Factors Predicting Blood Culture Positivity in Children With Enteric Fever.

Background: Blood culture, despite low sensitivity, is the gold standard for enteric fever diagnosis. Understanding predictors of blood culture positivity may help design strategies to optimize enteric fever diagnosis.

Methods: A cohort of 6760 children aged 0.

Subsultus Tendinum in a Child with Typhoid Fever.

A 5-year-old male child with blood culture confirmed typhoid fever presented with twitching over the left scapular region. Contrast computerized tomography and electroencephalogram were normal. Following treatment with azithromycin and clonazepam, the twitching subsided.

Genotype distribution of Group A rotavirus from southern India, 2005-2016.

Diarrheal disease due to Group A rotaviruses remain a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the less developed parts of the world. India has started a phased roll out of rotavirus vaccine in the national immunization program. This analysis summarizes the rotavirus genotype strain distribution pre-vaccine introduction in Vellore, India from December 2005 to June 2016.

The Duration of Intestinal Immunity After an Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine Booster Dose in Children Immunized With Oral Vaccine: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: In 2014, 2 studies showed that inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) boosts intestinal immunity in children previously immunized with oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). As a result, IPV was introduced in mass campaigns to help achieve polio eradication.

Methods: We conducted an open-label, randomized, controlled trial to assess the duration of the boost in intestinal immunity following a dose of IPV given to OPV-immunized children.

Multi-center surveillance of rotavirus diarrhea in hospitalized children <5 years of age in India, 2009-2012.

Diarrheal disease due to Group A rotaviruses continues to be an important cause of morbidity in the developing world and India contributes significantly to the disease burden. Surveillance carried out between July 2009 and June 2012 at two medical centers in south India and one center in north India estimated 39% of all diarrheal admissions to be due to rotavirus. The most prevalent genotype isolated was G1P[8](33%) followed by G2P[4](17%).

A novel mutation c.1048A>T at codon 350(Lys>Stop) in PROC gene causing neonatal purpura fulminans.

Purpura fulminans in the neonatal period due to severe congenital protein C deficiency (protein C activity <1 IU/dl) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder. If untreated, it is fatal. Early identification of such patients may be lifesaving.

Norovirus genogroup II gastroenteritis in hospitalized children in South India.

The distribution of norovirus (NoV) genogroup II in children < 5 years of age admitted to a south Indian hospital with diarrhea was investigated. Viral RNA extracted from 282 stool samples were screened for NoV GII and positive amplicons sequenced. Twenty-eight (9.

Rotavirus shedding in symptomatic and asymptomatic children using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR.

Reverse transcription-real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) for the VP6 gene was used to study group A rotavirus shedding in children with symptomatic and asymptomatic rotavirus infection. Sequential stool samples (n = 345) from 10 children with rotavirus associated diarrhea and from five children (n = 161) with asymptomatic rotavirus infection were collected over a period of 2 months. A RT-qPCR assay on the samples using a rotavirus VP6 plasmid standard demonstrated high reproducibility, with an inter-assay coefficient of variation (CV) of 1.

Diversity of circulating rotavirus strains in children hospitalized with diarrhea in India, 2005-2009.

Background: India accounts for 22% of the 453,000 global rotavirus deaths among children <5 years annually. The Indian Rotavirus Strain Surveillance Network provides clinicians and public health partners with valuable rotavirus disease surveillance data. Our analysis offers policy-makers an update on rotavirus disease burden with emphasis on regional shifts in rotavirus strain epidemiology in India.

Isolated pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis.

Isolated pulmonary involvement in Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) is rare in childhood. The authors report a 6-y- old boy presenting with recurrent pneumothorax, whose CT thorax showed diffuse pulmonary cystic lucencies bilaterally. Biopsy of the lesions confirmed pulmonary LCH with Cd1a and S 100 positivity.

Estimation of the burden of pandemic(H1N1)2009 in developing countries: experience from a tertiary care center in South India.

Background: The burden of the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza might be underestimated if detection of the virus is mandated to diagnose infection. Using an alternate approach, we propose that a much higher pandemic burden was experienced in our institution.

Methodology/principal Findings: Consecutive patients (n = 2588) presenting to our hospital with influenza like illness (ILI) or severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) during a 1-year period (May 2009-April 2010) were prospectively recruited and tested for influenza A by real-time RT-PCR.

Novel STXBP2 mutation causing familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

Familial Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (FHL) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder. Diagnosis is established in presence of genetic mutation or positive family history in one of the siblings. Common genetic mutations associated with FHL are mutations in gene PRF1 (also known as FHL 2), UNC13D (FHL 3) and STX11 (FHL 4).

