ABSTRACT
White piedra is a superficial fungal infection of the hair shaft, caused by Trichosporon beigelii . We report two cases of white piedra presenting as brown palpable nodules along the hair shaft with a fragility of scalp hairs. T. beigelii was demonstrated in hair culture of both the patients and T. ovoides as a species was confirmed on carbohydrate assimilation test. The first patient responded to oral itraconazole and topical ketoconazole, with a decrease in the palpability of nodules and fragility of scalp hairs at the end of two months.
ABSTRACT
Nine hundred and forty two serum samples from clinically suspected cases of leptospirosis admitted in Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, Mumbai during July-September 2005 were tested by LeptoTek Dri-dot/Leptocheck. One hundred and sixty five positive sera by these tests were sent to I.R.R., Mumbai, for detection of leptospira IgM antibodies by ELISA (PanBio). Eighty seven positive sera were also sent to B.J. Medical College, Pune, for microscopic agglutination test (MAT) for serovar identification. Seropositivity with LeptoTek Dri-dot/Leptocheck was 34.3%. Adults and males predominated. All patients were febrile. The commonest presentation in adults was jaundice (81.4%), followed by oliguria (37.6%). In children, myalgia was commonest (75.6%), followed by conjunctival suffusion (54.7%). IgM ELISA positivity was 69.1% and MAT positivity was 29.9%. Commonest serovar detected in this geographical area was Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae (42.9%), followed by L. bataviae, L. tarassovi, and L. pomona . Considering at least two of the above three serological tests positive, 127 cases could be diagnosed and only 89.8% of them could be diagnosed by ELISA and rapid test. Therefore, along with rapid serological tests, IgM ELISA should be routinely done for laboratory diagnosis of leptospirosis.