IMA encourages use of safe water and safe sanitary pads on World Menstrual Hygiene Day Says menstrual hygiene as important as food and water hygiene

IMA encourages use of safe water and safe sanitary pads on World Menstrual Hygiene Day Says menstrual hygiene as important as food and water hygiene New Delhi, 28 May 2017: According to statistics, between 43% and 88% of adolescent girls in urban India use reusable cloth for their periods, but do not clean them properly. A majority of rural women also employ rags during menstruation. These predispose them to reproductive tract infections as it is difficult for them to keep these used clothes and rags clean and free of harmful bacteria. In India, only 1 out of 2 girls have knowledge about menstruation before their first period. Statistics also indicate that only about 12% of Indian women are able to employ the commercially available sanitary napkins as an alternative. Every year, 28th May marks the World Menstrual Hygiene Day. The theme this year is "Education about menstruation changes everything". Menstrual hygiene is as important as food and water hygiene. Speaking about this, Padma Shri Awardee Dr K K Aggarwal, National President Indian Medical Association (IMA) and President Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI) and Dr RN Tandon – Honorary Secretary General IMA in a joint statement, said," Safe water and safe sanitary pads both are important for maintaining menstrual hygiene. In India, there is still a lot of ambiguity about menstrual hygiene. Using unclean cloth during menstruation can increase the risk of infections by up to 200%. Repeated use of unclean clothes and improper drying of used cloth before its reuse in menstruation can harbour microorganisms and thereby cause RTI. There is a need to conduct awareness programmes, particularly in government schools, about the onset of periods and practicing hygiene during those days. Girls cannot predict the onset of menstruation and therefore, schools should have a ready supply of sanitary napkins." As part of the World Menstruation Day this year, the IMA is also campaigning to encourage education and awareness on this topic which is still considered taboo by many in the country. Adding further, Dr Aggarwal, said, "This day offers the opportunity to create awareness on the importance for women and girls to hygienically manage their menstruation, safely and with dignity. It is imperative to educate girls and women alike on safe and hygienic practices to be followed during their menstrual cycle to avoid any infections and ensure good health." Here are some basic menstrual hygiene tips you can follow. • Choose your method of sanitation Be it sanitary napkins, tampons, or menstrual cups, choose what you are comfortable in. • Change regularly It is important to change the sanitary pad every 3 to 4 hours at least in the first two days. An excessively damp pad can harbour microorganisms and cause infection. • Wash yourself regularly Clean yourself every time you use the washroom or change, as this will keep you away from infections and also remove any bad odour. • Avoid using soaps or vaginal hygiene products Soap can kill the good bacteria and make way for infections. It should only be used on the external parts. • Discard the used sanitary product properly Used products can spread infections and can smell foul. It is therefore important to wrap it properly and discard it in a proper way.

Poor hygiene habits may lead to Typhoid fever

Poor hygiene habits may lead to Typhoid fever New Delhi, July 11, 2016: "Typhoid fever is caused by a bacterium called Salmonella typhi and is transmitted via ingestion of food or drink that has been contaminated by the feces or urine of infected people," said Padma Shri Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal – President Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI) and Honorary Secretary General IMA. Flying insects feeding on feces may occasionally transfer the bacteria through poor public sanitation conditions. Though the cases occur round the year, more cases are seen during summer and rainy seasons. Symptoms usually develop 1–3 weeks after exposure, and may be mild or severe. They include high fever, malaise, headache, constipation or diarrhea and enlarged spleen and liver. A healthy carrier state may follow acute illness. This fever can be treated with antibiotics. However, resistance to common antimicrobials is widespread. Healthy carriers should be excluded from handling food. Sanitation and hygiene are the critical measures that can be taken to prevent typhoid. Few salient facts about Typhoid fever • Typhoid does not affect animals and therefore transmission is only from human to human. • Typhoid can only spread in environments where human feces or urine are able to come into contact with food or drinking water. • Careful food preparation and washing of hands are crucial to preventing typhoid. • Typhoid fever in most cases is not fatal. • Prompt treatment of the disease with antibiotics reduces the fatality rate to approximately 1%. • When untreated, typhoid fever persists for three weeks to a month. • Resistance to common antibiotics is now common • Typhoid that is resistant to common antibiotics is known as multidrug-resistant typhoid (MDR typhoid). • Ciprofloxacin resistance is an increasing problem, especially in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. • Azithromycin is a new drug for drug-resistant typhoid. • Typhoid vaccine taken every three years is the best preventive approach. • All school children should take typhoid vaccine every 3 years. • Typhoid prevention sutra: heat it, boil it, cook it, peel it or forgot it

Good sanitation practices are a must to significantly reduce the risk of Ascaris, one of the most common worm infections in India

Good sanitation practices are a must to significantly reduce the risk of Ascaris, one of the most common worm infections in India

Extra precautions must be taken during the monsoon season that provides ideal breeding environment for the infectious roundworms New Delhi, June 10, 2016: Ascariasis is one of the most common helminthic human infections in India. It is estimated that more than one billion people are infected with the disease globally. A disease caused by the parasitic roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides, the incidence of Ascariasis is extremely high in India due to its wet-tropical climate that makes for an ideal breeding ground for the parasite. The prevalence of Ascariasis is greatest in areas where suboptimal sanitation practices lead to increased contamination of soil and water. The majority of individuals with Ascariasis live in Asia (73 percent), Africa (12 percent) and South America (8 percent), where the infection prevalence rates can be as high as 95 percent. While Ascariasis occurs among all age groups, it is most common in children 2 to 10 years old, and the prevalence of infection decreases over the age of 15 years. Infections tend to cluster in families, and worm burden correlates with the number of people living in a home. The parasitic infection in more than 85% of cases has no symptoms, especially if the number of worms is small. Symptoms increase with the number of worms present and may include shortness of breath and fever at the beginning of the disease. These may be followed by symptoms of abdominal swelling, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Infection with the roundworm occurs by eating food or drink contaminated with Ascaris eggs from feces of the infected individual. The eggs hatch in the intestines, burrow through the gut wall, and migrate to the lungs via the blood. The larvae mature in the alveoli and pass up the trachea, where they are coughed up and subsequently swallowed. The larvae then pass through the stomach for a second time into the intestine where they become adult worms. According to Padma Shri Awardee, Dr KK Aggarwal, President Heart Care Foundation of India & Honorary Secretary General Indian Medical Association, “The diagnosis of Ascariasis is usually established via stool microscopy. In regions where Ascaris worms are abundant in soil, prevention of re-infection is extremely difficult. Good and healthy sanitation practices including improving access to toilets, proper disposal of feces, educating people about effective hand washing techniques can go a long way in the prevention of the disease.“ Anthelminthic therapy is warranted for the intestinal, biliary and pancreatic disease. In general, anthelminthic therapy should not be administered at the time of pulmonary symptoms because inflammation associated with dying organisms may cause more harm than symptoms associated with larval migration. Targeted treatment for individuals with symptomatic infection helps reduce the morbidity of infection but does not have a substantial effect on transmission.