Severity of rotavirus gastroenteritis in Indian children requiring hospitalization.

Introduction: The burden of rotavirus gastroenteritis is greatest in India and other developing countries. With the availability of two licensed vaccines and a number of additional vaccines in various stages of development and trial, analysis of detailed clinical information is essential for the development of a uniform method of severity assessment.

Methods: Diarrhoeal stool samples from 1001 children <5 years of age hospitalized with gastroenteritis were screened for rotavirus using a commercial enzyme immunoassay.

Multisite study of cryptosporidiosis in children with diarrhea in India.

Cryptosporidium spp., a common cause of diarrhea in children, were investigated in the first multisite study in India. Diarrheal stools from hospitalized children aged <5 years from Delhi, Trichy, and Vellore were analyzed by microscopy, PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and/or sequencing at the small-subunit (SSU) rRNA and Cpgp40/15 loci for species determination and subgenotyping, respectively.

Validation of the children's depression rating scale- revised for adolescents in primary-care pediatric use in India.

Background: Adolescent depression needs to be identified and treated in the primary care settings. There is no clinician-rated measure validated in India for identifying depression among adolescents.

Aim: We studied the diagnostic accuracy, reliability, and validity of Children's Depression Rating Scale - Revised (CDRS-R) for primary care pediatrics.

Costing of severe pneumonia in hospitalized infants and children aged 2-36 months, at a secondary and tertiary level hospital of a not-for-profit organization.

Objectives: To determine health care provider cost and household cost of the treatment of severe pneumonia in infants and young children admitted to secondary and tertiary level health care facilities.

Methods: The study was done in a private, not-for-profit medical college hospital, in Vellore, India, in mid-2008. Children aged 2-36 months admitted with severe pneumonia with no underlying chronic disease were included in the study.

Prolonged neurologic course of familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

Familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis is a very unusual cause for demyelination and the clinician would do well to be aware of the condition, especially when children present with atypical findings on magnetic resonance imaging associated with fever, pancytopenia, and hepatosplenomegaly. This is a rare autosomal recessive, multisystem inflammatory disorder characterized by widespread organ infiltration by macrophages and activated lymphocytes. It is usually diagnosed in the first 2 years of life and is rapidly fatal if untreated.

Nitric oxide production in acute gastroenteritis in Indian children.

This study compared nitric oxide (NO) levels in 110 children with, and 110 children without, infectious gastroenteritis. Post-infection intestinal function was assessed in a subset. At least one pathogen was identified in 47.

Acute pancreatitis as the initial presentation in pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus.

It is exceptionally rare for acute pancreatitis to be the presenting manifestation of childhood systemic lupus erythematosus. We report a 14-year-old girl who presented with a history of fever, generalized rash, arthralgia and abdominal pain. Her serum amylase was 1472U/L and lipase 3316 U/L suggestive of acute pancreatitis.

The psychometric properties of Beck Depression Inventory for adolescent depression in a primary-care paediatric setting in India.

Background: There is increasing interest in identifying adolescents with depression in primary care settings by paediatricians in India. This article studied the diagnostic accuracy, reliability and validity of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) while used by paediatricians in a primary care setting in India.

Methods: 181 adolescents attending 3 schools were administered a back translated Tamil version of BDI by a paediatrician to evaluate its psychometric properties along with Children's Depression Rating Scale (CDRS-R) for convergent validity.

Infectious etiology modifies the treatment effect of zinc in severe pneumonia.

Background: Zinc is undergoing evaluation as an inexpensive therapeutic adjuvant for severe pediatric pneumonia.

Objective: We explored the effect of etiology on the treatment effect of zinc in young children hospitalized for severe pneumonia.

Design: We analyzed data from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted at the Christian Medical College Hospital, a teaching hospital in Tamilnadu, India.

Human caliciviruses in symptomatic and asymptomatic infections in children in Vellore, South India.

Pediatric gastroenteritis is a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially in developing countries. It has been increasingly recognised that human caliciviruses (HuCV), comprising noroviruses (NoV), and sapoviruses (SaV), are important in both outbreak and non-outbreak settings. This study aimed to characterise caliciviruses detected in the faeces of hospitalized children and children in the community in India.

Prevalence of anaemia among adolescent girls in the urban slums of Vellore, south India.

A community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of anaemia among unmarried, adolescent south Indian girls in an urban slum setting. A total of 100 apparently healthy girls between the ages of 11 and 18 years were recruited. Their socioeconomic, dietary and anthropometric information was collected, and blood haemoglobin (Hb) was estimated.