Japanese Encephalitis in Children admitted at Patan Hospital.

This is a hospital based retrospective study, which was done in Pediatric ward of Patan hospital. Study period was one and half year (from Srawan 2063 to 2064 poush).Data were taken from discharge book of Pediatric ward, from the record section of this hospital, and from JE surveillance office, WHO, Kathmandu. All children from 1 month to 14 years ,who were admitted in Pediatric ward with symptoms of Meningitis, Meningoencephalitis and Encephalitis were included in this study and patients more than 14 years of age and symptoms not suggestive of meningitis, meningoencephalitis or encephalitis were excluded from the study. Headache; vomiting and fever were the chief complaints of patients. Two patients died during study period. There were 16 patients with serologically confirmed Japanese encephalitis.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis: report of rare cases in Nepal.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is rare in Nepal although visceral leishmaniasis (kala azar) is common in the Terai region. In country like ours where tuberculosis is more prevalent cutaneous leishmaniasis is very likely to be mistreated as cutaneous tuberculosis, especially lupus vulgaris. Here we report a series of four cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis who presented in the out patient department at TUTH in the year 2006.

Herpes zoster in a five month old infant subsequent to intrauterine exposure to varicella infection.

Herpes zoster is characterized by painful vesicular eruption in a dermatomal distribution of sensory nerves as a result of reactivation of latent herpes zoster virus in posterior root ganglia. The primary varicella infection is usually acquired in childhood and reactivation usually is seen in elderly. In rare instances herpes zoster can also occur in infancy as a result of reactivation of primary varicella infection acquired in utero or in early infancy. Here, we report a rare case of herpes zoster in a 5 month baby who acquired primary infection in utero from mother who had varicella infection at 6 months of gestation.

Commercial sex workers in Kathmandu Valley: profile and prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases.

This paper presents a socioeconomic profile and the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), among 341 female commercial sex workers (CSWs) in Kathmandu Valley. Most of the CSWs are from outside the valley, but from within Nepal. Over 50% of the CSWs have a secondary or higher level of education. The average age of the CSWs is 21 years. The average age of first sexual intercourse was 16 years; and, at entering the sex trade, 18 years. The most frequently reported type of sexual activity is vaginal intercourse followed by anal intercourse. Although a large proportion of CSWs are aware of condoms, only one-fifth of them reported using condoms most of the time they had intercourse. The majority of the CSWs are aware of general types of STDs. Slightly over 60% are aware of AIDS, and the majority of them know of at least one mode of AIDS transmission. Gynecological examination based on symptoms revealed that 72% of the CSWs were infected with some type of STD. About 47% had vaginal discharges, 36% had pelvic inflammatory disease, 24% had ulcerative disease, and 4% had urethritis. Blood tests of the CSWs revealed that 28% had VDRL (a test for syphilis), hepatitis B, or HIV. The prevalence of VDRL was the most common, followed by hepatitis B. Of the 341 CSWs, 3 (0.9%) were HIV-positive.