life is at risk.
The move comes seven weeks after the death of 31-year-old Savita Halappanavar, who was 17 weeks pregnant. She had a miscarriage and died of septicaemia three days after requesting an abortion at Galway hospital which she wasn’t allowed to undergo.
Abortion is banned in Ireland as per a papal diktat. It is one of two European Union countries — the other being Malta — where women cannot have an abortion even when their lives are in danger.
Ireland’s cabinet made the announcement of legalizing abortion after intense public pressure came from secular elements following Halappanavar's death. The bill will be drafted in the New Year and debated by the Irish parliament’s health committee before it is voted upon in the house known as the Dail.
As a doctor I welcome the decision to legalize abortion. People who still argue that a ban on abortion is pro-life, Savita’s case should have made it clear by now that it can often end up taking lives that could have been saved otherwise.
HR Manager, His Assistant, An Old Woman And Her Young Daughter
HR Manager, His Assistant, An Old Woman And Her Young Daughter Are Traveling In A Train And During The Course Of Time Get Themselves Introduced To Each Other And Become Temporary Friends...
The Train Goes Through A Tunnel And It Gets Completely Dark...
Suddenly There Is A Kissing Sound And Then A Slap !!!
... The Train Comes Out Of The Tunnel...
The Women And The Assistant Are Sitting There Looking
Perplexed...
The Manager Is Bending Over Holding His Face, Which Is Red From An Apparent Slap.
All Of Them Remain Diplomatic And Nobody Says Anything...
The Old Woman Is Thinking :
These Managers Are All Crazy After Girls. He Must Have Kissed My Daughter In The Tunnel. Very Proper That She Slapped Him...
The Young Girl Is Thinking :
The Manager Must Have Tried To Kiss Me But Kissed My Mother Instead And Got Slapped...
The Manager Is Thinking :
Damn It... My Assistant Must Have Kissed The Young Girl. She Might Have Thought It Was Me And Slapped Me...
Now Guess What The Assistant Is Thinking...
.
.
Now Hold Your Breath And Read What The Assistant Is Thinking...
If This Train Goes Through Another Tunnel I Will Make Another Kissing Sound And Slap My Manager Again...
The idiot Keeps Harassing Me In The Office...!!
The Train Goes Through A Tunnel And It Gets Completely Dark...
Suddenly There Is A Kissing Sound And Then A Slap !!!
... The Train Comes Out Of The Tunnel...
The Women And The Assistant Are Sitting There Looking
Perplexed...
The Manager Is Bending Over Holding His Face, Which Is Red From An Apparent Slap.
All Of Them Remain Diplomatic And Nobody Says Anything...
The Old Woman Is Thinking :
These Managers Are All Crazy After Girls. He Must Have Kissed My Daughter In The Tunnel. Very Proper That She Slapped Him...
The Young Girl Is Thinking :
The Manager Must Have Tried To Kiss Me But Kissed My Mother Instead And Got Slapped...
The Manager Is Thinking :
Damn It... My Assistant Must Have Kissed The Young Girl. She Might Have Thought It Was Me And Slapped Me...
Now Guess What The Assistant Is Thinking...
.
.
Now Hold Your Breath And Read What The Assistant Is Thinking...
If This Train Goes Through Another Tunnel I Will Make Another Kissing Sound And Slap My Manager Again...
The idiot Keeps Harassing Me In The Office...!!
Being a Successful Man/Woman
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
Remembering Sunil Gangopadhyay
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Sunil
Gangopadhyay (or Sunil Ganguly), the renowned Indian poet and novelist passed
away at 2:05 AM on 23 October 2012 at his South Kolkata residence, following a
massive heart attack. He was suffering from prostate cancer for some time
and had gone to Mumbai for treatment, returned to Kolkata on the day of Mahalaya. Gangopadhyay's
body was cremated day at Keoratola crematorium, Kolkata. The crowd of
mourners to crematorium was lead by West Bengal's Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee.
