Benign acute myositis occurs often in association with viral infection. In the present study, Dengue virus was positive in 20 (50%) children. Benign acute myositis can be differentiated from more serious causes of walking difficulty by presence of calf and thigh muscle tenderness on stretching, normal power and deep tendon reflex and elevated CPK.

We have evaluated a new set of primers (TRC 4 ) in comparison with the IS6110 primers commonly used in PCR to detect tuberculous meningitis among children. The levels of concordance between the results of IS6110 PCR and TRC 4 PCR with cerebrospinal fluid specimens from patients with clinically confirmed tuberculous meningitis were 80 and 86%, respectively. Results with the two primer sets were concordant for 55 positive and 22 negative specimens (n ‫؍‬ 98). We conclude that the sensitivity of PCR can be increased by using both IS6110 and TRC 4 primers.Tuberculosis (TB) is the major cause of death worldwide and is due to a single pathogen (16). Childhood TB in general and TB meningitis in particular owe their existence to unsuspected, undiagnosed, or incompletely treated adults in the community. Among children, mortality due to TB occurs mainly due to the neural form of TB, namely, TB meningitis. About 3% of the pediatric admissions to hospitals in India are due to TB meningitis, with reported mortality ranging from 17 to 71% (2, 14). Prompt diagnosis is critical for initiating appropriate therapy and facilitating measures to prevent dissemination of this highly contagious disease. The prevalence of childhood TB meningitis remains largely underestimated because clinical manifestations are nonspecific in early stages of the disease and bacteriologic confirmation is available only for a small proportion of patients. Also, clinical diagnosis of childhood TB meningitis is difficult due to its varied clinical presentations. Further, routinely used tests employed for clinical diagnosis of TB are inadequate to detect extrapulmonary forms of TB like TB meningitis.PCR is currently the most sensitive and rapid method to detect extrapulmonary Mycobacterium tuberculosis (1,5,8,11,15). We used as a new target TRC 4 , which was cloned and characterized previously in our laboratory (10). TRC 4 is a conserved repetitive element with specificity for M. tuberculosis complex. The aim of this paper was to compare the efficiency of a PCR with a target chosen from this cloned fragment with that of a PCR with the widely used IS6110 sequence in detecting M. tuberculosis in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from children with meningitis.CSF specimens from children suffering from meningitis, aged to 12 years, were included in the study if at least four of the following seven indicators of disease were in evidence: first, the presence of clinical features, such as gradual loss of playful activity, irritability, clouding of consciousness, convulsions, neck stiffness, and cranial nerve or motor defects; second, a CSF lymphocyte count at admission greater than 10 ϫ 10 6 / liter; third, a CSF protein level at admission greater than 80 mg/dl; fourth, a CSF glucose/blood glucose ratio at admission of less than 0.5; fifth, contact with an intrafamilial adult positive for pulmonary TB; sixth, induration of 10 mm or more on tuberculin testing with 1 TU of purified protein derivative; and seventh, positive radiological features of primary complex in...

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Eight hundred and sixty four children were admitted with Acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN) at the Institute for Child Health, Madras, during the period January 1981 to January 1983. Majority of the cases followed infected scabies or impetigo. 135 children were investigated and followed up for a period of 1-2 years. The disease had an excellent prognosis in these children. None of those examined 2 years after discharge had proteinuria or hypertension. Group A beta hemolytic streptococcus (BHS) was isolated in 13.4% of patients and 11.25% of skin infection controls. Eight different T types were identified in patients and 6 T types in pyoderma cases. All patients and 87% of skin infection controls had elevated anti-D Nase B titres, while ASO titres were not significantly raised.

The family structure was the foundation for emotional and psychological security. Psychological support by professional tumour support group would enhance this.

IVIG and HLH-2004 protocol may be equally effective in the management of HLH. IVIG may be a preferable initial regimen, to avoid the risk of secondary malignancy associated with etoposide.

Presentation of non-icteric forms of Leptospirosis are often non-specific and may be missed unless there is a high index of suspicion. This study emphasizes the myositis and meningitis forms of leptospirosis. Delayed diagnosis leads to increased mortality and morbidity.

Crohn's disease (CD) in children younger than 5 years of age is termed as early onset inflammatory bowel disease (EO-IBD). We report a 4 yr 6 mo-old child with EO-IBD, who presented with palatal ulcer, an extra intestinal manifestation of Crohn's disease as the dominant feature.