Skin branding for jaundice in children: A brutal cultural dermatosis.

Dermatological conditions associated with socio-cultural and religious practices, known as "cultural dermatoses," are commonly seen in medical practice. This article presents seven cases of children who underwent skin branding for jaundice in Southern India. Skin branding, a traditional healing method, involves applying heated objects to cause third-degree burns. Healthcare providers should be aware of these cultural practices to avoid misdiagnosis.

Successful treatment of prolonged cholestasis following hepatitis A infection in a child with oral steroid therapy.

Hepatitis A is a common cause of acute infectious hepatitis in children, transmitted through the faeco-oral route. Although mostly self-limiting, cholestasis is a rare but known complication of acute hepatitis A in children. This report presents an adolescent girl who developed cholestatic features following hepatitis A infection and successful treatment with oral steroid therapy. Prolonged cholestasis jaundice (PCJ) is a known manifestation of hepatitis A infection, characterised by prolonged fever, pruritus and jaundice. While the exact mechanisms causing PCJ are not fully understood, immunological-mediated responses could play a role. Treatment options for PCJ are limited, and there is no currently accepted standard of care. Steroids have shown promise in treating PCJ, as observed in this case and a few other reported cases. When other therapies fail to alleviate symptoms, corticosteroids should be considered as a potential treatment option. However, further studies are required to conclusively establish their efficacy.

Clinical profile and outcomes of pediatric scrub typhus associated with elevated hepatic transaminases.

BACKGROUND: Hepatic transaminase (HT) elevation is frequently seen in children with scrub typhus (ST), but the clinical implication of this common finding is not known. OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical profile and outcome of pediatric ST with elevated hepatic transaminase. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, all children < 12 years of age presenting with fever for ≥ 5 days and positive immunoglobulin M (IgM) serology for ST were included. Clinical findings, laboratory features and outcomes of children with elevated HT were compared with those who had normal HT. RESULTS: Of 560 ST positive children included, 257 (45.8%) had associated HT elevation. The common age group affected was 5 to 12 years of age (54.9%). Most of the children came during the second week of fever (68.5%) with mean duration of fever of 9.1 days. The common initial presenting symptoms were cough (77.8%), vomiting (65%) and myalgia (59.1%) and signs were hepatomegaly (64.2%), splenomegaly (57.6%) and generalized lymphadenopathy (54.1%). Eschar was seen in 49.8% of children. Thrombocytopenia (58%) and anemia (49%) were the frequently seen laboratory abnormalities. Severe forms of ST were seen in 45.5% children, of which pneumonia was most common. The fever clearance time (48 ± 19.2 h) and mean duration of hospital stay (6.7 ± 3.3 days) were prolonged in these children. On logistic regression analysis, generalized lymphadenopathy (p = 0.002), ascites (p = 0.037), thrombocytopenia (p < 0.001) and hypoalbuminemia (p = 0.023) were found to be associated with HT elevation in these children. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatic transaminase (HT) levels increase with the duration of untreated fever and is found to be associated with severe forms of scrub typhus. Children with elevated HT have delay in fever defervescence and their duration of hospital stay was prolonged.

Front-Line vs Second-Line Healthcare Workers: Susceptibility Prediction to COVID-19 Infection in a Tertiary Care Teaching Institute.

Background Since the beginning of the novel coronavirus disease in Wuhan city of China in 2019 and its spreading worldwide and taking the form of a pandemic, many healthcare workers (HCWs) were affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Though we have used many types of personal protective equipment (PPE) kits while taking care of COVID-19 patients, we have seen COVID-19 susceptibility in different working areas were different. The pattern of infection in different working areas depended on HCWs following COVID-19 appropriate behavior. Therefore, we planned to estimate the susceptibility of front-line HCWs and second-line HCWs to getting COVID-19 infection. Aim To determine the risk of COVID-19 in front-line healthcare workers as compared to second-line healthcare workers. Method and materials We planned a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of COVID-19-positive healthcare workers from our institute within six months. Their nature of duty was analyzed and they were divided into two groups: 1) Front-line HCWs were defined as those who were working or who have worked in screening areas of the outpatient department (OPD) or COVID-19 isolation wards within the prior 14 days and provided direct care to patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. 2) Second-line HCWs were those who were working in the general OPD or non-COVID-19 areas of our hospital and did not have contact with COVID-19-positive patients. Results A total of 59 HCWs became COVID-19 positive during the study period, 23 as front-line and 36 as second-line HCWs. The mean (SD) duration of work as a front-line worker was 51 and as a second-line worker was 84.4 hours. Fever, cough, body ache, loss of taste, loose stools, palpitation, throat pain, vertigo, vomiting, lung disease, generalized weakness, breathing difficulty, loss of smell, headache, and running nose were present in 21 (35.6%), 15 (25.4%), 9 (15.3%), 10 (16.9%), 3 (5.1%), 5 (8.5%), 5 (8.5%), 1 (1.7%), 4 (6.8%), 2 (3.4%), 11 (18.6%), 4 (6.8%), 9 (15.3%), 6 (10.2%) and 3 (5.1%), respectively. To predict the risk of getting COVID-19 infection in HCWs, binary logistic regression with COVID-19 diagnosis as the output variable was modeled with hours of working in COVID-19 wards as front-line and second-line workers as independent variables. The results showed that there was a 1.18 times increased risk of acquiring the disease for every one-hour excess of working as a front-line worker, whereas, for second-line workers, it was slightly lower, with a 1.11 times increased risk for developing COVID-19 disease with every one hour increase in duty hours. Both these associations were statistically significant (p=0.001 for front-line and 0.006 for second-line HCWs). Conclusion COVID-19 has taught us the importance of COVID-19 appropriate behavior in preventing the spread of respiratory organisms. Our study has shown that both the front-line and second-line HCWs are at increased risk of getting the infection and proper use of a PPE kit or mask can decrease the spread of such respiratory pathogens.

Neonatal Norwegian scabies.

Norwegian scabies is a severe form of scabies usually seen in immunocompromised children and adults. It is rarely reported in the neonatal age group. We present such a case.

Diagnostic value of platelet indices in COVID 19 infection: a case-control study from a single tertiary care center.

Introduction: Platelets are not only involved in hemostasis and coagulation, but play a significant role in innate immunity and inflammatory response. Excess production of cytokines and acute phase reactants affect megakaryopoiesis resulting in the release of immature platelets from the bone marrow altering platelet indices. Aim: To study platelet indices in RT-PCR-proven COVID patients and non-COVID patients. Methods: A case-control study was conducted on 199 COVID-19 patients and 198 normal individuals. Blood samples were analyzed in an automated hematology analyzer. The platelet indices like platelet count, mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), platelet large cell count (PLCC), and platelet large cell ratio (P-LCR) were compared among two groups. Results: Platelet count in COVID-19 patients were significantly low (p<0.01) compared to controls, and a significant number of COVID-19 patients had thrombocytopenia. Plateletcrit (PCT) was also significantly decreased in COVID-19 patients compared to non-COVID individuals. MPV, PDW, and PLCR were significantly (p<0.05) high in COVID-19 patients in comparison to controls, but was not significantly raised in a large number of cases. In contrast, there were no significant differences in platelet large cell count (PLCC) values between COVID-19 cases and non-COVID-19 controls. Conclusion: Platelet indices like platelet count, PCT, MPV, PDW, and P-LCR are significantly altered in COVID-19 infection and thereby can be used as biomarkers in COVID-19. Further research is needed to find if these simple, cost-effective parameters can be used to predict the severity and prognosis in COVID-19 infection.