Indian President Pranab
Mukherjee condoled the death of Gangopadhyay saying– ‘Gangopadhyay had
enriched Bengali literature through his unique style. He was one of the best
intellectuals among his contemporaries. The vacuum created by his death cannot
be filled.’
Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee, the former Chief Minister of West Bengal, who was closely
associated with the writer since 1964, said that Bengali literature would
remain indebted to him.
Born in
Faridpur, Bangladesh, Gangopadhyay obtained his Master's degree in Bengali from
the University of Calcutta. In 1953 he with few of his friends started a
Bengali poetry magazine Krittibas. Later he wrote for many different
publications.
Ganguly created
the Bengali fictional character Kakababu and wrote a series of novels
on this character which became legendary in Indian children's literature. In
1982 he received Sahitya Akademi award in 1985 for his novel Those
Days (Sey Samaya). Gangopadhyay used the pen names Nil Lohit, Sanatan
Pathak, and Nil Upadhyay.
Last evening at
a "Swaran Sabha”, thespian Ashok Mukherjee sighed, "It's an
absurd existence without Sunil-da. The Kolkata skyline suddenly looks
incomplete without Sunil-da."
Mukherjee
recalled the youthful days, “We were being herded by Ajitesh Bandopadhyay. The
Sunil-Shakti duo was already an established phenomenon. We found ourselves
joining them and others (including poet Mohit Chattopadhyay) at the United
Coffee House. We would head for our homes when the adda folded up around 11pm.
Sunil-da and Co it would move on to a different venue ... their adda continued
till the wee hours." Not a soul
knew where this enlightened group went. Mukherjee
wondered, "Did Sunil-da go to Dik Shunnyo Pur (the directionless land),
just as Neellohit did?"
It was as if, he
had unwittingly hit upon a heart-rending truth. All those on the dais,
backstage and among the audiences seemed to have launched an inward search,
seeking the Sunil in them. "There was a Sunil in every youth, and a Neera
in every woman. Why, an entire generation took towards bohemianism after
reading Atma Prakash where Sunil-da talks about Indira Gandhi's 'unkissed'
lips," said talk theatre artiste Urmimala Basu. To the audience she read
out one of Sunil's letters which was about him falling head over heels in love
with a "shy girl named Swati". The letter instantly reminded one of
the passionate Nikhilesh. But then, Urmimala would rather think of the lover,
who had turned into a doting husband for Swati Ganguly. "Not very
long ago, someone had asked him about his lady love and he had said resignedly,
'I guess it's Swati. I'm too old (for escapades) now'."
Those who knew
him personally remembered how the poet-novelist loathed being asked "kemon
achho" (how are you). "I am fine, and will always be fine,"
Sunil had been saying for the last decade - to forget the illness that was
slowly consuming him.
Ask his
associates what they missed about him most, this evening. "We are missing
his presence. He would play the perfect host during all social meets organised
by him and Swati-di," said Urmimala.
Sunil
Gangopadhyay's death on Tuesday went unreported in many newspapers in Kolkata,
thanks to the 'Puja vacation' virtually imposed on the print media, but in
Bangladesh, it made front page headlines in nearly every daily. According to
noted Bangladeshi author Belal Chaudhuri, even newspapers with an
extreme-right philosophy covered Gangopadhyay's death. Chaudhuri, who attended
a condolence meeting in Kolkata on Friday evening, brought nearly 30 newspapers
from his country and handed them to Gangopadhyay's secretary.
"There was
widespread grief in Bangladesh when people came to know that Sunil
had passed away. Everybody remembers his contribution to the Liberation War and
his fight to uphold secularism. He was one of the most popular authors in
Bangladesh. There was a time when festival numbers from India were banned in
Bangladesh. If people came to know that Sunil had contributed in one of them,
the books would get smuggled across the border. His novels were regularly
pirated in Bangladesh. Efforts were made to stop this but nothing could be done
due to the demand," Chaudhuri said.
