Survey Finds Low Levels of Awareness About Typhoid Prevalence and Ways to Prevent It

Summary 

* Nationwide survey of 1,337 respondents across eight cities shows low awareness on typhoid prevalence and ways to prevent it including vaccination

* More than one sixth (17%) of respondents in Bangalore who did not vaccinate their children considered typhoid to be ‘not at all serious’ or ‘mild/easily manageable’

* With 2.2 million cases of typhoid recorded in India in 2016, the country has one of the highest incidence rates in the world, with the disease affecting mainly children

* Typhoid symptoms are often non-distinguishable from other illnesses but early preventative treatment measures including education play a key role in protecting children

Abbott, one of India’s leading healthcare companies, partnered with Babygogo (part of the Sheroes Network), to conduct a nationwide survey across eight cities* to assess awareness around typhoid fever. With 2.2 million cases of typhoid being recorded in India alone in 2016,[1] typhoid fever poses a serious disease burden in the country. In fact, in Karnataka alone, there were 137,973 cases in 2017, contributing 6.21% to India’s total burden.[2]

Typhoid fever, which is a bacterial infection, tends to affect children most, with peak incidence occurring in children aged 5-15 years.[3] Currently available evidence shows that vaccination against typhoid is effective and tolerable.[4] The survey results highlighted that only 66% of respondents reported being aware of a typhoid vaccination.

Key Survey Findings

* There are higher levels of awareness for mandatory vaccines, i.e., vaccines given in National Immunization Program of the country (NIP) such as rotavirus (82%) compared to vaccines not given in NIP such as influenza (67%) and typhoid (66%).

* The survey revealed that more than one sixth of respondents in Bangalore who did not vaccinate their children (17%) considered typhoid to be ‘not at all serious’ or ‘mild/easily manageable’, unaware of the fact that the bacterial infection can lead to serious complications  if left untreated or treated with inappropriate medicines.

* Other findings suggest that key reasons for not vaccinating include absence of vaccine recommendation by the pediatrician (48%) and non-inclusion in the list of NIP vaccines (36%).

Misleading Symptoms and Delay in Treatment

Commenting on these findings, Dr. R. Kishore Kumar, Senior Neonatologist & Founder Chairman of Cloudnine group of hospitals said, “The Indian subcontinent has the highest incidence of typhoid worldwide.[5] The illness is characterized by prolonged fever, headache, nausea, loss of appetite, and constipation or sometimes diarrhoea[6]. Since these symptoms are often clinically non-distinguishable from other illnesses causing fever, typhoid is frequently not treated appropriately at the early stages when such treatment is most effective – which makes prevention all the more important. In a yet unpublished study carried out at Cloudnine, we found many children affected now a days are much younger – as young as 7 months in contrast to the olden days when children were school going age group. The findings of this survey carried out by Abbott indicate that physician recommendation can play a key role in ensuring higher immunization rates to protect children from this disease, as can efforts to educate patients. I encourage parents to seek guidance from their doctors about this vaccination.”

Myths on Causes for the Disease

Survey findings also show that myths about the disease are highly prevalent. As a bacterial bloodstream infection, typhoid fever spreads through contaminated water and food, often due to lack of hygiene and access to drinkable water. Yet 57% of survey respondents nationwide inaccurately attributed the cause of typhoid to a change of weather or season. Significantly, less than half of mothers from Bangalore identified close contact (37%), touching contaminated surfaces (20%) or eating food cooked by a typhoid patient (25%) as risky behaviours that could spread typhoid.

Prevention Helps Lessen Infections and Drug Resistance

Studies have shown that vaccinations can help lower the incidence of infection, but 13% of the respondents in Bangalore stated that they prefer to take the risk of getting a serious medical condition than to receive a vaccination for it.

Dr. Kishore Kumar added, “Prevention through vaccination will help reduce typhoid burden and mortality. IAP has recommended now the vaccine can be given to children as young as 6 months along with the influenza vaccine. Given the rising emergence of drug-resistant strains of typhoid, administration of typhoid vaccination to populations at high risk of infection is a public health priority. [7]  The survey findings indicate the vast majority of mothers have low levels of awareness about typhoid and the specific precautions that need to be taken to protect themselves and their families. Educating mothers about the benefits of getting their child vaccinated is the need of the hour.”

Dr. Srirupa Das, Medical Director, Abbott India, explains, “The findings shed light on awareness levels, motivation and behaviors around typhoid vaccination in India. They suggest that increased awareness on typhoid and ways to prevent it, such as improved hygiene levels and vaccination, can contribute to lessening India’s health burden due to typhoid infections. As part of our mission of helping people live healthier lives, we support educational initiatives on typhoid fever in India, especially amongst new mothers and parents in general.”

About the survey

Abbott India, in partnership with Babygogo (part of the Sheroes Network), conducted a survey across eight cities* namely Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune to understand the perceptions and barriers surrounding typhoid vaccination. A total of 1,337 respondents were surveyed online on awareness levels, motivation and behaviours surrounding vaccination against typhoid in India. 37% of caregivers surveyed had children aged 0 to 6 months, 39% had children aged 6 months to a year and 24% of people had children 1-2 years old.

About Abbott

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 107,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries. In India, Abbott was established in 1910, and is one of the country's oldest and most admired healthcare companies. With over 12,000 employees in the country, Abbott in India is helping to meet the healthcare needs of consumers, patients and doctors throughout urban and rural India.

