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CF does occur in Indian subcontinent though the prevalence is lesser than the Caucasian population.

Severely malnourished children (26), weight for age 55.27 +/- 3.17, were identified in a colony of predominantly Muslim urban slum dwellers of low economic status. An equal number of normally nourished children matched for age, sex and per capita income were identified. A strong relation was found between nutritional status of the subjects and educational level of their mothers (P less than 0.025). Father's education was unrelated to childrens' nutritional status. A thirty seven point questionnaire was administered to the mothers to record their nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP). Analysis revealed that better KAP in relation to 16 of these 37 questions was not associated with better nutritional status. Seven questions were found to have only a weak association. The remaining 14 questions were identified as important for a nutrition education programme. Comparison of nutritional KAP score based on these 14 questions in case of mothers of normal and severely malnourished children revealed a significantly higher score in the former. Questions related to growth monitoring and breast feeding were not found to be important. No significant association was found between mothers' KAP and educational level. It is concluded that (i) Maternal education and KAP are significantly and independently associated with childrens' nutritional status. (ii) The content areas of knowledge, attitudes and practices significantly associated with nutritional status pertain to nutritional requirements of children, nutritional value of foods, immunisation, hygiene, oral rehydration and diarrhea.

Thalassemia intermedia patients show variable phenotypes. Hydroxyurea (HU) may benefit some of the thalassemia intermedia cases (1), however, the parameters influencing the response to HU have not been reported. In this study, the molecular parameters, alpha-globin and beta-globin genotype and the Xmn I polymorphism, were correlated with the HU response. Twenty patients with thalassemia intermedia were given HU (10-20 mg/kg) and responses were evaluated over a one year period. Twelve patients (60%) showed a good response to therapy with a significant increase in Hb and HbF levels and with elimination of the transfusion requirement in four patients. Four out of the twelve (33%) patients were positive for -alpha(3.7) deletions whereas none of the 8 non-responders were positive for alpha deletions. One each of the responders and non-responders were positive for alpha alpha alpha(anti-3.7) triplication. Three (25%) responsive and one non-responsive patients were homozygous for the IVS1-1 (G-->T) mutation. Three of the responsive patients with alpha deletions were also homozygous positive for Xmn I polymorphism. Thus, in addition to acting in synergy with the XmnI polymorphism, alpha deletions may be an independent factor predicting good response to HU in thalassemia intermedia, although this needs to be confirmation in larger studies.

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Establishing diagnosis of dengue infection in pregnancy is important for effective management by the obstetricians particularly the mode of delivery due to the potential risk of hemorrhage for both the mother and the newborn. Co-infections seen in endemic areas may be more common than usually reported.

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Introduction: In addition to known causes of hypocalcemia like, prematurity, Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), asphyxia, sepsis, infants of diabetic mothers (IDM), high phosphate formula, Magnesium deficiency, effect of phototherapy on serum calcium levels has caught attention of researchers from time to time. The objectives of this study were to evaluate serum calcium levels in relation to duration of phototherapy, single surface Vs double surface phototherapy in term and preterm neonates. Materials and Methods: This study was done in a neonatal ICU of a tertiary care hospital. Hundred preterm and term neonates > 72 hrs of age with weight appropriate for gestational age were selected. Serum calcium levels were measured at the onset and after 24 hrs and 48 hrs of phototherapy and results were analyzed in both the groups. Results: Hypocalcemia was more frequently observed in term group as compared to preterm group. Hypocalcemia occurred more frequently after 48 hrs of continuous phototherapy in both groups. Hypocalcemia was more common under DSPT as compared to SSPT in both groups. Conclusion: Hypocalcemia is a significant problem in neonates subjected to phototherapy.