The Bangladeshi
author has been close to Gangopadhyay since 1960 when the two met in Kolkata. "Do you know that we got arrested
together as chicken thieves at Belpahari in East Midnapore? Every year, during
the Pujas, we would go to Belpahari on vacation. It was 1965 and India and
Pakistan were at war. As was our habit, we got off the bus near a village and
entered somebody's house. After having our fill of mahua we went for a bath to
the village pond. When we returned to the house where we had stopped, the
villagers seemed extremely agitated and asked us to leave. We didn't know what
had gone wrong but took shelter in a nearby field. Suddenly, we were surrounded
by armed security personnel," said Chaudhuri. It seems that a youth from
the village named Rashid had crossed over to East Pakistan. "A few days
after his disappearance, Pakistani aircraft strafed the Kalaikunda air base and
everybody suspected that Rashid had provided the necessary bearings. The
security personnel suspected us to be spies." The security men left after
ordering them to return to Kolkata. However, later in the night, villagers led
the police to them all over again, accusing them of stealing chicken. "We
were arrested and locked up in Binpur police station. It was only after the OC
looked at us that we were released and given a royal treatment. His wife seems
to have been reading a novel by Sunil," the Bangladeshi author said.
The small room
still remains in Amgram at Purba Maichpara in the Faridpur where Sunil was born
and 'Sunil Mela' is held there every year.
Dhananjoy Boyra,
private secretary to Sunil Gangopadhyay remembers, "Dada would never
bow his head or join his hands in prayer at any temple but Boudi is a devout
Hindu. Not a day goes by without her offering prayers to the household deities.
But this never led to any tension. Dada never tried to impose his views on
others. Even recently, on our way back from Santiniketan, Boudi got off to pray
at a temple but Dada stayed in the car."
Boyra has been
with the Gangopadhyays for nearly 35 years. Originally from West Midnapore, he
was barely 12 when a relative brought him to the writer's house. Initially, he
was a playmate of Souvik's and later tried his hand at household chores. As a
young man, Gangopadhyay started treating him as a secretary and confidante.
Boyra would even manage the late author's finances.
"I have met many great people over the years. People like Samaresh Basu, ….. To me, Dada was like God. I started off with a salary of Rs 50 in 1977. Every year, there would be an increment. I never even had to ask for it. Later, he got me a plot at Bosepukur and even built me a house there. Boudi got me married," Boyra said, fighting back tears.
Such was the bond between the Gangopadhyays and him that they couldn't tolerate any discomfort he faced. "Dada had got me a job at a printing press once. I used to work till late and return home covered in ink. Dada and Boudi would have none of this. They got me to quit. There have been many incidents like this. The moment of pride came in Boyra's life when Gangopadhyay had a knee surgery. There was need for blood and many people queued up but their blood groups wouldn't match. Finally, Boyra got his blood group tested and it was a perfect match. "I was the proudest man that day," he reminisced.
"I have met many great people over the years. People like Samaresh Basu, ….. To me, Dada was like God. I started off with a salary of Rs 50 in 1977. Every year, there would be an increment. I never even had to ask for it. Later, he got me a plot at Bosepukur and even built me a house there. Boudi got me married," Boyra said, fighting back tears.
Such was the bond between the Gangopadhyays and him that they couldn't tolerate any discomfort he faced. "Dada had got me a job at a printing press once. I used to work till late and return home covered in ink. Dada and Boudi would have none of this. They got me to quit. There have been many incidents like this. The moment of pride came in Boyra's life when Gangopadhyay had a knee surgery. There was need for blood and many people queued up but their blood groups wouldn't match. Finally, Boyra got his blood group tested and it was a perfect match. "I was the proudest man that day," he reminisced.
"He would
never get angry at anybody. He had no sorrow. Only once, when his son left for Boston,
did I notice some grief on his and Boudi's faces. He would never call anybody
'tui', not even his son. This has left a lasting influence on me. I even call
my daughters 'tumi'," Boyra said.
After Sunil
Gangopadhyay's passing, his family has started the near-Herculean task of
collating and preserving his legacy. Lines scribbled here and tucked away
there. A gem of a story printed on flimsy paper, held together by staples and
forgotten. A sheaf of short stories handled carelessly by a publisher... His
wife and son plan to catalogue all his works - published and unpublished.
