ABSTRACT
Background: Every year about 50,000, people die of snake bites in India. Anti-snake venom and mechanical ventilation is mainstay of treatment in cases with severe neurotoxic envenomation. ASV is costly and scarce resource. There is lack of universal consensus towards the optimal dose of ASV in management protocol for children with severe neurotoxic snake envenomation. Objective was to compare the difference in outcome between two fixed doses of ASV, 10vials versus 20 vials, in children with severe neurotoxic snake envenomationMethods: This comparative observational study was carried out for a period of 3 years in Department of Pediatrics of SVS Medical College, Mahabubnagar, Telangana, India. Children with history of snake bite and clinical evidence of neuroparalysis were included. In addition to the mechanical ventilation and other supportive measures, every alternate patient was administered with 10vials (low dose) and 20 vials (high dose) of ASV over 1 hour. Outcome was compared between the two groups.Results: Of the 62 patients, 32 were in each group. The median time to extubation was 41 hours and 39.5 hours and mean duration of the hospital stay was 4.6 days and 4.5 days among the low dose and high dose groups, respectively. There were three deaths, one from low dose group and two from high dose group.Conclusions: There was no significant difference in outcome between the 10 vials vs 20 vials of ASV in addition to mechanical ventilation in treatment of children with severe neurotoxic snake envenomation. So, 10 vials of ASV can be utilized to reduce the cost of treatment.
ABSTRACT
Background: Typhoid fever is a serious public-health problem in many developing countries including India. There is a wide spectrum of clinical presentation and with the emergence of multidrug resistant typhoid now a days, the treatment has become still more complex. The present study authors describe the clinical profile and antibiotic sensitivity pattern of typhoid fever in children from a tertiary care in Mahabubnagar, Telangana, South India.Methods: This hospital based prospective observational study was done in Department of Pediatrics, SVS Medical College, Mahabubnagar, Telangana over a period of 3-year period from January 2017 to December 2019. The study was approved by institutional ethics committee. Written informed consent was obtained from children's parents. All pediatric patients diagnosed as typhoid fever if presented with fever (temperature >38'C) for at least 3 days with positive blood culture for S. typhi or paratyphi were included in the study. The demographic profile and clinical data were recorded and tests including antibiotic sensitivity and resistance were done.Results: A total of 136 patients were included in the study. Majority of the children were between 8 to 12-year age group (38.2%). Out of 136 children, 78 were males and 58 were females. Majority of the cases were from rural areas accounting for 69%. Drinking water source was tap water in 63% cases and bore well water in 37% cases. Majority (65%) belonged to lower socioeconomic class and 68% were during rainy seasons. The clinical findings observed were fever (100%), vomiting (98, 72%), diarrhea (55.8%), headache (45.5%), and splenomegaly (42.6%). Other clinical features found were coated tongue, abdominal pain, hepatomegaly, constipation, and dehydration. Six children had complications, 3 had enteric hepatitis, 2 had shock, and 1 had encephalopathy. Ampicillin, amoxicillin and chloramphenicol resistance was observed in 76%, 71% and 22% of patients with typhoid fever respectively. Maximum sensitivity was observed with ceftriaxone (95%), followed by aztreonam (92%), ciprofloxacin (84.5%), and azithromycin (77%).Conclusions: Clinical presentation in the study subjects was similar to available reports from literature. Increasing resistance of salmonella to Ampicillin and amoxicillin were observed.