S. pneumoniae was detected thrice the number of times by ICT than by CSF culture, with a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 95.3% respectively. This rapid ICT test proves to be of immense use as a diagnostic test for meningitis patients with/without prior antibiotic treatment, especially in facilities with limited laboratory infrastructure in resource limited settings.
Background: Neonatal mortality remains high in many developing country settings mainly because of low birth weight (LBW) or preterm births
(PTB). Easy-to-use anthropometric parameters like foot length which are appropriate for resource-limited settings are necessary, to guarantee
these neonates are distinguished and alluded as required for extra care. This research aimed to estimate the sensitivity and specicity, and the
positive and negative predictive values of newborn foot length to identify babies who are LBWand PTB.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study of newborn babies in a tertiary care hospital was carried out between July to September 2018.
Foot length, birth weight and gestational age were estimated on the rst day of life. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to
determine the operational cut-offs.
Results: In hospital 150 babies were recruited and measured within 24 hours of birth. Of the 150 babies, 21 (14.00%) were born LBW (<2500
grams) and 77 (51.33%) were PTB. Mean foot length on the rst day was 7.62 ± 0.47 cm. Day one average foot length 7.32 cm at birth was 84.5%
(77.70 – 89.89) sensitive and 90.5% (84.64 – 94.68) specic to identify birth weight ≥2500 grams; foot length 7.47 cm had sensitivity and
specicity of 76.70% (69.11 – 83.21) and 49.4% (41.15 – 57.68) to identify those having term births.
Conclusion: Measurement of newborn foot length for home births in resource-limited settings has the potential to be used by birth attendants,
community health workers so that vulnerable newborns can be identied and receive targeted interventions for improved survival.
Background: Acute diarrheal diseases remain a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality in young children. The effective implementation of provision of zinc in addition to low osmolarity ORS remains very poor.Methods: A prospective observational study was done to determine compliance with zinc therapy on 103 children aged between two months to five years with acute gastroenteritis. They were started on WHO ORS and zinc in the form of syrup (20 mg/day in those >6 months of age and 10mg/day in those <6 months of age) and advised to continue for 14 days. Further episodes of diarrhea was considered as the primary outcome variable. Number of days zinc taken was considered as the primary explanatory variable. p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The mean age was 19.49±14.41 months. The compliance to complete 14-day zinc therapy was 62.14%. The mean number of days zinc was taken was 11.28±3.81 days. In 11.65% of participants, there was further episodes of diarrhea. The main reasons for discontinuation were diarrhea stopped (45%), Ignorance (37.5%), URI (12.5%).Conclusions: Findings indicate that the syrup formulation is acceptable, but further efforts are required to enhance adherence. These findings also highlight the importance of guiding in ensuring adherence to zinc duration while also addressing the tendency of caregivers to terminate treatment once a child appears to have recovered from an acute diarrheal episode.
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