The work will
start soon after Gangopadhyay's son Souvik, an IT professional in Boston,
returns to the US with mother Swati. Souvik will also build a team of his
father's writer friends to decide how to publish the treasure trove. "We
will have to look into the legal aspects and find out if my father had
agreements with publishers. The team that we plan to set up will be in charge
of cataloguing the works. They will also decide which firm should publish which
category of writings. For the moment, we aren't allowing many people to enter
the room where his works are kept. Several manuscripts are lying there. Some of
them are in pen and paper, others digitized. There are some that haven't been
published. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. We will get to it when
we are in a better state of mind," Souvik said.
Sunil
Gangopadhyay, undoubtedly, was a great writer. The way he looked at things
around him, manifested his inner feelings, his choice of words and
expressions - all carry the hallmarks of a profound thinker. He will
forever remain as a shining star of Bengali Literature.
References:
·
[Online].
[cited 2012. Available from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Nikhileshs-letters-and-Coffee-House-adda/articleshow/16975719.cms.
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·
[Online].
[cited 2012. Available from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Bangladesh-remembers-pen-wielding-Liberation-warrior/articleshow/16975720.cms.
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·
[Online].
[cited 2012. Available from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/He-had-no-sorrow-except-for-once-Secy/articleshow/16975721.cms.
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·
[Online].
[cited 2012. Available from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Family-takes-up-task-to-preserve-Sunil-Gangopadhyays-works/articleshow/16975881.cms.
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HUMAN BRAIN IS TOO EFFICIENT
It deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are witren, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe :)
Girls vs Boys
The best starting point for discussing the difference between male and female skills is a book published in 1974 by two psychologists, Eleanor Maccoby and Carol Nagy Jacklin. They summarize and critically evaluate a large body of work on the psychology of sex differences, concluding that at least eight different claims for sex differences (see left-hand column in the table) were disproved by the results of then available scientific studies and that the findings about seven other alleged differences (see middle column) were either too skimpy or too ambiguous to warrant any conclusions at all, but that sex differences in four areas—verbal ability, visual-spatial ability, mathematical ability, and aggressive behavior—were "fairly well established".
However a meta-analytic Review of sex differences in aggressive behavior, using 63 studies reported in the social psychological literature found that although men were somewhat more aggressive than women on the average, sex differences were inconsistent across studies. The magnitude of the sex differences was significantly related to various attributes of the studies. In particular, the tendency for men to aggress more than women was more pronounced for aggression that produced pain or physical injury than for aggression that produced psychological or social harm. In addition, sex differences in aggressive behavior were larger to the extent that women, more than men, perceived that enacting a behavior would produce harm to the target, guilt and anxiety in oneself, as well as danger to oneself. It is suggested that aggression sex differences are a function of perceived consequences of aggression that are learned as aspects of gender roles and other social roles.
Typhoid
Typhoid
fever, also known as typhoid is an infection caused by a bacteria
called Salmonella typhi (S. typhi) (1) . The disease has
received various names, such as gastric fever, abdominal
typhus, infantile remittant fever, slow fever, nervous
fever or pythogenic fever. The name "typhoid" means
"resembling typhus” and comes from the neuropsychiatric symptoms
common to typhoid and typhus (2) . Typhus comes
from Greek word typhos meaning smoky or hazy, describing the state of
mind of those affected with typhus (3) .
Transmission:
It is
transmitted mainly by faeco-oral route through poor hygiene habits and public
sanitation conditions, and sometimes also by flying insects feeding on feces (2) . A person may become
an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid fever, suffering no symptoms, but
capable of infecting others (2) . Approximately 5% of
people who contract typhoid continue to carry the disease after they recover (2) .
The most
famous asymptomatic carrier was Mary Mallon (commonly known as "Typhoid
Mary"), a young cook who was responsible for infecting at least 53 people
with typhoid, three of whom died from the disease. Mallon was the first
apparently perfectly healthy person known to be responsible for an
"epidemic" (4) .
