Assessment of serum IgE level in patients with transfusion related allergic reaction receiving fresh frozen plasma

Background: Blood transfusion is a routine lifesaving medical intervention which is generally regarded as safe when done properly. However, at the same time it also bears considerable risk. The aim of the study was to assess the serum IgE levels in patients experiencing transfusion-related allergic reactions after receiving fresh frozen plasma. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted at the Department of Transfusion Medicine, BSMMU, from March 2019 to August 2021, focusing on patients aged 5 to 60 years receiving fresh frozen plasma. Patients were included after obtaining informed consent from themselves or their legal guardians in the case of minors, according to the eligibility criteria. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26, with statistical significance set at p<0.05, employing Chi-square tests and Pearson’s correlation coefficient for variable comparisons. Results: Raised IgE level was significantly related with transfusion related allergic reaction after receiving fresh frozen plasma (p<0.05). The mean IgE was 521.4±434.6 in patients with reaction and 67.8±33.2 in patients without reaction. Significant positive correlation was observed in serum IgE level with age in years. Conclusions: Patients with transfusion related allergic reaction receiving fresh frozen plasma had higher mean IgE levels as compared to those without reaction

Adolescent athlete’s knowledge, attitude and practices about menstrual hygiene management (MHM) in BKSP, Bangladesh

Maintaining proper hygiene during menstruation prevents certain reproductive illnesses. For female athletes, they need to put an extra effort to keep themselves healthy at this time because of their daily strenuous activities. In this study, we assessed the level of knowledge, attitude and practices about menstrual hygiene management among adolescent trainee athletes. A cross-sectional study was carried out among adolescent trainee athletes from BKSP. Samples were chosen conveniently from different sports departments. In total, 143 Female athletes who regularly menstruate were included. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to determine the level of knowledge, attitude and practices and their associated factors. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare means of outcome variables. The mean ± SD age of our participant was 14.31 ± 1.48. Majority of the participants were scared during their first menstruation (39.9%). Mothers were the main source of information (84.6%). Majority of the participants had poor knowledge (56.6%) and practices (68.5%) while the level of attitude was good (67.1) regarding menstruation. Age-group was associated with knowledge score (p=0.034) regarding menstruation while family income was associated with attitude (p=0.014). Educational level of father was associated with both knowledge (p=0.049) and attitude (p=0.010). Poor level of knowledge and practices were observed among the survey respondents, though the level of attitude was satisfactory. Mothers were the primary source of information regarding menstrual hygiene. It is important to provide menstrual hygiene education to the young athletes from a reliable and formal source.
 Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. June 2019, 5(2): 126-13

Features of Neck Pain and its Related Factors Among Patients With Cervical Spondylosis

Background and aims: The prevalence of cervical spondylosis is rising. The objective of this study was to figure out the various features and their related factors among cervical spondylosis patients in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted enrolling 40 patients from NITOR (National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedic Rehabilitation) in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Data were collected from the physiotherapy department of NITOR using convenient sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Patients who were diagnosed with cervical spondylosis were included in this study. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0. Descriptive analysis was done using frequency measures, mean and percentages. Results: Among our respondents, the majority of them were female (62.5%). Majority of the participants were in the age group of 35 to 50 years (62.5%). Many of them were urban population engaged in service or housewives. Stressful job (55%), duration of working hour >8 hours (62.5%) were the most common characteristics among patients. The main location of pain was in the shoulder (82.5%) followed by the neck (77.4%) and forearm (70%). Most patients had intermittent pain (57.5%), numbness (55%), tingling sensation (47.5%) and paresthesia (42.5%). Moderate type of pain (65%), the involvement of both upper limbs (35%) and radiating pain to shoulder (72.5%) were the most reported features by patients. No response to medication was also observed. Conclusion: Being female, middle age group, stressful occupation, location and radiation of pain to shoulder are some of the common features revealed in this study. The findings will help the practitioner to plan their treatment goals and techniques considering the characteristics of patients

Medical Waste Management: An Assessment at District-Level Public Health Facilities in Bangladesh

Abstract Background Due to the heavy patient-load and various types of services, the public health facilities produce a bulk of medical wastes (MW) in Bangladesh. Improper disposal of MW increases the risk of infection among the healthcare service personnel, patients, and attendants. The current study aimed to assess the practices of MW management and quantify those to find out the gaps in the specific steps of waste management.Methods As part of a larger intervention study, a facility assessment was conducted during November 2015 to March 2016 at a District Hospital (DH) and a Mother and Child Welfare Centre (MCWC) both being located in the same district, Non-participatory observation of MW management was done using a checklist developed following the Guideline for Medical Waste Management of Bangladesh. Scoring was applied for various activities of MW management performed in the study facilities.Results The overall scores in bin management, segregation, and collection of wastes were 64.5%, 58.1%, and 62.0% in the DH and 53.1%, 41.5%, and 48.0% in the MCWC respectively. The performance of operation theatre in MCWC was the lowest among different corners (16.7–36.0%). Re-usable waste was segregated poorly (32% in DH and 0% in MCWC), and almost none was shredded (4% in DH and 0% in MCWC). The wastes were transported from in-house to out-house temporary storage area in open-bin without any trolley or specific route. Storage area was accessible to unauthorized persons, e.g. waste-picker in DH. While DH segregated 84% of its infectious wastes at source, they eventually got mixed-up with other wastes in the storage area and delivered to municipality for dumping. MCWC could segregate only 40% of its infectious wastes at source and disposed those, using pit method. Both the facilities disposed sharp medical wastes by open-air burning and liquid wastes through sewerage without any treatment.Conclusions The performance of MW management was poor in both the study facilities. Advocacy to the healthcare personnel and refresher training, along with supportive supervision and monitoring, may improve the situation. Moreover, larger study is needed to find out the reasons behind such poor MW management.</jats:p

