Duodenal string test in typhoid fever.

Twenty five children between 4-12 years of age hospitalized with a clinical diagnosis of enteric fever were studied for evaluating the practicality and sensitivity of duodenal string-capsule culture (DSCC) and compared with conventional cultures from blood (BC), urine (UC) and stool (SC). Duodenal string capsule (DSCC) was successfully inserted in 18 patients (72%). Insertion of DSCC failed in 7 patients (28%) and all of them were below 6 years of age. Salmonella typhi was isolated from DSCC and/or BC in 13 cases (72.2%). DSCC was positive in 11 out of 13 confirmed cases of typhoid fever (84.6%). BC was positive in 8 cases (61.5%). DSCC was successful in isolating the organism in about 30% more cases than BC. Duodenal string test was a simple, non-invasive and a reliable test which when used in combination with BC could identify almost all cases of enteric fever irrespective of duration of fever and prior use of antibiotics.

A comparative study of glycine fortified oral rehydration solution with standard WHO oral rehydration solution.

The safety, efficacy and acceptability of glycine-fortified oral rehydration solution (ORS) was compared with that of standard WHO-ORS in a controlled randomized trial. Fifty male infants with acute, watery, non-cholera diarrhea were studied. Glycine-fortified ORS at a concentration of 111 mmol/L (8.4 g/L) was used. The electrolyte and glucose concentrations of both the solutions was identical. The proportion of successfully treated patients was 92%. There were two failures in each group. Both solutions were found to be equally safe in correcting and maintaining the hydration status and in correcting hyponatremia and hypokalemia. The acceptability and efficiency of the solutions were also comparable. Addition of glycine does not add to the efficacy of conventional WHO-ORS, therefore offering no additional advantage but adds to the cost of production.