Many
carriers of typhoid were locked into an isolation ward never to be released to
prevent further typhoid cases. These people often deteriorated mentally, driven
mad by the conditions they lived in — “For most people, the idea of being
judged insane and held in a 1950s asylum is the stuff of nightmares. But to be
locked up when you are sane would be regarded as an appalling injustice. And
yet …. nearly 50 women were locked in an isolation ward in a mental asylum in
Surrey - not because they had a mental illness - but because they carried
typhoid and were deemed a public health risk. Many of those women - admitted
sane - deteriorated mentally, driven mad by the conditions they lived in.
(5) .”
Clinical
features (6) :
First week:
Non specific features of malaise, headache, rising remitting fever (step wise
fashion) with initial constipation followed by diarrhoea, mild cough with
conjunctivitis.
Second week:
Patient is toxic & apathetic; sustained high temperatures with relative
bradycardia; rose spots on upper thorax; distended abdomen; hepatomegaly and/or
splenomegaly.
Third week:
Patient delirious with abdominal distension & profuse pea soup diarrhea.
*Remitting
fever: Temperature variation is >20C,
but does not touch normal. E.g. Tuberculosis, viral fever, many bacterial
infections etc (7) .
*Step -
ladder fever is the one where the temperature rises gradually to a higher
level with every spike of temperature (7) . So there is a
step-like daily increase in temperature to 40-41°C (8) .
*Bradycardia in an adult is any heart rate less than 60
beats per minute. Relative bradycardia is used in explaining a
heart rate which, although not actually below 60 beats per minute, is still
considered too slow for the individual's current medical condition (9) . Usually there is a
proportionate increase in heart rate with increase in temperature. But in
typhoid, the increase in heart rate is less as compared to the rise in body
temperature, so the condition is called Relative Bradycardia.
*Pea soup
diarrhea: the stools are green with a characteristic smell, comparable to
pea soup (2) .
*Rose
spots: Rose spots are red macules (rash) 2-4 millimeters in diameter. They
appear as a rash between the seventh and twelfth day from the onset
of symptoms. They occur in groups of five to ten lesions on the lower chest and
upper abdomen. Rose spots typically last three to four days (10) .
Differential
Diagnosis: Typhoid may be confused with, Malaria, Visceral leishmaniasis (Kala
-Azar), Dengue fever, Short term viral fevers, Hepatointestinal amoebiasis (6) .
Diagnosis of
Typhoid is made by any Blood, Bone
marrow or stool cultures and with the Widal test.
In epidemics and less wealthy countries, after
excluding malaria, dysentery or pneumonia, a therapeutic trial
time with Chloramphenicol is generally undertaken while awaiting the
results of Widal test and cultures of the blood and stool (2) .
Treatment of
Typhoid:
Typhoid
fever is treated with antibiotics that kill the Salmonella bacteria.
Several antibiotics are effective for the treatment of typhoid
fever. Chloramphenicol was the original drug of choice for many years.
Because of rare serious side effects, chloramphenicol has been replaced by
other effective antibiotics. The choice of antibiotics needs to be guided by
identifying the geographic region where the organism was acquired and the
results of cultures once available. (Certain strains from South America show a
significant resistance to some antibiotics.) Ciprofloxacin is frequently
used for nonpregnant patients. Ceftriaxone, is an alternative for pregnant
patients. Ampicillin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole are frequently
prescribed antibiotics although resistance has been reported in recent years (11) .
With
antibiotics and supportive care, mortality is around 1%-2% from the fatality
rate was 20% which was seen prior to the use of antibiotics. With appropriate
antibiotic therapy, there is usually improvement within one to two days and
recovery within seven to 10 days (11) .
Home based
supportive care includes complete bed rest. Patient should be kept on a liquid
diet of orange, barley juice and milk. Orange juice, especially, hastens
recovery as it increases energy, promotes body immunity and increases urinary
output. Administer warm water enema regularly. Apply cold compress to the
forehead if temperature rises above 103 degrees Fahrenheit. Alternatively, wrap
the body and legs twice with a sheet wrung in cold water and then cover it with
a warm material. The pack should be kept for an hour and renewed after every 3
hours. Fresh fruits and easily
digestible foods can be given after once the fever subsides and body
temperature comes down to normal. Plain water or unsweetened lemon water can be
used for drinking. Gradually start a well-balanced diet (12) .
