Introduction: Children are at greatest risk for severe illness from Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). The aim of the study was to find out the knowledge of RSV, practice and knowledge about ...vaccination during pregnancy and the willingness to accept vaccines against RSV during pregnancy in the future among mothers needs to be understood which would add up information for stakeholder and policy makers.Methods: A preformed Performa was used for face-to-face interview was conducted among 340 pregnant women who visited the Antenatal clinic from 15-Oct-2023 to 30-Nov-2023 in their second and third trimester. Socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge and the attitude concerning antenatal vaccination affecting the acceptance of RSV vaccine were evaluated from the interview.Results: The mean age was 28.4 years, with 310 (91.18%) already having at least one child. Six (1.76%) participants had previously heard about RSV, and 325 (95.59%) were aware of the problem caused by RSV after they were briefly explained about it in their local language. A total of 246 (72.35%) of the mothers expressed willingness to be vaccinated themselves rather than vaccinating their children if such an option existed. Only 2 (0.59%) participants were familiar with nasal vaccines, and only 18 (5.29%) believed in such vaccines being effective. Despite this, almost all participants 339 (99.71%) in the study demonstrated willingness to receive additional antenatal vaccines if approved for use in future.Conclusions: The study showed a limited understanding of RSV in children among pregnant women in Nepal. However, they are aware of the impact of bronchiolitis and expressed a strong willingness to undergo maternal vaccination against RSV.
A case of a 61-year male presented with chief complaints of fever for three months. Diagnosis of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis was made after liver biopsy when Positron-Emission Tomography ...revealed multiple fluoro deoxy glucose avid lesions in the liver. The patient of this disease typically presents with fever, splenomegaly, hyperferritinemia, hypertriglyceridemia, raised liver enzymes, and marrow features suggestive of hemophagocytosis. The treatment is usually systemic corticosteroids, chemotherapy with etoposide, cyclosporine, or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, depending on the cause. A diagnosis like hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis can easily be missed in developing countries with low resources like Nepal. Hence, this disease should be suspected in patients presenting with pyrexia of unknown origin by treating physicians.
Sustainable conservation, development, and utilization of natural and humanresources is necessary for accelerated economic growth and fast-pacedsocio-economic transformation of Nepal. Asta-Ja ...Framework, which is atheoretically grounded grassroots based peaceful and self-reliant planningand development approach, offers practical strategies for sustainable con-servation and development of natural and human resources enhancing food,water, climate, and environmental security, accelerated economic growth, andsocio-economic transformation of Nepal. Asta-Ja includes interconnectedeight resources in Nepali letter, Ja, – Jal (water), Jamin (land), Jungle(forest), Jadibuti (medicinal and aromatic plants), Janashakti (manpower),Janawar (animal), Jarajuri (crop plants) and Jalabayu (climate). Asta-JaFramework is a unifying framework for planning and resources develop-ment and has a strong footing on science, business, and eastern philosophy.While providing practical guidelines for achieving food, water, climate and environmental security, this article presents Nepal Vision 2040, which isdeveloped considering challenges that Nepal is currently facing and itsavailable Asta-Ja resources, envisioning that Nepal’s economic developmentreaching at the par of developed nations by 2040. Key strategic sectorsidentified in Nepal Vision 2040 include smallholder mixed-farming system,agro-jadibuti industrialization, protection of drinking water sources, climatechange adaptation, environmental pollution control, conservation of naturalresources, infrastructure, tourism, renewable energy, alleviation of inequali-ties, and good governance. This article demonstrates strategies for addressingsocial discrimination and inequalities through the process of Asta-Ja com-munity capacity-building and self-reliant development. Ecological balanceof Asta-Ja resources is necessary for sustainable natural resources, economicdevelopment, and community resiliency. The Government of Nepal is sug-gested to adopt Asta-Ja Framework as its national planning and developmentframework for sustainable economic growth and fast-paced socio-economictransformation of the country.
Introduction: The paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) takes care of critically ill paediatric patients. Regular evaluation of the outcomes of patients admitted to PICU is important to assess the ...effectiveness of various interventions. This study aimed to find the morbidity and mortality pattern of patients admitted to PICU of tertiary level Paediatric hospital of Nepal.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective, cross sectional observational study using the records of all the patients admitted to PICU of a tertiary level hospital from January 2017 to August 2017. We collected data on age, sex, geographical distribution, duration of PICU stay and the morbidity and mortality outcomes. Outcome is classified as transfer to ward, leave against medical advice (LAMA) and death. Data were analysed descriptively using SPSS version 23.
Results: Out of 358 patients admitted to PICU, the mean age was 1.83 years. Majority were infants (54.5%) with male:female ratio of 1.8:1. The major causes of PICU admission were respiratory disease (27.7%) followed by CNS disease (19.6%) and infections (17.3%). The average length of stay was 6.27 days. Overall mortality was 22.7%.
Conclusion: Respiratory infections were the primary cause of PICU admission and overall mortality rate was high at 22.7%. However, mortality rate was even worse for patients with multi-system involvement. We need prospective studies to examine the underlying reasons for mortality among patients with multi-system involvement.
