BackgroundOf late there have been accounts of therapeutic failure and chloroquine resistance in Plasmodium vivax malaria especially from Southeast Asian regions. The present study was conducted to assess the therapeutic efficacy of chloroquine–primaquine (CQ–PQ) combined regimen in a cohort of uncomplicated P. vivax mono-infection.MethodsA tertiary care hospital-based prospective study was conducted among adult cohort with mono-infection P. vivax malaria as per the World Health Organization’s protocol of in vivo assessment of anti-malarial therapeutic efficacy. Participants were treated with CQ 25 mg/kg body weight divided over 3 days and PQ 0.25 mg/kg body weight daily for 2 weeks.ResultsOf a total of 125 participants recruited, 122 (97.6%) completed day 28 follow up, three (2.4%) participants were lost to follow-up. Eight patients (6.4%) were ascertained to have mixed P. vivax and Plasmodium falciparum infection by nested polymerase chain reaction test. The majority of subjects (56.8%, 71/125) became aparasitaemic on day 2 followed by 35.2% (44/125) on day 3, and 8% (10/125) on day 7, and remained so thereafter. Overall only one therapeutic failure (0.8%, 1/125) occurred on day 3 due to persistence of fever and parasitaemia.ConclusionsCQ–PQ combined regimen remains outstandingly effective for uncomplicated P. vivax malaria and should be retained as treatment of choice in the study region. One case of treatment failure indicates possible resistance which warrants constant vigilance and periodic surveillance.

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BACKGROUNDThyrotoxicosis may present with different cardiovascular manifestations varying from sinus tachycardia to life threatening arrhythmias and heart failure and prevalence of these features differs with various aetiologies of thyrotoxicosis.

Background: Dengue is one of the important causes of acute febrile illnesses in India. Dengue can be a fatal disease, however there are no reliable markers which can predict mortality among these patients.Methods: A prospective cross sectional study was done in patients who were admitted to a tertiary care hospital with features of dengue fever. A total of 364 patients with IgM dengue serology positive were included in the study. Relevant clinical and laboratory parameters were collected from all patients. Association between clinico-laboratory parameters with mortality was studied using appropriate statistical methods.Results: Among the 364 patients recruited in this study, 14 (3.85%) patients died. Mortality among patients with age group 18-40 years was 2.04%, in patients aged above 40 years was 7.56%. Mortality among patients with hypotension was 42.42% (14 out of 33), bleeding manifestations was 15.38% (8/52), platelets <20,000/mm3 was 10.41% (10/96), ALT >200 was 13.04% (6/46), AST>200 was 12.34% (10/81), prolonged prothrombin time was 60%(12/20), renal failure was 28%(14/50), encephalopathy was 31.57% (6/19), multi organ dysfunction syndrome(MODS) was 43.33% (13/30), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) was 45.45% (5/11), pleural effusion was 7.5% (6/80).Conclusions: The overall mortality in the present study was 3.85%. Following variables were associated with increased risk of death among the dengue patients: Age >40 years, presence of hypotension, platelets <20000 cells/mm3, ALT>200U/L, AST>200U/L, prolonged prothrombin time, presence of renal failure, encephalopathy, MODS, ARDS and bleeding tendency (p value <0.05). Early identification of factors associated with mortality can help to make appropriate decision on care required.

Although cryptococcosis with lung involvement is not rare in patients with HIV, it is rarely considered in the differential diagnosis of an abnormal chest roentgenogram. Pulmonary cryptococcosis with concomitant opportunistic infections is frequently seen among AIDS and its association with tuberculosis (TB) has been previously reported. Untreated pulmonary cryptococcosis in immunocompromised hosts usually becomes disseminated and results in considerable mortality despite antifungal therapy. We report a case of cryptococcosis with pulmonary involvement in a patient with coexisting disseminated TB in HIV infection.

SUMMARYWe report a case of a 55-year-old man with uncontrolled diabetes who presented with pneumonia. During his hospital stay his clinical status worsened and he had a focal seizure. MRI showed central nervous system involvement and parietal bone osteomyelitis. As the patient's blood culture and endotracheal aspirate grew Burkholderia pseudomallei, melioidosis was diagnosed. He was treated with meropenem after failure to respond to ceftazidime. He gradually improved over a period of 4 weeks and was discharged. Early diagnosis and therapy resulted in improved outcome. BACKGROUND

SUMMARYA 68-year-old woman with hypertension with no history of cerebrovascular events presented with a left-sided hemiplegia which had developed acutely 2 days ago. She was not on maintenance therapy with antiplatelets or anticoagulants. A CT scan showed acute ischaemic infarction of the right internal capsule and cerebellar haemorrhage. Cardiac evaluation was normal. Doppler ultrasonography of the extracranial carotid and vertebral arteries showed diffuse arteriosclerotic changes, but did not reveal any haemodynamic occlusion. The simultaneous development of dual strokes was considered to be an extension of the same arteriosclerotic process to the intracranial carotid and basilar arteries. BACKGROUND

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