Chronic
carrier of Typhoid:
Chronic carrier is a person excreting S.typhi
in stools or urine (or has shown repeated positive bile or duodenal string
cultures) for longer than one year after the onset of acute typhoid fever (6) .
The chronic
typhoid carrier state can occur following symptomatic or subclinical infections
of Salmonella typhi. Chronic carriers of typhoid are, by definition,
asymptomatic. Transmission may occur from person-to person or by ingestion of
food or water contaminated by the urine or feces of acute cases or carriers. Humans
are the only known reservoir for S. typhi. Among untreated cases, 10% will shed
bacteria for three months after initial onset of symptoms and 2-5% will become
chronic carriers. The chronic carrier state occurs most commonly among
middle-aged women (13) .
Careers can
be treated with Oral Amoxicillin- 3 Gms in adults (100 mg/kg in children in 3
divided doses) for 3 months or Trimethoprim /Sulphamethoxazole 8/40 mg twice
daily for 3 months or Ciprofloxacin 750 mg twice daily for 4 weeks (6) . Often, removal of
the gallbladder, the site of chronic infection, cures the carrier state (11) .
Prevention:
Sanitation
and hygiene are the critical measures that can be taken to prevent typhoid.
Typhoid does not affect animals and therefore transmission is only from human
to human. Typhoid can only spread in environments where human feces or urine
are able to come into contact with food or drinking water. Careful food
preparation and washing of hands are crucial to preventing typhoid (2) .
There are
two vaccines licensed for use for the prevention of typhoid: the live,
oral Ty21a vaccine and the injectableTyphoid polysaccharide vaccine. Both
are between 50% to 80% protective and are recommended for travelers to areas
where typhoid is endemic. Boosters are recommended every five years for the
oral vaccine and every two years for the injectable form (2) .
References:
Breakthrough in cancer cure by Kolkata Docs
Breast cancer treatment is set to take a significant step ahead, thanks to a group of city researchers who have devised a targeted therapy for the disease.
The researchers — Souvik Sengupta, Sudeshna Gangopadhyay and Ashish Mukhopadhyay — have sought permission for human trials that could begin later this year.
It was while screening young breast cancer patients that the team noticed a pattern — younger patients were suffering relapses more often than older ones. The team then experimented with target therapy drugs which had so far been used to treat liver and kidney cancer. They managed to target and destroy the cancerous stem cells effectively.
A paper produced by the three researchers will be published in the forthcoming issue of the prestigious journal ‘Clinical Breast Cancer, USA’. It has been given the status of a review article which is generally accorded to potentially pioneering research work.
Breast cancer stem cells are not merely drug-resistant; they tend to spread to the bones and lymph glands quickly. Once they do, there is very little that can be done to save the patient. Targeted therapy is the only option.
Once human trials start, it will be easier to identify the cells and the drugs that can kill them. A patient can undergo a test to identify the best possible drug for just Rs 5000.
(edited from The times of India )
Dengue
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Kolkata is reeling under its worst bout
of dengue this monsoon season. Many people have succumbed to the infection and
government and private hospitals are flooded with dengue patients. (1) The city is facing
one of its worst dengue outbreaks in recent times.
Nine-year old Sreeja Das was the first dengue victim in
the state. The epidemic first struck in the second week of August. Several people in and around Kolkata have
been hospitalized since then with symptoms similar to dengue. Many patients have died
from the disease and the number of confirmed cases has gone up to 638 (2) and still counting.
Dengue is a Public Health Menace which is
better prevented rather than being treated as is the case with all diseases.
There has been a recent surge in Dengue cases
not only in Kolkata, but in various other parts of the world as well. The incidence of dengue has grown dramatically around
the world in recent decades. Over 2.5 billion people (i.e. over 40% of the
world's population) are now at risk from dengue. WHO currently estimates that
there may be 50–100 million dengue infections worldwide every year (3) .
