Nail as a foreign body in a neonate, an unusual presentation at an unusual age

Children are prone to ingest substances due to their exploratory nature and tendency to put everything in the mouth. Commonly ingested foreign bodies are coins, batteries and buttons. Foreign body ingestion in neonates is a very rare presentation and always needs important consideration as it can be a part of child abuse and can lead to serious life threatening consequences

Rota virus diarrhea in hospitalized children

To determine the frequency and clinical features of Rota virus diarrhea in children presenting in a tertiary care hospital. A cross-sectional, observational study. National Institute of Child Health, Karachi, from January to June 2007. A total of three hundred children of either gender aged 1 month to 5 years, who presented with diarrhea of < 7 days as a primary illness were enrolled. Children with bloody diarrhea or nosocomial gastroenteritis acquired during hospitalization for other disease were not included. Detection of Rota virus in stool was done by enzyme linked immunoassay. Out of 300 children, 188 [63%] tested positive and 112 [37%] tested negative for Rota virus. Positive Rota virus cases in 7 - 12 months of age was [n = 34, 18.08%]. Overall, 151 [80.3%] children with Rota virus were less than 3 years old. 182 [60.7%] had fever, 118 [39.3%] had vomiting and 156 [82.9%] children had both fever and vomiting. This study shows that Rota virus is a common organism causing diarrhea in children less than 3 years of age. There is a need to incorporate Rota virus vaccine in the national EPI program to decrease the disease burden as highlighted in this study