Role of m. pneumoniae in acute lower respiratory tract infection in children

This study was carried out on 120 children suffering from acute lower respiratory tract infection, their ages ranged from 1-12 years, and 53 healthy children of the same age groups were included as controls. Detection of M. pneumonia was done by culture of nasopharyngeal aspirate on spiroplasma broth [Sp4] and by serologic methods [CF and ELISA]. In this study, M. pneumoniae was detected in 23.3% of all the children suffering from acute lower respiratory tract infection and 7.5% of normal healthy controls. M. pneumoniae infection was most common in the age group 4-10 years [33%] followed by those aging 10-12 years [20%]. The incidence was low in children < 4 years [6.6%] compared to the other groups. The most common symptoms and signs were cough, fever, constitutional symptoms, rales and wheeze. Bronchopneumonic infiltrate and lobar consolidation were the most common radiological findings

Viral hepatitis B: diagnostic difficulties

Hepatitis B is highly endemic in Pakistan with about 10% of the population being carrier for hepatitis B virus [HBV]. These carriers may develop jaundice or acute viral hepatitis like picture due to many other causes. If a test to detect hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg] is only performed to classify the type of hepatitis, the patient may get mislabelled. At the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, a total of 1570 adult cases, clinically presenting with hepatitis, were studied between January 1991 and December 1993. Out of the 361 cases found positive of HBsAg by RPHA and ELISA method. There were 110 [110/361, 30.5%] cases which expressed positively for Anti-HBc IgM; an indication of recent infection in the immediate past. The rest 251 [251/361, 69.5%] patients were, most probably, the HBV carriers and their current ailment was not due HBV. To diagnose a case of acute hepatitis B, it is essential that both HBsAg and Anti-HBc IgM must be looked for in patient's

Apendicitis aguda / Acute apendicitis

Se revisaron 399 casos con diagnostico de apendicitis aguda tratados en el Centro Medico de los Andes durante un periodo de 4.1 anos; se analizaron mediante un programa de computador; se establece la distribucion por edades, siendo mas frecuente entre la segunda y tercera decadas de la vida. Para el diagnostico, se relieva nuevamente la utilidad del cuadro hematico con presencia de leucocitosis. Se estudia el valor relativo de las imagenes diagnosticas. Se comprueba la importancia del uso de antibioticos profilacticos demostrada por la baja incidencia de infeccion de la herida quirurgica. Se analizan los cultivos obtenidos y se establece el tipo de flora predominante. El porcentaje de apendices sanos es del 6.9% de acuerdo con la literatura medica mundial.