Job Satisfaction of the Employees of the General Insurance Companies in Bangladesh

This study investigates the employees’ job satisfaction of general insurance companies in Bangladesh. A questionnaire was utilized to collect primary data from both public and private general insurance companies. The first part of the questionnaire comprises of the demographic profile of the respondents and the last part indicates the key measuring variables on a Likert scale ranging from 5 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree) of job satisfaction. The total number of respondents for this study was 385. 74.80 percent of the total respondents have taken from the private general insurance companies, and the remaining percentage from the public general insurance company. 70 percent of the total respondents were male respondents, and 30 percent of the total respondents were female respondents. Factor analysis and correlation matrix have been conducted to analyze the collected data. This study postulates that employees of general insurance companies have positive as well as negative feelings. Three factors reflect positive feelings toward their jobs. These factors are pay and promotional potential, the well-organized chain of command and general working condition. On the other hand, two factors are responsible for negative feelings. These factors are poor team spirit and poor job security. This paper also advocates some recommendations to maximize the positive feelings and to minimize the negative. The proper higher authority should ensure participating decision method to take any decision, the fair delegation, and direct relationship with sub-ordinates to enhance the team spirit for minimizing the dissatisfaction of the employees and should ensure the job security of the employees to get their best effort to achieve the organizational goal.</jats:p

Adolescent athlete’s knowledge, attitude and practices about menstrual hygiene management (MHM) in BKSP, Bangladesh

Maintaining proper hygiene during menstruation prevents certain reproductive illnesses. For female athletes, they need to put an extra effort to keep themselves healthy at this time because of their daily strenuous activities. In this study, we assessed the level of knowledge, attitude and practices about menstrual hygiene management among adolescent trainee athletes. A cross-sectional study was carried out among adolescent trainee athletes from BKSP. Samples were chosen conveniently from different sports departments. In total, 143 Female athletes who regularly menstruate were included. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to determine the level of knowledge, attitude and practices and their associated factors. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare means of outcome variables. The mean ± SD age of our participant was 14.31 ± 1.48. Majority of the participants were scared during their first menstruation (39.9%). Mothers were the main source of information (84.6%). Majority of the participants had poor knowledge (56.6%) and practices (68.5%) while the level of attitude was good (67.1) regarding menstruation. Age-group was associated with knowledge score (p=0.034) regarding menstruation while family income was associated with attitude (p=0.014). Educational level of father was associated with both knowledge (p=0.049) and attitude (p=0.010). Poor level of knowledge and practices were observed among the survey respondents, though the level of attitude was satisfactory. Mothers were the primary source of information regarding menstrual hygiene. It is important to provide menstrual hygiene education to the young athletes from a reliable and formal source.&#x0D; Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. June 2019, 5(2): 126-137</jats:p

Leea macrophylla Roxb. leaf extract potentially helps normalize islet of β‐cells damaged in STZ‐induced albino rats

This research aims to investigate the protective effects Leea macrophylla Roxb polyphenols on streptozotocin‐induced diabetic rats. Polyphenolic assays were undertaken through established methods. To conduct animal intervention study, forty Wistar albino male rats (average body weight 188.42 ± 7.13 g) of different groups were diabetized by streptozotocin (60 mg/kg) only in the animals of diabetic control (DC) and L. macrophylla extract (LM) groups. At the end of 4 weeks of intervention, serum was analyzed for insulin, liver and cardiac enzymes, lipid profiles, uric acid, and creatinine using ELISA method. In vitro α‐amylase inhibition of LM was evaluated and compared with reference drug acarbose. Pancreatic tissues were undertaken for histopathological screening. Food and fluid intake, weekly blood glucose level, liver glycogen, aspartate transaminase (AST), creatinine kinase (CK‐MB), cholesterol, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were significantly decreased, whereas oral glucose tolerance (OGTT) ability, serum insulin concentration, and pancreatic islets morphology were significantly improved in the LM300 treatment group compared to the DC group. Alpha‐amylase inhibition was not found to be very promising for guiding the α‐amylase inhibition pathway. Results suggest that L. macrophylla can exert a potential effort to restore pancreatic β‐cell damaged by streptozotocin induction