Natl Med J India
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Case Reports
Exchange transfusion as a therapeutic modality for aniline dye-induced methaemoglobinaemia.
Methaemoglobinaemia and a Heinz-body haemolytic anaemia are uncommon but potentially treatable complications of aniline poisoning. Management of aniline poisoning is mainly removing the source of aniline exposure and management of methaemoglobinaemia. Management of methaemoglobinaemia is guided by blood methaemoglobin levels and patient symptoms. ⋯ In patients with contraindication to methylene blue, exchange transfusion can be used while haemodialysis is reserved for complicated cases. We successfully managed 6 patients of methaemoglobinaemia due to aniline poisoning by methylene blue. Two of these patients who developed Heinz-body haemolytic anaemia with acute renal failure as a complication also required exchange transfusion.
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Evaluation of 3-year tuberculosis external quality assessment results of public health laboratories.
Background We aimed to evaluate the 3-year participation status of tuberculosis (TB) laboratories in public health laboratories (PHL) tuberculosis external quality assessment (EQA) and EQA results. Method During 2018-2020, PHLs participated in the EQA programme organized annually by the National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory (NTRL). Five kinds of EQA samples were sent to the participating laboratories on three parameters, including microscopy, culture and phenotypic first-line drug susceptibility testing and they were asked to perform according to the standard protocol. ⋯ Results A total of 24 PHLs participated in the EQA in 2018; 30 in 2019 and 23 in 2020. In terms of sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and reproducibility in microscopy, respectively, in 2018, 20 of the laboratories were 100%, 4 of them 80%, and in culture 16 of them were 100% and 2 of them 80%; in 2019, 28 of them were 100%, 2 of them 80%, and in culture 11 of them were 100%, 6 of them 80%, 1 of them 60%; in 2020, 20 of them were 100%, 3 of them 80%, and in culture 13 of them were 100% and 3 of them 80%. Conclusion It is beneficial for laboratories working on TB to participate in EQA in terms of evaluating the accuracy and reliability of the method used.
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Scrub typhus is still an underdiagnosed disease despite an increase in incidence as the clinical presentation is often different, leading to a low index of suspicion among doctors. Scrub typhus, an acute febrile disease, is a cause of prolonged fever and pyrexia of unknown origin. It can have varied clinical presentations ranging from mild asymptomatic disease to fatal multi-organ dysfunction. ⋯ Upon serological confirmation, doxycycline therapy was started followed by a rapid and complete resolution of pneumonia (both clinically and radiologically), splenomegaly and lymphadenopathy. This highlights the importance of recognizing rare clinical manifestations of this common tropical disease. An early diagnosis is required as a delay may lead to complications and a poor outcome.
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Scrub typhus presenting as infective endocarditis of the mitral valve is rare. There are few reports of infective endocarditis by scrub typhus with just one previous report of involvement of the aortic valve. ