Cutaneous aspergillosis masquerading in sporotrichoid morphology in an immunocompetent host.

Primary cutaneous aspergillosis is an uncommon opportunistic infection, generally seen in immunocompromised individuals. However, many atypical presentations have been reported recently particularly with the increased domain of immunosuppression. Sporotrichoid pattern of aspergillosis where it invades deep lymphatics have rarely been reported and never in immunocompetent individuals previously. We hereby report a case of a 29 years old immunocompetent individual with no comorbidities who presented with multiple painful erythematous papules and nodules over the left upper limb in a sporotrichoid pattern. Microscopy revealed branched septate hyphae and culture on Sabouraud dextrose agar grew powdery greenish colonies which showed hyaline branched septate hyphae with brush-like conidiophores and globose conidia in chains. Histopathology from one of the nodules was consistent with deep fungal infection. A diagnosis of Aspergillus chivalieri was made based on 18S rRNA sequencing of the isolate. The patient showed a satisfactory response to oral Itraconazole over 12 weeks.

Hepatitis B vaccination in Indian children: Seroprotection and age-related change in antibody titres.

BACKGROUND: Childhood immunization against hepatitis B is one of the most effective strategies for reducing the global burden of chronic hepatitis B infection and its sequelae. There are limited data from India on both the anti-Hep B antibody titres in children after vaccination and the age-related decline in the titres. This study was planned to estimate the proportion of children in the age group of 1-10 years who develop protective levels of anti-hepatitis B antibodies after childhood vaccination and to examine the change in antibody titres with age in these children. METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out in children admitted to the hospital for various ailments. Basic demographic data, vaccination history and HBsAg status of the mother were recorded. All the enrolled children were evaluated for HBsAg and anti hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBS) titres. Institutional ethical clearance was obtained, and informed consent from the parents of the children was taken before drawing samples. RESULTS: We found that 68.86% Confidence Interval ((CI): 59.8-76.8%) of the children showed protective antibody titres after vaccination, while 31.14% (CI: 23.1-40.2%) of the children had titres less than 10 IU/L. Although 100% of children in the age group from birth to three years had titres more than 10 IU/L, this percentage showed a decline across the age groups, and 60% of children aged 9-10 years had titres less than 10 IU/L. CONCLUSION: Childhood vaccination against hepatitis B is effective in 68% children, and the antibody levels showed a steady decline with increasing age.

Prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors.

BACKGROUND: Various studies conducted across the country have shown a high prevalence of known risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD) (like mean body mass index (BMI), systolic BP and raised cholesterol levels) but no exhaustive data is available pertaining to armed forces personnel. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of raised BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar among serving armed forces personnel ≥35 yrs of age. METHODS: The study was carried out between Jan 2013-Jun 2013. The study included all individuals ≥35 yrs of age deployed/posted in specific districts of northern part of the country (N = 5143) instead of a limited sample size. RESULTS: In this study, obesity was observed in 3.42% (95% CI: 2.96%-3.95%), raised BP in 14.07% (95% CI: 13.15%-15.05%) and raised blood sugar levels in 1.71% (95% CI: 1.39%-2.10%). Additionally, 67.72% (95% CI: 66.43%-68.99%) were pre-obese and 82.65% (95% CI: 81.60%-83.67%) were pre-hypertensives. CONCLUSION: Lower prevalence of hypertension, hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia was observed in armed forces personnel in comparison to country specific data. However, high prevalence of pre-obese and pre-hypertension suggests a need for concerted efforts towards preventive activities in this field.

Menstrual Hygiene, Management, and Waste Disposal: Practices and Challenges Faced by Girls/Women of Developing Countries.

Menstruation and menstrual practices still face many social, cultural, and religious restrictions which are a big barrier in the path of menstrual hygiene management. In many parts of the country especially in rural areas girls are not prepared and aware about menstruation so they face many difficulties and challenges at home, schools, and work places. While reviewing literature, we found that little, inaccurate, or incomplete knowledge about menstruation is a great hindrance in the path of personal and menstrual hygiene management. Girls and women have very less or no knowledge about reproductive tract infections caused due to ignorance of personal hygiene during menstruation time. In rural areas, women do not have access to sanitary products or they know very little about the types and method of using them or are unable to afford such products due to high cost. So, they mostly rely on reusable cloth pads which they wash and use again. Needs and requirements of the adolescent girls and women are ignored despite the fact that there are major developments in the area of water and sanitation. Women manage menstruation differently when they are at home or outside; at homes, they dispose of menstrual products in domestic wastes and in public toilets and they flush them in the toilets without knowing the consequences of choking. So, there should be a need to educate and make them aware about the environmental pollution and health hazards associated with them. Implementation of modern techniques like incineration can help to reduce the waste. Also, awareness should be created to emphasize the use of reusable sanitary products or the natural sanitary products made from materials like banana fibre, bamboo fibre, sea sponges, water hyacinth, and so on.

Chryseobacterium Indologenes Pneumonitis in an Infant: A Case Report.

Chryseobacterium indologenes, a non-fermentative Gram-negative bacilli distributed widely in nature, is an emerging nosocomial pathogen, inherently resistant to a wide range of antibiotics. There is limited number of C. indologenes infections reported from India. We report a case of C. indologenes associated pneumonia in a three-month-old infant with congenital heart disease. This case highlights the importance of prompt diagnostic workup and targeted antibiotic therapy for its effective management.

Statistical evaluation of physiological variability of rifampicin in fixed dose combinations.

Tuberculosis is one of the microbial diseases having a long history of its occurrence and yet to be eradicated from the world. Due to the development of bacterial resistance, treatment has changed from monotherapy to combotherapy to fixed dose combinations (FDCs). Rifampicin has been found one of the most important anti-tubercular drugs, however variable bioavailability of rifampicin in some FDCs as well as separate formulations has been reported in the literature, and led to the development of WHO model protocol for evaluation of FDCs for bioequivalence trials. In present investigation, role of physiological variability in rifampicin bioequivalence was studied. Influence of subject's body weight, inter/intra-individual variability of elimination rate and impact of outliers on the decision of bioequivalence were investigated. Normalization of pharmacokinetic measures for bioequivalence (AUC and C(max)) were carried out as per body weights and elimination rate constants of subjects, then different statistical tests like two-way ANOVA, hauschke analysis, normal and log-transformed confidence interval were applied to check for the change in bioequivalence decision. It was found that normalization as per body weights did not play a significant role in the outcome of bioequivalence endpoint. Similarly, elimination rate variability and outliers have been found insignificant regarding final outcome of bioequivalence study. Hence, it has been concluded that physiological variability did not play a significant role in bioequivalence of rifampicin in FDCs.