ABSTRACT
Background: Anemia is said to be present when the hemoglobin level is more than two standard deviations below the mean for the child’s age and sex. Anemia is the most common global nutritional disorder and may lead to psychomotor retardation, low intelligence, decreased learning capability, weakening of immune system and predisposes to serious infections in children. Methods: The study was an observational study. Physical signs of severe anemia were looked in patients attending outpatient department or admitted in hospital. Children with hemoglobin levels <7 gm/dl and in the age group 6 months to 6 years were recruited in study. Results: The study included 192 patients with a male, female ratio of around 1:1. The mean age of the study subjects was 2.2±1.6 years. Most of the patients around 54% belonged to age group of 6 months to 1½ years. Fever was most common presentation in 86 cases (44.77%), followed by diarrhea and easy fatigability in 38 (19.79%) and 21 (10.93%) patients respectively. A total of 76.56% of patients were having nutritional and 23.44% non-nutritional causes. Iron deficiency anemia is most common etiology 115 (59.90%) with 14 patients having celiac disease, 19 cases (9.90%) were diagnosed as megaloblastic anemia, 13 cases (6.77%) were diagnosed as dual deficiency anemia, 30 cases (15.63%) were diagnosed as hemolytic anemia. Conclusions: Nutritional anemia is major cause of anemia in children. Celiac disease, trichuriasis, cow milk protein allergy should be ruled out in iron deficiency anemia patients.
ABSTRACT
Background: Mumps is a self-limiting viral disease in children which usually resolve within 10 days. It is characterized by fever, constitutional symptoms and swelling of the parotid gland(s) and may lead to serious complications. The most common complication is orchitis, followed by meningitis. Less common complications include pancreatitis, encephalitis, deafness, mastitis, oophoritis, and facial Bell palsy. Methods: This is a hospital-based Prospective observational study where children age ?18 years who presented with mumps were studied for immunization status, clinical course, complications and outcome. Results: Fever was the most common presentation followed by parotid involvement. The mean duration of illness was 9±2 days. Constitutional symptoms like headache, myalgia or fatigue were seen in 90 patients (60%). The most common complication seen was orchitis and tonsilitis, 4 cases (2.7%) each followed by pancreatitis (2%), febrile seizures (2%) and meningitis (2%). The least common was myocarditis (0.7%). Only 10 (6.7%) of the patients were hospitalized and none died. All the patients were cured within 2 weeks and without any sequels. The average loss of school days (school absentee) were 8 days. These complications were seen only in non- immunized patients. Conclusions: The benefits of vaccination against mumps in addition to rubella and measles would be a logical public health intervention that would have a significant clinical and economic benefits and to prevent complications of mumps.