Newborn vitamin A dosing reduces the case fatality but not incidence of common childhood morbidities in South India.

Vitamin A supplementation reduces mortality in young children in areas of endemic vitamin A deficiency. However, it has no impact on the incidence of common morbidities. This discrepancy has been explained by an impact on case fatality, although with the exception of hospitalized measles cases, there is little direct evidence to support this hypothesis.

Prevalence of eye signs in congenital rubella syndrome in South India: a role for population screening.

Purpose: Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) resulting from maternal rubella infection, especially in the first trimester, affects an estimated 100 000 infants each year worldwide. Immunisation has reduced its occurrence in the developed world, though it remains a problem in countries with poor immunisation coverage. This population-based study was aimed at screening children below 5 years of age for ocular signs suspicious of CRS.

Nocardia keratitis: species, drug sensitivities, and clinical correlation.

Purpose: To correlate the clinical presentation and treatment outcome of Nocardia keratitis with the time to diagnosis, different species and with the drug sensitivity pattern.

Method: Patients with Nocardia corneal ulcers were studied at a tertiary eye care center. Speciation of Nocardia isolates was done by sequencing the 16s rRNA gene.

Clinico-microbiological profile and visual outcomes of post-traumatic endophthalmitis at a tertiary eye care center in South India.

Purpose: To analyze the clinical and microbiological characteristics of eyes with post-traumatic endophthalmitis and factors influencing the visual outcomes in these cases.

Methods: We performed a retrospective chart analysis of the clinical and microbiological data of 97 consecutive patients with post-traumatic endophthalmitis presenting to a tertiary eye care hospital in South India.

Results: Thirty-nine (40.

Postcataract endophthalmitis in South India incidence and outcome.

Objective: To determine the incidence of acute-onset postcataract endophthalmitis, identify risk factors, and determine clinical outcomes in a tertiary eye care center in South India.

Design: Retrospective, interventional, observational case series.

Participants: All patients who underwent cataract extraction from January 2002 to December 2003 at Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai.

Outcomes of high volume cataract surgeries in a developing country.

Aim: To analyse the outcome of high volume cataract surgery in a developing country, community based, high volume eye hospital.

Methods: In a non-comparative interventional case series, the authors reviewed the surgical outcomes of 593 patients with cataract operated upon by three high volume surgeons on six randomly selected days. There were 318 female (54%) and 275 male (46%) patients.

Rubella serosurveys at three Aravind Eye Hospitals in Tamil Nadu, India.

Objective: To determine the susceptibility of female eye hospital staff to rubella infection and the potential risk for hospital-based rubella outbreaks.

Methods: A prospective cohort study on the seroprevalence of rubella IgG antibodies was conducted at three large eye hospitals in Coimbatore, Madurai and Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India, where young children with eye abnormalities attributable to congenital rubella are treated. A total of 1000 female hospital employees aged 18-40 years agreed to participate and gave written informed consent.

Impact of supplementing newborn infants with vitamin A on early infant mortality: community based randomised trial in southern India.

Objective: To assess the impact of supplementing newborn infants with vitamin A on mortality at age 6 months.

Design: Community based, randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial.

Setting: Two rural districts of Tamil Nadu, southern India.