Clinical profile of severe acute malnutrition among children under five years of age living in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh

Introduction: Malnutrition is a general term and often refers to undernutrition resulting from inadequate consumption, poor absorption, or excessive loss of nutrients, but the term also encompasses overnutrition. Objective: The objective is to study the clinical profile of children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and also to assess the effectiveness of Nutrition Rehabilitation Center in providing therapeutic care for children with SAM. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was conducted at the department of pediatrics of a tertiary care center at Jhansi for a period of 12 months among 152 children with SAM. A detailed history and physical examination finding were recorded in pretested pro forma at the time of admission using the standard methodology and anthropometric measurement expressed in standard deviation from the median of the reference population (WHO). Results: Majority of the patients (96, 63.15%) belonged to age group of

Oral fenofibrate in neonatal hyperbilirubinemia: A randomized controlled trial

Objective: To evaluate the role of oral fenofibrate for lowering neonatal hyperbilirubinemia as compared to placebo. Design: Doubleblind,randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Setting: NICU of tertiary care hospital of North India. Subjects: 50 neonates with neonatalhyperbilirubinemia. Neonates (≥35 weeks of gestation), birth weight (1.5-3.5 kg), jaundice beginning at day 3-11 after birth, totalbilirubin level between 15 and 21 mg/dl, and clinically stable vital signs. Intervention: Neonates were assigned randomly to receiveeither single dose of oral fenofibrate at 10 mg/kg/dose on day 1 of admission and distilled water on the following next day or a singledose of oral glucose solution on day 1 and distilled water on the following next day. Malloy-Evelyn method was used to estimatethe serum total bilirubin levels. All newborns enrolled in this study, received phototherapy. The cases were divided into two groups,i.e. study (fenofibrate) group and control group. Measurement of Primary Outcome: Duration of phototherapy. Results: Mean valuesfor total serum bilirubin in fenofibrate group at 36 and 48 h after starting of phototherapy were significantly lower in the study groupthan those in the control group (p<0.00001). The mean time needed for phototherapy was also shorter in the study group than controlgroup (p<0.0002). No side effects of fenofibrate were observed after a single dose administration. Conclusion: Fenofibrate appears tobe an effective and safe drug for the treatment of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. This decreases the duration of phototherapy and thusshortens the length of hospital stay