Typhoid fever, caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi), is a major health problem especially in developing countries. Vaccines against typhoid are commonly used by travelers but less so by residents of endemic areas. The researchers used single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) typing to investigate the population structure of 372 S. Typhi isolated during a typhoid disease burden study and Vi vaccine trial in Kolkata, India.

Against the backdrop of Kolkata’s AMRI’s tragedy, EPW’s diagnosis and the preventive measures that have been suggested
are appropriate and logical (“Playing with Lives”, EPW, 31 December 2011). But will the authorities learn from the past? The
smaller cities which are growing fast without proper planning are more vulnerable to such risks. (Letters)

The AMRI crime is an example of how public safety is being repeatedly compromised. More specifically, it demonstrated the dismal trend of healthcare services being offered by “super specialty care” in public-private partnerships, which has raised the cost of medical treatment to exorbitant levels and deprived the poor of even basic treatment.

Voluntary donor selection and screening of donor’s blood for infective agents are the cornerstones of transfusion medicine. Strict donor selection criterion, proper counselling and deferred collection may reduce
wastage of resources. During the period of 01.01.2007 to 31.12.2008, a total number of 44,173 units of blood were collected from healthy voluntary donors. There were 39,734 males and 4,439 were females with a ratio of
9:1. Age ranged from 18-60 years. Blood was collected CPDA-1 bags.

One of the vital activities in an urban area is transport. However it also contributes to air pollution, noise pollution and road traffic accidents. Congestion, vibration, community severance and visual intrusion are other transport related problems. Air quality on the city of Kolkata (a metro city of India) seems to be deteriorating. Pollution level in the city and its outskirts is alarming. This is due to old vehicle plying in the road of Kolkata and illegal vehicle plying violating pollution norms, by using bad fuel such as KATATEL.