A case of auricular tuberculosis - Is it congenital or neonatal tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis (TB) in children is one of the leading infectious diseases worldwide and is still a serious public health problem in many countries. True congenital TB is rare; the greatest threat to the neonate is the acquisition of TB infection shortly before or after birth, which tends to progress rapidly to serious TB disease in a large proportion of untreated infants. The definition of congenital TB is so stringent that some cases of neonatal TB like the one we are reporting here lead to confusion as to whether we should report it as congenital TB or neonatal TB. We report an unusual case of localized auricular TB in a preterm neonate. Neonatal TB is rare but can be severe

NB-JNCD Coding and Iterative Joint Decoding Scheme for a Reliable communication in Wireless sensor Networks with results

Privacy threat is a very serious issue in multi-hop wireless networks (MWNs) since open wireless channels are vulnerable to malicious attacks. A distributed random linear network coding approach for transmission and compression of information in general multisource multicast networks. Network nodes independently and randomly select linear mappings from inputs onto output links over some field. Network coding has the potential to thwart traffic analysis attacks since the coding/mixing operation is encouraged at intermediate nodes. However, the simple deployment of network coding cannot achieve the goal once enough packets are collected by the adversaries. This paper proposes non-binary joint network-channel coding for reliable communication in wireless networks. NB-JNCC seamlessly combines non-binary channel coding and random linear network coding, and uses an iterative two-tier coding scheme that weproposed to jointly exploit redundancy inside packets and across packets for error recovery

Knowledge attitude and practices of pneumococcal vaccines in India

Introduction: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) have revolutionized the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) globally.The initial 7-valent (PCV7) vaccine has gradually been replaced by higher valency vaccines such as PCV10 and PCV13, as these cover additionalserotypes causing increased immunization. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the overall attitude and practices of the Indian public toward PCV for their infants. Materials and Methods: Data were collected over a period of 18 months from a tertiary perinatal center. Pneumococcal vaccine leaflets with current, unbiased information on PCV10 and PCV13 were circulated to parents, who were then asked to opt for either one or none of the vaccines for their infants at their 6 weeks immunization check-up. Results: A total of 3406 infants came for follow-up. Among them, 84% chose to give the PCV while the remaining 16% opted out. Among the parents that opted for the vaccines, 90% chose PCV13 over PCV10. This may be attributable to its increased immunogenicity and broader serotype coverage as understood by the parents - who seem to want the best for their children. Conclusion: PCV13 was a preferred vaccine of choice for infants by majority of the parents, as compared to PCV10. Such information is of valuable importance in deciding which vaccine to go for if and when India goes for PCV in the future with Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization and United Nations Children’s Fund funding

Antimicrobial, Wound Healing And Antioxidant Activities Of Anthocephalus cadamba

Anthocephalus cadamba (Roxb.) Miq. Syn A. chinensis (Lamk) A. Rich (Rubiaceae) is ethnomedicinally widely used in the form of paste by tribe in western Ghats for treating skin diseases. In this context, antimicrobial potential of A. cadamba against a wide range of microorganisms was studied. To validate the ethnotherapeutic claims of the plant in skin diseases, wound healing activity was studied, besides antioxidant activity to understand the mechanism of wound healing. The alchoholic and aqueous extract of this plant showed significant antibacterial and antifungal activity against almost all the organisms: Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and four fungi Candida albicans, Trichophyton rubrum—dermatophyte fungi, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus nidulans—systemic fungi, with especially good activity against the dermatophyte (Trichophyton rubrum) and some infectious bacteria (Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis and Staphylococcus aureus) with an MIC of 2.5 μg/disc. The results show that A. cadamba extract has potent wound healing capacity as shown from the wound contraction and increased tensile strength. The results also indicated that A. cadamba extract possesses potent antioxidant activity by inhibiting lipid peroxidation and increase in the superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activity. Keywords: Anthocephalus cadamba; Antimicrobial activity; Antioxidant; Wound healing;African Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine Vol. 4 (4) 2007: pp. 481-48

A CASE REPORT ON WILSON’S DISEASE: A RARE CLINICAL CONDITION OF COPPER DEPOSITION IN LIVER

Wilson’s disease is a rare inherited disorder and is characterized by the accumulation of copper in various tissues and also in organs like the liver, brain, kidneys and cornea. Symptoms in paediatrics characteristically appear with hepatic involvement. In this case we have discussed about an eleven-year-old male child, who was presented to the Paediatric department in a tertiary care hospital with chief complaints of yellowish discoloration of eyes, dark coloured urine and high grade fever. Due to the accumulation of copper there were decreased levels of ceruloplasmin and there was an increased 24 hour urinary copper, which confirms the Wilson’s disease in this child. Child was treated with Cephalosporin antibiotics, vitamins, laxative, and bile acid sequestrants. Child showed gradual improvement in clinical symptoms and got discharged without any further event. Quality of evidence was assessed according to the GRADE system. Early diagnosis and management helped to prevent serious complications

Metallic sewing needle ingestion presenting as acute abdomen

We reported an unusual case of a 26‑year‑old man presenting to surgical emergency as generalized peritonitis following an ingestion of multiple metallic sewing needles. The X‑ray of his abdomen showed pneumoperitoneum and multiple metallic foreign bodies in the abdominal cavity. An ultrasonogram of his abdomen showed multiple metallic foreign bodies in the abdominal cavity and urinary bladder. Emergency exploratory laparotomy was performed. On laparotomy, gastric and duodenal perforation was found through which metallic sewing needles were protruding out. A peritoneal lavage was done, and all the sewing needles were extracted from the perforation site, paracolic gutter, liver parenchyma, and urinary bladder. The primary repair of the perforation with omental patching was done with the drainage of subhepatic space and pelvic cavity. These multiple ingested sewing needles led to the perforation of the stomach and the duodenum, which resulted in perforation peritonitis.Keywords: Foreign body, gastrointestinal tract, metallic sewing needles, schizophrenia, X‑rayNigerian Journal of Clinical Practice • Oct-Dec 2013 • Vol 16 • Issue

Comparison of feeding methods in neonates - A retrospective cohort study from India

Background: Preterm babies who are unable to breastfeed but are able to swallow are commenced on cup or paladai or bottle as alternative feeding methods. Although the World Health Organization recommends the use of cup owing to reduced infection risk, many neonatal units use the bottle for feeding. Objectives: The aim was to compare the two groups with regard to time taken to commence oral feeds, breastfeeds, achieve full oral feeds, complications, gestational age at discharge, discharge weight, and infant formula use at discharge. Material and Methods: This retrospective observational study was performed to compare two cohorts ofpreterm babies who were fed either by bottle or paladai (small feeding cup with a long spout traditionally used in India) during their transition from tube to breastfeeding. Results: During the study period, there were 68 babies in Center 1 where paladai was used and 71 in Center 2 where bottle was used. The gestational age at which oral feeding was commenced, full oral feeds, gestational age at discharge, and discharge weight were similar in both the groups. Breastfeeding was commenced significantly earlier in the bottle-fed group (p<0.05). The use of infant formula was also significantly more in this group. One baby aspirated in the paladaigroup. Conclusion: With adequate training and attention to hygiene, paladai or feeding bottles could be equally safe methods of feeding in hospitalized preterm neonates