Health Drink Poisoning - An Unusual Case of Bottle Gourd Toxicity.

Bottle gourd, popularly known as "Lauki" is a commonly used vegetable throughout the world including India. Its juice is considered a "health tonic" for chronic ailments by practitioners of alternate therapy and nutritionist. It is essential for emergency physicians to be aware of this toxicity, especially in tropical countries like India, where alternate therapy practices are prevalent. We present the case of a 35-year-old man who consumed concentrated bottle gourd juice and subsequently experienced multiple episodes of vomiting, bloody diarrhea, and giddiness. The patient was resuscitated and stabilized with crystalloid fluids, proton.pump inhibitors, and antiemetics, and admitted to the critical care unit. The patient was discharged in stable condition after 4 days of hospitalization. Bottle gourd toxicity treatment is symptomatic, and there is no specific antidote for this toxicity. It is important to early diagnose bottle gourd toxicity, especially in countries where it is commonly used as a health tonic.

Understanding the determinants of happiness through Gallup World Poll.

BACKGROUND: The idea of happiness is as old as civilization, but breakthrough is achieved only in 20th century. Happiness can be broadly segmented into biological and behavioural component. The sufferings from illnesses hamper happiness. Happiness correlates negatively with morbidity, mortality, stress and anxiety in contrast to a positive correlation with motivation, healthy behaviours and longevity. In this article, an attempt has been made to understand the relationship between happiness and its important contributory factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The current study used data from the Gallup World Poll available under license CC0. Data analysis was performed using R studio version 1.0.136. Initially, descriptive analysis in the form of mean (standard deviation), violin plot, correlation matrix, and scatter plots were reported. Subsequently, robust regression estimates along with bootstrap standard errors and confidence intervals were used to report inferential statistics. RESULTS: Norway, with a happiness score of 7.537 ranked first followed by Denmark with a score of 7.522. Burundi with a score of 2.905 is at the bottom of ranking for happiness. Freedom (CI; 0.95-2.22) and Family (CI; 0.92 - 1.57) are the strongest predictors of happiness. The trust variable does not have a significant (CI; -0.27 - 1.94) relationship with happiness. CONCLUSIONS: The values and norms in society are changing at a fast pace. Therefore, the measures of happiness require consistent and innovative approaches to measure it.

Kimura's Disease: A Rare Cause of Parotid Swelling.

Kimura's disease also known as subcutaneous angioblastic lymphoid hyperplasia with peripheral eosinophilia is a rare clinicopathological entity. It is a chronic granulomatous disease of unknown etiology. The clinical presentation varies from subcutaneous swellings of the head and neck region with regional lymphadenopathy with salivary gland involvement to systemic manifestations like nephrotic syndrome. The clinical features are mild, rarely life threatening. The present article is a case report of Kimura's disease presenting as multiple swellings at the left temporal region, left parotid and bilateral post auricular region. Though the lesion is benign, the cosmetic disfigurement caused by the swellings was of significant concern to our patient. MRI Scan was suggestive of a parotid swelling extending into the temporal and post auricular region of the left side. Surgical modality of treatment was adopted- Superficial Parotidectomy with excision of subcutaneous swellings. Histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of Kimura's disease. The mode of presentation as multiple large swellings with the involvement of the parotid gland created a diagnostic dilemma, hence this article intends to consider Kimura's disease as a rare but possible cause of a parotid swelling.

Serological Detection of Antibodies to Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus in Large Ruminants.

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an economically important disease of small ruminants with a rapidly expanding geographical distribution. Peste des petits ruminants virus may manifest in a variety of ways with disease ranging from acute to subclinical. We investigated the exposure of large ruminants to PPRV in areas where the virus is endemic in the small ruminant population by assessing the serological status of groups of animals. This study focused on the Punjab province of Pakistan as an area where the virus is endemic and where mixed farming practices occur enabling close interactions between small and large ruminant populations. An overall PPR seropositivity was detected in 10.0% of cattle and 14.16% of buffaloes. Following an assessment of serological profiles in large ruminants within different age groups, a maximum seroprevalence was observed in cattle (17.5%) and buffaloes (22.5%) over 2 years of age indicating the potential utility of sampling large ruminant populations for PPR serosurveillance. The large ruminants sampled between one and two years of age had similar levels of seropositivity within populations with 11.2% and 16.2% of animals being seropositive, respectively. Current PPR vaccination strategies do not enable the differentiation between infected and vaccinated small ruminants, and as such, the serological surveillance of sheep and goats is of little value. When considering eradication programmes for PPRV, this factor is of great significance. However, where large and small ruminants are farmed together, serological surveillance of large ruminants may provide a snapshot of virus infection within populations where mild disease is present or where small ruminants are regularly vaccinated.

Emergence of Lineage IV Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus in Ethiopia: Complete Genome Sequence of an Ethiopian Isolate 2010.

Isolates of peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) can be segregated genetically into four lineages. For decades, lineages I-III have been reported across Africa whilst lineage IV has predominantly circulated across Asia. However, the lineage distribution is currently changing in Africa. Importantly, full genome sequence data for African field isolates have been lacking. Here, we announce the first complete genome sequence of a field isolate of peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) from East Africa. This isolate was derived from the intestine of a goat suffering from severe clinical disease during the 2010 outbreak in Ethiopia. The full genome sequence of this isolate, PPRV Ethiopia/2010, clusters genetically with other lineage IV isolates of PPRV, sharing high levels of sequence identity across the genome. Further, we have carried out a phylogenetic analysis of all of the available African partial N gene and F gene PPRV sequences to investigate the epidemiology of PPRV with a focus on the emergence of different lineages of PPRV in Africa.

Peste des petits ruminants.

Peste des petits ruminants virus causes a highly infectious disease of small ruminants that is endemic across Africa, the Middle East and large regions of Asia. The virus is considered to be a major obstacle to the development of sustainable agriculture across the developing world and has recently been targeted by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for eradication with the aim of global elimination of the disease by 2030. Fundamentally, the vaccines required to successfully achieve this goal are currently available, but the availability of novel vaccine preparations to also fulfill the requisite for differentiation between infected and vaccinated animals (DIVA) may reduce the time taken and the financial costs of serological surveillance in the later stages of any eradication campaign. Here, we overview what is currently known about the virus, with reference to its origin, updated global circulation, molecular evolution, diagnostic tools and vaccines currently available to combat the disease. Further, we comment on recent developments in our knowledge of various recombinant vaccines and on the potential for the development of novel multivalent vaccines for small ruminants.

Paraganglioma of right cervical plexus-a case report.

Head and neck paragangliomas (HNPs) and pheochromocytomas are rare tumors. Catecholamine secreting tumors that arise from chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla and the sympathetic ganglia are referred to as pheochromocytomas and extra adrenal catecholamine secreting paragangliomas (extra adrenal pheochromocytomas) respectively. The distinction between pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma is an important one because of implications for associated neoplasms, risk for malignancy, and genetic testing. Paragangliomas are rare tumors of the head and neck and are of diagnostic challenge. We report a case of 55 year old male who had a neck swelling, cough with expectoration, which on extensive evaluation revealed to be Paraganglioma with primary optic atrophy.