ABSTRACT
Tuberculosis is a common disease in children but it is highly mismanaged. It is bound to be triggered off by HIV infection in the near future. The importance of HIV and TB has become apparent from the high incidence of disease caused by mycobacteria in AIDS patients. The injudicious use of needles and syringes should be discouraged in high HIV prevalence countries. Multiple drug resistant tuberculosis is emerging as one of the most important problems in medical history. It is often created by health workers who administer anti-TB drugs improperly. The diagnostic aspects and treatment are discussed.
Subject(s)
AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/diagnosis , Child , Child, Preschool , Cross-Sectional Studies , Developing Countries , Humans , India/epidemiology , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Risk Factors , Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant/diagnosis , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/diagnosisABSTRACT
One hundred and twenty four cases of Reye's syndrome admitted to Vanivilas Children's Hospital, Bangalore were investigated. Clinical, biochemical and epidemiological details were obtained. The median age was five years, with no difference in sex ratio. This disease was frequent in winter months. Cases clustered in certain congested localities of the city among lower socio economic strata. Aspirin and varicella could not be associated as preceding factors. The clinical and biochemical features of the patients were suggestive of Reye's syndrome. Histopathological evaluation was done in 104 liver biopsy specimens. Virological studies for influenza and arbovirus were negative. Mortality was high (78%).
Subject(s)
Biopsy , Brain/pathology , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , India/epidemiology , Infant , Liver/pathology , Male , Reye Syndrome/bloodABSTRACT
An open multicentric trial was conducted on 175 patients to compare the antipyretic efficacy of ibuprofen (7 mg/kg) and paracetamol (8 mg/kg). Children between the age of 4 months and 12 years with fever were admitted to the study, 85 in the ibuprofen group and 90 in the paracetamol group. The axillary temperatures were recorded at half hourly intervals for 2 hours. The mean fall in temperature at 1, 1.5 and 2 hours was similar in both groups and the differences were not statistically significant (p greater than 0.05). At half hour, the fall in temperature (mean +/- SEM) for ibuprofen was 0.1975 +/- 0.0409 and for paracetamol was 0.3843 +/- 0.0490. This absolute difference of 0.19 degrees C was statistically significant (p less than 0.05). We conclude that ibuprofen has antipyretic activity comparable to that of paracetamol and that it could be a valuable alternative antipyretic in clinical practice. There is a need to repeat this trial with higher doses of ibuprofen, to establish a dose response of the drug, if any, and to find an optimally effective dose.