Sero prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in general population of Nagpur district

Background: Population based sero-epidemiological studies help us to determine the burden of COVID-19 infection at the community level and to monitor the trends in transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Antibody based sero-positivity indicates the extent of spread of infection in the given population and forms the basis for strengthening public health mitigation measures. The present study was carried out with the objective of conducting population level serosurvey in Nagpur district to understand the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and to help the designing and implementation of appropriate health system and policy level interventions. This cross-sectional study was carried out in Nagpur District over two weeks in October and November 2020. For the purpose of this survey the Nagpur district was divided into NMC area and Non NMC area.Methods: House to house survey was carried out and data was collected using Google form. For detection of SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies venous blood was collected from each participant and electrochemiluminescence immunoassay was performed. The data was cleaned, coded and analysed using EPI INFO.Results: The total seroprevalence in Nagpur district was found to be 35.17 %. The seroprevalance in NMC area was 49.7% which was more than twice from that of Non NMC area (20.7%).Conclusions: Considerably large numbers of infections are asymptomatic, however a sizeable proportion of population is still susceptible to the infection and thus there is no time for complacency.

Evaluation of Effectiveness of Information Booklet Regarding Self-Care among Patients Receiving Chemotherapy in Selected Hospitals of Wardha and Nagpur, India

BACKGROUND The incidence rate for cancer reflects the number of new cases occurring in a specific population during a year, expressed as the number of cancer diagnosis per 10,000 people. Cancer is globally a major cause of death and morbidity and is currently witnessing an exponential increase in the number of malignancies. The present study was conducted to assess the knowledge regarding self-care among patients receiving chemotherapy, to evaluate the effectiveness of information booklet regarding selfcare among patients receiving chemotherapy and to find out the association between knowledge score regarding self-care among patients receiving chemotherapy in selected hospitals. METHODS An experimental study was undertaken on 60 purposively selected patients receiving chemotherapy in selected hospitals of Wardha and Nagpur district. One group pretest post-test research design was used in the study. Data was collected by using structured questionnaire during the month of December 2019. The duration of study was for 5 months from October 2019 to February 2020. RESULTS The findings of the study show that 33.33 % patients had average knowledge score, 61.67 % patients had good knowledge score and 5 % patients had very good knowledge score in pre-test. Minimum knowledge score was 8 in pre-test and maximum knowledge score was 23 in pre-test. Mean knowledge score in pre-test was 15.53 ± 2.98 and mean percentage of knowledge score in pre-test was 44.38 ± 8.52. 11.67 % of patients had good knowledge score, 81.67 % of patients had very good knowledge score and 6.67 % of patients had excellent knowledge score in post-test. Minimum knowledge score was 20 in post-test and maximum knowledge score was 30 in the post-test. Mean knowledge score in pre-test was 24.61 ± 2.53 and mean percentage of knowledge score in post-test was 70.33 ± 7.25. It indicates that information booklet is effective in improving knowledge of patients receiving chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS Patients receiving chemotherapy have average knowledge regarding chemotherapy self-care. After providing information booklet, there was a very significant increase in the knowledge. The combined ‘t’ test was assessed in all hospitals for value of pretest knowledge and post-test knowledge score. Thus, it is concluded that the booklet on chemotherapy self-care is effective in improving the knowledge of patients receiving chemotherapy. KEY WORDS Cancer, Chemotherapy, Effectiveness, Self-Care

Analysis of Technical and Allocative efficiencies among Cotton Producers in Nagpur District, Maharashtra State, India

This article assessed the technical and allocative efficiencies of cotton farmers in Nagpur district, Maharashtra, India. A multi-stage sampling technique was adopted in selecting one hundred and twenty farmers. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, stochastic frontier production function and inefficiency model were employed for data analysis. Results from the review of socioeconomic characteristics reveal that cotton production in the study area was dominated by small and marginal farmers (96.7%). Majority of the cotton producers (84.2%) had small family size (2-6 persons) with low literacy rate. The results obtained from the stochastic frontier production function reveal that farm size and labour were the major determinants of cotton production in the study area. The mean technical efficiency estimate was 78%, implying that farmers are highly efficient although cotton output can still be raised by 22% through better resource allocation without incurring additional cost. Estimates of Allocative efficiency indicated that agrochemical was underutilized while fertilizer and labour were over utilized. Results from the inefficiency model indicate that educational status of the farmers was the major source of inefficiency in cotton production. The study therefore suggests intensive awareness campaign and regular extension visits by concerned authorities in order to facilitate better usage of improved technology packages aimed at enhancing yield and farm income.