Dengue also known as breakbone fever, is an infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus (4) . There are four distinct, but closely
related, serotypes of the virus that cause dengue (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and
DEN-4). Recovery from infection by one provides lifelong immunity against that particular
serotype. However, cross-immunity to the other serotypes after recovery is only
partial and temporary. Subsequent infections by other serotypes increase the
risk of developing severe dengue (3) .
Dengue is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito which is the primary vector
of dengue. The virus is transmitted to humans through the bites of infected
female mosquitoes. 4–10 days after getting infected, a mosquito is capable of
transmitting the virus for the rest of its life. Infected humans are the main
carriers and multipliers of the virus, serving as a source of the virus for
uninfected mosquitoes (3) .
The Aedes
aegypti mosquito lives in
urban habitats and breeds mostly in man-made containers. Ae. aegypti is a daytime feeder; its peak biting
periods are early in the morning and in the evening before dusk. Female Ae.
aegypti bites multiple people
during each feeding period (3) .(Also called
Fearless Day Biter.)
The rapid transmission of the dengue virus this year
in Kolkata has led experts to believe that a new vector is stalking the city along
with the primary carrier Aedes aegypti, especially in Salt lake, the fringe
areas of the city and along the EM Bypass where hundreds have been infected.
Aedes albopictus or the Asian tiger mosquito is a secondary vector of the
dengue virus and as lethal as the Aedes aegypti. (5) . Aedes albopictus has also spread
to North America and Europe largely due to the international trade in used
tyres (a breeding habitat) and other goods (e.g. lucky bamboo). Ae. albopictus is highly adaptive and therefore can
survive in cooler temperate regions of Europe. Its spread is due to its
tolerance to temperatures below freezing, hibernation, and ability to shelter
in microhabitats (3) .
Rampant construction activities and
chopping of trees along the Bypass (Kolkata) are responsible for a spurt in the
number of tiger mosquitoes this year. The albopictus prefers old buildings and
tree crevices. With buildings being pulled down for high-rises and trees being
chopped to make way for the Garia-Dum Dum Metro corridor along Bypass, the
secondary vector has turned active. More than 1500 trees have been felled along
the Bypass since 2010 to make way for Metro pillars. Green activists believe
this has upset the ecosystem of the area and contributed to the spread of
diseases like malaria and dengue (5) .
Albopictus mosquito rests in the
vicinity of human dwellings. They tend to move into houses quicker than other
vectors and are hence more difficult to eliminate (5) .
A case of dengue may present
as (6) :
- Classical dengue fever
- Dengue haemorrhagic fever
- Dengue shock syndrome
Classical dengue fever:
Dengue fever can occur in epidemics which often start during the rainy
season when the breeding of the vector mosquitoes is
generally abundant.
All ages and both sexes are susceptible to dengue fever.
Children usually have a
milder disease than adults.
The onset of the disease is sudden with chills
and high fever, intense headache,
muscle and joint
pains. There may be pain behind the eyes (Retro orbital pain).
Other common
symptoms include extreme
weakness, anorexia, constipation, altered taste
sensation, pain in abdomen, sore
throat and general depression.
Fever
is usually between 39°C
and 40°C and is associated with
generalized pain and a headache; this usually lasts two to seven days. At this stage, a rash occurs in 50–80%
of those with symptoms. It occurs in the first or second day of symptoms as flushed skin, or later in the course
of illness (days 4–7), as a measles-like rash (4) . The Rash starts on
the chest and back and may spread to the extremities and rarely to the
face. It may be accompanied by
itching and hyperaesthesia. The rash
lasts for 2
hours to several
days and may be
followed by desquamation (6) .
Recovery is
usually complete (6) .
Dengue haemorrhagic fever:
Dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF)
is a severe form of dengue fever, caused by infection with more than one
dengue virus. The severe illness
is thought to be due
to double infection with dengue
viruses - the first infection probably sensitizes the patient, while the second
appears to produce an immunological catastrophe. It presents with the
following clinical manifestations :
(a) Fever -
acute onset, high,
continuous, and lasting
2 to 7 days.
