use of Amantadine in the treatment of pediatric patients with chronic hepatitis b and/or C

Amantadine, a drug developed in 1960. It is a synthetic antiviral agent that specifically used in the prevention of Influenza A virus infection Amantadine was shown to result in a sustained virological response in chronic hepatitis C patients who were unresponsive to interferon therapy. The present study was carried out to evaluate the safety and efficacy of this antiviral drug in pediatric patients with chronic hepatitis B and/or C. the study included 19 children with chronic viral hepatitis: 9 had HCV, 7 had HBV and 3 had both. Their ages ranged between 2-15 years. Eleven were males and 8 were females. They were treated with amantadine in a dose of 5-1 0 mg/kg daily orally for 6 months. Serum aminotransferase values decreased in 13 patients [68.4%], seven of whom showed normalization of ALT [P<0.001]. Two patients with chronic hepatitis C who were HCV RNA + ve became - ve by the end of therapy. Mild neurological symptoms in the form of insomnia and irritability were reported in 4 of our patients, however this did not necessitate stopping therapy.Amantadine appeared quite safe and effective in pediatric patients with chronic hepatitis B and / or C

genetic epidemiological study of congenital malformations at birth in Sharkyia, Egypt

A total of 1500 consecutive neonates delivered in Zagazig University Hospitals were subjected to full clinical and genetic evaluation. Social data including parental consanguinity and social class were taken. The prevalence of congenital in malformations [CMs] in the 1500 hospital live births and still births were 3.2%. The malformed neonates [48] were classified into 13 groups according to world Health Organization classification of CMs. The most common anomalies were: central nervous system [29.1%], followed by musculoskeletal system [18.9%] and genetic syndromes [10.5%]. Parental consanguinity was found in [54.2%] of malformed cases, indicating the deleterious effects of consanguinity. Our study concludes that overall the inheritance rather than socio-environmental factors contributes significantly in the etiology of different congenital malformations. We further suggest that the basic information of this research might be useful foundation data in future analytic studies on CMs in Egypt