Indian Software Programmers are Rooting for Cloud Certifications Amid COVID Lockdown: TechGig Survey

Survey Report

●    COVID-19 lockdown has catalysed the willingness of techies to getting certified, finds TechGig survey

●    Deep understanding of a new-age technology emerged the biggest reason for techies to take a certification

●    Freshers and new joiners are more interested in getting certifications than working professionals

●    Around 35% of respondents admit that the prices of certification courses are out of their budget

Cloud technology – which is facilitating communication and remote working amid the present COVID-19 lockdown – is also the preferred choice for upskilling for the Indian developers, reveals a survey conducted by TechGig. The preference for Cloud overshadowed other new-age technologies as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. 

The jobs of the future would require expertise in new-age niche skills, and upskilling is the only resolve for a long term career in technology. Hence certification programs are gaining popularity among the IT professionals.

Over 1,750 IT professionals participated in the TechGig ‘IT Certification Survey’, where around 78% of respondents belonged to the 25-30 years age bracket. More than 82% of respondents were already employed in the IT sector. About 55% of the survey respondents were freshers with 0-2 years of work experience.

Commenting on these findings, Sanjay Goyal, TimesJobs and TechGig said, “In today’s peculiar COVID-19 time, technology is the only thread which is holding the world together. From Cloud computing – which are assisting work-from-home to Artificial Intelligence – which is helping Banking, Retail and critical sectors run operations; and even Robotics – which is helping the front-line hospital staff; new-age technologies are helping the world connect in the present time. The TechGig survey reveals that eagerness of Indian developers to upskill on these new-age technologies. Also, about 86% of people said that their career got a boost because of upskilling – which is an actual proof that employers prefer people skilled in these technologies”. 

Here are the key takeaways from the survey -

IT certifications help boost career

More than 86% of the respondents had previously joined a certification program and said that their certification had boosted the career prospects.

Adoption of certification courses is on the rise

Over 90% of the respondents revealed that they are planning to have an IT certification soon. About 58% of people are more inclined to learn new and niche technologies rather than upskilling in a known one.

Deep understanding of technology is the biggest reason for certification

The TechGig survey revealed that the biggest reason for people to go for an IT certification is the willingness to deeply understand a modern-age technology. However, more than around 25% of people said that they want to take a certification to upskill and get ready for a better job.

People are inclined to leave their organisation after certification

Surprisingly, people who are joining a certificate program are more interested in leaving the current organisation once their certification is complete. Getting an appraisal in the current organisation is the last thing in their minds and only 18% of people want to stay in the same organisation after their certification.

COVID-19 pandemic has catalysed the desire to get certified 

The COVID-19 pandemic and home isolation have worked as catalysts for around 93% of techies to motivate them to go for a certification. When asked if they will continue their certificate course once the pandemic has ended and bans are lifted, 91% of the respondents gave it a nod.

Cloud technology is the hottest domain for upskilling

One of the most interesting findings of the survey is that despite the emergence of a whole bunch of ultra-modern technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Quantum Computing, the favourite domain with 28% votes goes to Cloud computing.

Budget is a major concern for techies in choosing a certificate course

The survey reveals that most of the techies (83%) seek a certification course that is under INR 10,000. No one wants to spend a big amount on certification. Around 35% of respondents admit that the prices of certification courses are out of their budget. Also, people are more inclined to join a free certification program. Only 38% of people say that they are willing to pay a fee only if the certificate adds great value to their resume.

Short-term certifications are most in-demand

Around 87% of people said that they do not want to spend more than 3 months on a certification program.

People understand that certification is a need of the hour

When asked who advised them to take a certification program, more than 83% of the respondents say that they are self-motivated to become a highly-skilled professional.

Is Indian CEO confidence highest in world?

Indian CEOs expect their businesses to be less affected by the crisis in the international banking system than their global counterparts.

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 12th Annual Global CEO Survey found only 50% of the respondents in India saying they were likely to be affected by the credit crisis, as compared to 70% globally.

India has recorded the highest CEO confidence levels amongst the emerging economies, with 70% expressing confidence about both short term and long term revenue growth, compared to just 21% and 34% globally. CEOs worldwide were gloomier about longer-term growth, predicting a slow recovery.

“This confidence is extremely significant since it signals the inherent strength of the Indian market, and its continuing potential for growth even in the face of crisis,” said Ramesh Rajan, chairman of PwC, India. Pessimism prevailed across all geographic regions, business sectors and levels of economic development, said the survey. Only 15% of CEOs in North America and 15% in Western Europe expressed confidence about growth prospects for the next 12 months. This compared with 21% in the emerging economies of Central and Eastern Europe, 31% in Asia Pacific, and 21% in Latin America.

The outlook for the next 12 months was optimistic for Indian CEOs as 89% of the respondents expect to make a return on investment in products or services provided, compared to 69% globally. 60% of Indian respondents said that they were likely to grow their businesses by penetrating existing markets better, compared to 37% globally.

Indian CEOs indicated that M&A activities were likely to play a greater role in the growth of their businesses than JVs or strategic alliances, in contrast with the global trend. 97% of Indian CEOs indicated that information about employee views and needs was important in making decisions about the long-term success and durability of their business, compared to 88% globally. The India figure was highest in Asia too.

For the survey, 1,124 interviews with CEOs were conducted in 50 countries during the last quarter of 2008.

Times of India