Disseminated staphylococcal infection with polyarthritis in a 12 year old boy

Septic arthritis with polyarticular presentation is an uncommon clinical entity. A case of complicated staphylococcal infection with purulent and reactive polyarthritis, osteomyelitis, cutaneous and pleuropericardial involvement as well as transient blindness is presented here

Tuberculous brain abscess in a child with cystic fibrosis; a case report

Tuberculous brain abscess is an extremely rare manifestation of tuberculous involvement of the central nervous system. In countries such as India where tuberculosis is fairly common, few cases of tuberculous brain abscess have been reported. The patient was an 8-year old boy presented with the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis and a history of tonic and clonic convulsions since 2 years ago with normal brain CT scan. Two months ago he became febrile and complained of severe headache that often awakened him up. Diagnosis of intracranial abscess was made clinically and the patient received ceftriaxon, amikacin and clindamycine; however, 2 weeks of treatment failed to show improvement. During craniotomy multiple cystic lesions and a mass of 9x3x8cm in frontoparietal area was found. After operation the patient developed severe hepatitis with elevated enzymes and bilirubin level due to anesthesia and anti- tuberculous treatment. Drugs were discontinued but fever persisted and he started a downhill course. While hepatitis was going to resolve, restarting antituberculous drugs flared up hepatitis and 3 days later he expired because of hepatic failure. Meningitis is an entity of tuberculous infection in subjects living in countries of high burden tuberculosis, thus, it should be kept in mind for suspicious subjects

Determination of definitive and intermediate hosts of cercarial dermatitis-producing agents in northern Iran

The study concerns the prevalence of avian schistosomes in intermediate and definite hosts in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran. A total of 14190 fresh-water snails belonging to various genera were sampled and tested for cercarial emission by lighting and then crushing. During the same period, the nasal blood vessels and mesenteric veins of aquatic birds, mainly belonging to the Anatidae family, were examined under dissecting microscope for detecting adult worms. Forty-seven [0.33%] of examined snails mainly Lymnaea gedrosiana, L.palustris, L.stagnalis, and Planorbis planorbis were found to be infected with larval stages of Trichobilharzia spp. Adult schistosomes were observed in 25 [18.1%] wild waterfowls. The most infected birds were Anas platyrhynchos, A.clypeata, and Aythya ferina, respectively. Annually migration of various species of aquatic birds toward the northern parts of Iran and the simultaneous presence of intermediate snails in the water resources of this area, combined with long hours of sunshine in the summer months, suggest that cercarial dermatitis could be a prominent health problem, especially among paddy field workers in this area