Assessment of knowledge and opinion regarding breastfeeding practices during COVID-19 pandemic among paediatricians and obstetricians in India: an online survey.

Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is a novel coronavirus infection that has a wide spectrum of disease severity. The virus has not been known to pass through the placenta and has not been reported in the breastmilk of affected mothers. As the cases are still on a rise, it is expected that the number of pregnant females would also rise in the coming times. Among many queries during pregnancy, to breastfeed or not is an important question that needs to be answered. We conducted this survey to assess the knowledge regarding breastfeeding practices among Indian paediatricians and obstetricians during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was conducted among paediatricians and obstetricians from all over India. Only 294 (54.1%) participants have adequate knowledge regarding breastfeeding recommendations. The gap in knowledge between paediatricians and obstetricians was found statistically significant with a p value of <0.01. Only 30% healthcare providers associated with perinatal care received this information through a seminar. On the other hand, 15% of participants were not aware of any guidelines on breastfeeding during the COVID-19 pandemic. More rigorous dissemination of information on breastfeeding practices in COVID-19 case management needs to be adopted.

COVID-19 infection in a Down syndrome child.

The clinical spectrum of COVID-19 infection varies from asymptomatic to critical illness. In children, it is usually asymptomatic or milder in severity. Younger infants and children with underlying medical illnesses are more prone to develop severe diseases. Fever and cough are common presentations in children. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor and transmembrane serine protease 2 are key proteins in the cell entry process of the virus in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Children with Down syndrome (DS) have increase mortality rates from COVID-19 compared to the general pediatric population. We are reporting a case of a DS baby with COVID-19 infection who presented with GI manifestations leading to hypernatremic dehydration with multiorgan dysfunction syndrome.

Type II growing skull fracture in a 12-year-old girl.

A 12-year-old female patient came to the Neurology Outpatient Clinic with the complaining of headache, frequent episodes of abnormal body movements and swelling in the right frontal scalp region. Her parents gave remote history of head trauma. History of trauma in a paediatric patient followed by the onset of gradually progressive swelling in the scalp along with radiological findings of calvarial defect and protrusion of gliotic brain tissue through it led to the diagnosis of growing skull fracture. Her parents were counselled about the surgical management for which they agreed. The scalp defect was repaired followed by uneventful post-operative period. She is on regular anti-epileptics for the episodes of seizers she had at the time of presentation and is on regular follow-up.

Longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis following dengue virus infection: A rare entity.

Association of dengue fever with longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis in pediatric age group is a rare entity. We describe a case of 15 year old adolescent male who presented with dengue fever and in whom symptoms of transverse myelitis developed 4 weeks after fever (post-infectious stage). Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed the diagnosis of longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis involving dorso-lumbar cord. Patient recovered almost completely with minimal residual neurological deficit after a six weeks course of corticosteroids and supportive management including physiotherapy.

L'association de la dengue avec une myélite transversale longitudinale étendue dans un groupe d'âge pédiatrique est une entité rare. Nous décrivons un cas d'un adolescent de 15 ans qui présentaient une dengue et chez lesquels des symptômes de myélite transversale se sont développés 4 semaines après la fièvre (stade post-infectieux). L'imagerie par résonance magnétique a confirmé le diagnostic de myélite transversale longitudinale étendue impliquant le cordon dorso-lombaire. Le patient s'est rétabli presque complètement avec un déficit neurologique résiduel minimal après un traitement de corticostéroïdes de six semaines et une prise en charge, y compris la physiothérapie. Mots-clés: La fièvre de la dengue, la myélite transversale longitudinalement étendue, le virus neurotroptique.

Spontaneous splenic rupture in typhomalaria: A case report with review of literature.

Plasmodium vivax, which was previously considered 'benign', has come out with unusual severe symptoms. We, here present an unusual case of Plasmodium vivax malaria presenting with spontaneous splenic rupture with hemoperitoneum, renal and pulmonary dysfunction. Following conservative management, there was an uneventful recovery, and the patient was discharged in a good general condition.

WHO/UNICEF recommended therapeutic food versus home based therapeutic food in the management of severe acute malnutrition: A randomized controlled trial.

Malnutrition is a major public health problem especially in the developing countries. The objective of the study was to compare WHO/UNICEF recommended therapeutic food with home based therapeutic food in the management of severe acute malnutrition. It was a randomized controlled trial at tertiary care level hospital with nutritional rehabilitation centre. Children (6 month to 5 years) having severe acute malnutrition were included in the study. Group A (n=74 children) was given WHO recommended therapeutic food and group B (n=75 children) was given home based therapeutic food. The mean rate of weight gain, gain in height and increase in mid-upper arm circumference were significantly higher (p<0.05) in the group received home based therapeutic food. Mean duration to achieve target weight was 21.44±3.33 days in group A and 16.28±2.11 days in group B (p

Effect of physico-chemical treatments on ripening behavior and post-harvest quality of Amrapali mango (Mangifera indica L.) during storage.

An experiment was done to assess the effect of various physico-chemical treatments on ripening behavior and post harvest quality of mango cv. Amrapali. The experiment was planned under completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. The treatment units was five fruits per replication. Total 14 treatments were applied. Out of these, ethrel 750 ppm treated fruits showed better results in respect of specific gravity (0.88), moisture loss (8.45%), decay (2.5%), total soluble solids (TSS, 20.7 degrees brix), sugar content (14.39%) and acidity content (0.32) followed by ethrel 500 ppm; specific gravity (0.90), moisture loss (8.82%), decay (3.5%), TSS (20.7 degrees brix), sugar content (13.99%) and acidity content (0.36%). The pedicellate fruits and ethrel+bavistin (750+1000 ppm) were also found to be significantly superior over control in respect of specific gravity (0.88 and 0.86), moisture loss (9.10 and 9.33%), decay (4.0 and 5.33%), TSS (20.1 and 20.4 degrees brix), sugar content (12.70 and 12.80%) and acidity content (0.42 and 0.38%), respectively. Based on results of this study, it can be concluded that ethrel 750 ppm was found to be the most suitable treatment in improving physico-chemical traits i.e. ripening, storage, quality and shelf-life for commercial purpose in mango.

Genetic diversity in Indian common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) using random amplified polymorphic DNA markers.

Genetic diversity of twenty-six common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) accessions of diverse geographical origin was studied using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Fifteen out of forty four primers screened showed polymorphism across present set of genotypes. A total of 124 amplicons were scored using these 15 primers. Ninety five percent of the amplified products showed polymorphism, indicating fair amount of variation at the DNA level among these accessions. Cluster analysis delineated the genotypes in to four groups.