This study examined the spatial distribution and seasonal fluctuations of population densities of phlebotomine sand flies and was designed to obtain baseline data on the population trends of Phlebotomus argentipes, P. papatasi, and Sergentomyia spp. in a visceral leishmaniasis endemic area of Bihar, India. Beginning on 28 October 2009 and through 20 October 2010, 63 CDC light traps were evenly ...

The Muzaffarpur-TMRC Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS), established in 2007, was developed as an enlargement of the scope of a research collaboration on the project Visceral Leishmaniasis in Bihar, which had been ongoing since 2005. The HDSS is located in a visceral leishmaniasis (VL)-endemic area in the Muzaffarpur district of Bihar state in India. It is the only HDSS conductin...

Awareness of the health risks of smoking is an important factor in predicting smoking-related behaviour; however, little is known about the knowledge of health risks in low-income countries such as India. The present study examined beliefs about the harms of smoking and the impact of health knowledge on intentions to quit among a sample of 249 current smokers in both urban and rural areas in tw...

BACKGROUND Indoor residual spraying (IRS) with DDT has been the primary strategy for control of the visceral leishmaniasis (VL) vector Phlebotomus argentipes in India but efficacy may be compromised by resistance. Synthetic pyrethroids are now being introduced for IRS, but with a shared target site, the para voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC), mutations affecting both insecticide classes could...

The manuscript describes a study on the blood cholinesterase (ChE) level in an exposed population at different interval of time after spraying with malathion suspension (SRES) use for kala-azar vector control in an endemic area of Bihar, India. The toxicity of a 5% malathion formulation in the form of a slow release emulsified suspension (SRES) was assessed by measuring serum ChE levels in spra...

Objective: To identify levels of cervical cancer risk factor and symptom awareness as well as reasons for not seeking medical help in Bihar (India) female population. Design: Population based survey. Setting: Mahavir Cancer Sansthan , Patna. Sample: Bihar representative sample of females aged 16 years and over (n = 142). Materials and methods: Respondents completed the Cervical Cancer Awareness...

*Correspondence: Siddharth Bhatia, Jamsetji Tata Centre for Disaster Management, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Malti and Jal A. D. Naoroji Campus (Annex), PO Box No. 8313, Deonar, Mumbai 400 088, India e-mail: [email protected] This study tests the drinking water supply of a marginalized village community of Khap Tola in the state of Bihar, a state in Northern India. Based on hand pump ...

In 2000 and 2001 there were 265 and 268 virologicallyconfirmed polio cases respectively, in India. In 2002 the number increased to 1,600. In response to some questions raised by the author (1), Dr Jay Wenger, project manager of the National Polio Surveillance Project of the WHO (NPSP-WHO), stated: “...the outbreak of 2002 and the problems of polio eradication were not caused by the failure of O...

BACKGROUND Pentavalent antimonials have been the mainstay of antileishmanial therapy for decades, but increasing failure rates under antimonial treatment have challenged further use of these drugs in the Indian subcontinent. Experimental evidence has suggested that parasites which are resistant against antimonials have superior survival skills than sensitive ones even in the absence of antimoni...

India is one of three countries that account for an estimated 300,000 of 500,000 cases of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) occurring annually. Bihar State is the most affected area of India, with more than 90% of the cases. Surveys were conducted in two villages within the Saran district of Bihar, India, from 2009 to July of 2011 to assess risk factors associated with VL. Forty-five cases were ident...