Empowering Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committee members on dengue prevention and control: An educational interventional study in rural areas of Mysuru, Karnataka

Objectives: Dengue, among all the vector-borne diseases, continues to be a major public health problem in India. Dengue once considered being problem in urban areas, now it is increasingly found in rural areas. Thus, empowering the village level functionaries like members of Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committee (VHSNC) can help in prevention and control of dengue in the rural areas. The present study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of educational intervention on perception regarding dengue and its prevention among VHSNC members. Material and Methods: This prospective interventional study was conducted among all 305 VHSNC members of two randomly selected primary health centers of Mysuru talukas for the period of 6 months. Baseline levels of perception on dengue were collected using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Educational intervention on various domains of dengue and its prevention was provided using audiovisual aids, handouts, and group discussion. Endline survey was conducted 1 month after the education sessions to assess the effectiveness intervention. Results: A total of 305 VHSNC members participated in the study. In pre-test survey, only 189 (61.9%) had ever heard of disease dengue. In post-test survey, 274 (91.3%) had heard of dengue. There was a statistically significant improvement in perception regarding, preventable nature of dengue, mode of transmission, breeding and biting habits of mosquito, source reduction measures, and personal protective measures against mosquito bites following educational intervention. Conclusion: Educational intervention was found to be effective in empowering village level stake holders like VHSNC members regarding dengue and its prevention.

Challenges and opportunities for the future Clinical Nutrition Committee in Tartu University Hospitals

Patients of health care and welfare institutions have several accompanying diseases; therefore, the nutritional counsellors’ or dietary nurses’ competence is often insufficient for administering a special diet, but the help of clinical dietologists and physicians of different specialities is necessary. In elaboration of clinical nutrition therapy strategies, their consistent development and coordination, an interdisciplinary clinical nutrition team can be helpful. Raising the nutritional awareness of the staff of structural units of medical and welfare institutions in helps them make rational choices in different disease cases, guaranteeing the patient’s wellbeing and a health care service with maximum benefit and minimum risk for the patient’s health. Physicians and other specialists of Tartu University Hospital (nurses, speech therapists, pharmacists, nutrition counsellors, diabetes nurses) have contributed comprehensively to chronic patients’ individual counselling during hospital treatment and supporting of outpatients’ nutritional treatment. In 2018, an initiative group of physicians of the hospital presented to the hospital’s Executive Board the need for establishing a broad-based expert group of clinical nutrition. With the Executive Board’s decision, a clinical nutrition committee was founded for rendering the nutrition treatment service.

Exploring early life events including diet in cats presenting for gastrointestinal signs in later life

Our study aimed to determine if certain early life events were more prevalent in cats presenting to veterinary practices specifically for gastrointestinal signs on at least two occasions between six months and 30 months of age. Data from an owner-completed questionnaire for 1212 cats before 16 weeks of age and subsequent questionnaires for the same cats between six months and 30 months of age were reviewed. Of the 1212 cats included, 30 visited a veterinary practice for gastrointestinal signs on two or more occasions. Of the early life events recorded, cats reported with vomiting, diarrhoea or both, and/or those not exclusively fed commercial diet(s) that meets the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) Global Nutrition Committee (GNC) guidelines before 16 weeks of age were more likely to visit veterinary practices specifically for gastrointestinal signs on at least two occasions between six months and 30 months of age (P<0.001, odds ratio (OR)=2.64, 95 per cent confidence interval (CI)=1.66–4.22 and P=0.030, OR=1.51, 95 per cent CI=1.04–2.22, respectively). Ensuring cats exclusively consume commercial diet(s) that meets the WSAVA GNC guidelines and further studies identifying specific aetiologies for vomiting and diarrhoea before 16 weeks of age to enable prevention may reduce the number of cats subsequently presenting to primary care veterinary practices for repeated gastrointestinal signs.