(b) Haemorrhagic
manifestations like petechiae, purpura, ecchymosis, epistaxis, gum bleeding haematemesis
and/or melaena.
(c) Enlargement of
liver.
Blood examinations reveal Thrombocytopenia (Platelet
count 100,000/mm3 or less).
And Haemoconcentration (haemotocrit increased by 20 per
cent or more of base-line value.)
Dengue shock syndrome (DSS): It is
DHF (Dengue Haemorrhagic fever) plus Shock-manifested by rapid and weak pulse
with narrowing of the pulse
pressure (20 mm Hg or
less) or hypotension, with the presence of cold,
clammy skin and restlessness.
The diagnosis of dengue is typically
made clinically, on the basis of reported symptoms and physical examination. A
doctor should be consulted immediately if any of the symptoms as mentioned
above appears especially in as endemic area or if the zone is under an ongoing
epidemic. The warning signs of Dengue
involve Abdominal pain Ongoing vomiting, Liver enlargement, Mucosal bleeding, High hematocrit with
low platelets and lethargy (7) .
The diagnosis should be considered in
anyone who develops a fever within two week of being in the tropics or subtropics.
The earliest change detectable on laboratory investigations is a low white
blood cell count, which may then be followed by low platelets and metabolic
acidosis (4) .
Dengue fever may be diagnosed by
microbiological laboratory testing (7) . This can be done by
virus isolation in cell
cultures, nucleic acid
detection by PCR, viral antigen detection or specific antibodies (serology) (8) . Virus isolation and nucleic acid
detection are more accurate than antigen detection, but these tests are not
widely available due to their greater cost (7) . All tests may be negative in the early
stages of the disease (8) . PCR and viral antigen detection are
more accurate in the first seven days (9) .
There are no specific
treatments for dengue fever. Treatment
depends on the symptoms, varying from oral
rehydration therapy at home with
close follow-up, to hospital admission with administration of intravenous fluids and/or blood transfusion (4) . A decision for
hospital admission is typically based on the presence of the "warning
signs" discussed above, especially
in those with preexisting health conditions.
Dengue Shock Syndrome is a medical emergency that requires
hospitalization with prompt
and vigorous volume
replacement therapy (6) . Blood transfusion
is initiated early in patients presenting with unstable vital signs in the face
of a decreasing hematocrit, rather than waiting for the hemoglobin
concentration to decrease to some predetermined "transfusion trigger"
level (7) .
The juice of the papaya leaf has been seen to arrest the
destruction of platelets that has been the cause for so many deaths from dengue. Chymopapin and
papin - enzymes in the papaya leaf - help revive platelet count. The
juice has to be prepared from fresh papaya leaves (10) .
Prevention of Dengue infection depends on
control of and protection from the bites of the mosquito that transmits it.
The vectors of DF
and DHF (e.g.,
A. aegypti) breed
in areas around houses and, in
principle can be controlled by individual and community action, using various mosquito
control measures (6) . (The primary method
of controlling A. aegypti is by eliminating its habitat. This is done by emptying containers of
water or by adding insecticides or biological control agents to these areas.
The
personal protection measures
are like that of wearing of full sleeve shirts and
full pants; use of mosquito
repellent cream; liquids,
coils, mats etc.; use
of bed-nets for
sleeping infants and young children during day time to prevent
mosquito bites. So far, there
is no satisfactory
vaccine and no
immediate prospect of preventing the disease by immunization. (6) .
The World Health Organization recommends
an Integrated Vector Control program consisting of five elements to fight this
menace:
- Advocacy, social mobilization and legislation to ensure that public health bodies and communities are strengthened,
- collaboration between the health and other sectors (public and private),
- an integrated approach to disease control to maximize use of resources,
- evidence-based decision making to ensure any interventions are targeted appropriately
- capacity-building to ensure an adequate response to the local
situation
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