Three species of Taxus occur in Nepal T. contorta, T. maireii and Taxus wallichiana,. All are under pressure from collection for medicinal use, habitat destruction and changing land use. In 2017 and ...2018 fieldwork was carried out to collect seed, herbarium specimens, cuttings and information to improve protection of these species, funded by Fondation Franklinia. Collections were made for propagation, herbarium and molecular studies. Population level Information was also gathered to make national assessments for these species. This article traces the status of the living collections in the National Botanic Garden of Nepal (NBG) and the assessments made by the team comprising staffs of Department of Plant Resources (DPR) and Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and Freelance botanist. Reference is made to work done prior to 2017 on the taxonomy and distribution of the species and which enabled efficient fieldwork thereafter. The establishment of a conservation collection at NBG provides a basis for research into yew species in Nepal and highlights the benefits of internationally collaborative projects to maintain conservation collections of threatened species in their country of origin.
Introduction: Drug interactions are one of the major contributors to increase hospital stay, inflate health care expenses, and cause serious adverse events and end-organ damage. Patients admitted to ...the intensive care unit are already critically sick and are at greater risk of these adverse outcomes. The study aimed to find out the prevalence of potential drug-drug interactions in the Intensive Care Units of a tertiary care centre. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the patients admitted in the Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary care hospital from April-June 2019. Ethical approval was taken from the Institutional Review Board at the institute (Reference number: 399). Convenience sampling method was used. Data was collected using proforma and potential drug-drug interactions were identified using Lexicomp® drug-interactions version 1.1 (Wolters Kluwer). All the drug interactions identified were classified and the severity scale of interactions was also defined. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 17.0 was used for data analysis. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and mode. Results: Out of 101 patients, the prevalence of the drug-drug interaction was found to be 90 (89.11%) (83.04-95.18 at 95% Confidence Interval). A total of 490 drug-drug interactions were identified. In severity scale, it was seen that 311 (63.46%) were of moderate severity and 303 (61.83%) of drug interactions were categorised as category C in risk rating. Conclusions: Prevalence of potential drug-drug interactions was higher compared to similar published literature. The most common drug with potential interaction was fentanyl and among pairs was fentanyl plus paracetamol.
Dermatomyositis is an idiopathic inflammatory disease that affects the skin and proximal skeletal muscles. To our best knowledge, there are very few cases of Dermatomyositis reported in Nepal and ...almost none with respiratory manifestation. We present to you the case of dermatomyositis complicated with interstitial lung disease of a 74 years old male patient with a three-week history of generalized weakness, weight loss, Gottron's papule, and heliotrope rash, with features of interstitial lung disease such as shortness of breath, fever, and productive cough, later confirmed by high-resolution computed tomography. We monitored his serum creatine kinase/creatine phosphokinase level for two consecutive days which showed a progressive increase (281 U/L to 290 U/L). His antinuclear antibody test was positive. He was managed with standard treatment of dermatomyositis. This report might help understand the presentation of disease in our setting which can help in early diagnosis and early initiation of treatment.
The tourism industry has become a significant economic contributor to a number of countries worldwide. Until COVID-19, tourism was the world's largest and fastest-growing business. The importance of ...tourist arrivals and the examination of their effects has triggered curiosity among different researchers, as tourism helps in balance of payment and boosts the overall GDP of the nation. Thus, this paper aimed to examine the long-run relationship among the number of tourist arrivals per year and economic growth (proxied by GDP). The study used annual secondary data collected from World Development Indicators between 1995 and 2019. Cointegration test (ARDL bounds test) was applied to check the long-run relationship among the variables. The result shows that a 1% increase in tourist arrivals, in the long run, is associated with a 1.15% increase in GDP at a (p<0.05) significance level, other things remaining constant. The evidence from ARDL bounds cointegration test confirms that tourist arrivals have a long-run relationship with a significant impact on GDP in Nepal. Thus, this study recommends some policy implications like the allocation of government funds for infrastructure and tourism development is critical since these investments benefit the tourism industry and overall GDP of the country.
Nepal is known as the most landslide-prone country due to its fragile and diversified geographical structure, climatic change, active tectonic zones, and unplanned settlements in the mid-hills. This ...research employed a hybrid methodology, combining quantitative and qualitative approaches, to gain insights into the lived experiences of landslide victims in Bahrabise Municipality, which is the most landslide-prone area of the country. The study involves household questionnaire surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions (FGD) with 205 participants in three major landslide areas: Jambu, Ghumthang, and Jure. The study highlighted how landslides have affected on the livelihood's security in rural Nepal. Based on the results, landslides not only caused deaths and injuries but also inflicted livelihood insecurity in the landslide-prone area. The survey findings indicate that livelihood indices such as food, shelter, and employment are most deficient, while education and health have not been significantly affected. However informal interviews and FGD provide insights into displacement, psychological distress, and health challenges for victims. This paper contributes to the knowledge base as it focuses on a specific geographical area and provides localized insights into the effects of landslides on livelihood security. Policymakers and local communities can use the findings of this study as a basis for intervening in how to improve degraded livelihood security in the future.
•Provides insights into multifaceted consequences of landslide on livelihood-security.•A mixed method was used with 205 participants in landslide prone area of Nepal.•Enhancing livelihood security in research areas necessitates income diversification.
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