Descriptive study on the clinical profile and demography of patients with chronic folliculitis of leg attending a tertiary referral center

Objectives: The objectives are as follows: (1) To document the clinical profile and demography of patients attending a tertiary referral institution with chronic folliculitis of leg and (2) to document the bacteriological profile of pustular lesions of chronic folliculitis. Materials and Methods: After obtaining clearance from institutional research and ethics committees, consecutive patients who attended our tertiary care center with clinically diagnosed chronic folliculitis of the leg from December 1, 2016, to November 30, 2017, were included in this cross-sectional study. The data regarding patient characteristics and clinical profile of disease were collected using a preset pro forma. Pus culture and sensitivity study was carried out in all patients who had pustules at presentation. The association between duration of disease and extent of disease and duration of disease and clinical grading was evaluated by Pearson’s Chi-square analysis. Results: The study population comprised 39 (78%) males and 11 (22%) females with male to female ratio of 3.5:1. Study participants ranged in age from 16 to 67 years. In 15/24 (62.5%) patients who manifested pustules, pus culture isolated pathogenic bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, sensitive to cloxacillin in 14 (58.3%) and methicillin-resistant S. aureus in one (4.2%). Limitations: A study conducted in a tertiary referral center not reflecting the disease profile in the community was the major limitation. Conclusion: Staphylococcus aureus sensitive to common antibiotics like cloxacillin being the most common pathogen isolated from pustular lesions signifies the need for more prospective studies with a large sample size to evaluate the role of environmental factors and individual’s immune system in maintaining the inflammation in chronic folliculitis of the leg. </jats:sec

A clinico-epidemiological study of herpes genitalis in a tertiary care institution in Northern Kerala

&lt;p class="abstract"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;Herpes genitalis, has assumed greater importance, being the most common genital ulcer disease nowadays. Hence we aimed to study and analyse the epidemiology of herpes genitalis among STI clinic attendees of our institution during the three year study period.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="abstract"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;Previous case records of those who attended the STI clinic of our tertiary care institution with herpes genitalis from 2009 January to 2011 December were reviewed, data collected and studied&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="abstract"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;87 of the 530 patients (16.4%) who attended our STI clinic during the three year study period were diagnosed to have herpes genitalis. Females (57) outnumbered males (30) and majority of the affected belonged to the 20-39 age group (58/87, 66.7%). The common clinical types noted were primary herpes genitalis in females (38/57, 66.7%) and recurrent herpes genitalis (15/30, 50%) in males. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="abstract"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;span lang="EN-IN"&gt;The facts that all female patients except one were married, only 7.7 % of female patients had either EMC or PMC and many had developed symptoms within one year of their marriage, indicated that marital contact is the commonest cause of herpes genitalis in females in this locality. Significant percentage of primary herpes occurring in pregnant females points to the necessity of pre-marital counselling regarding various STIs and their respective modes of transmission. The study also indicated that males tend to get recurrences for a more prolonged period (2 months to 30 years) , compared to females ( 2 months to 5 years).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</jats:p

Lamotrigine-induced cutaneous adverse drug reactions: A case series

Lamotrigine is used in the management of seizures and bipolar disorder. Cutaneous adverse drug reactions (CADRs) including severe forms are not uncommon following lamotrigine. Existing data suggest that the risk for adverse events could be reduced by initiating the drug at a lower dose and going for a slow titration to therapeutic dose. Here, we report four cases of lamotrigine-induced CADR. Three of the four suffered from severe drug reactions and in none of them lamotrigine was administered according to recommended guidelines.</jats:p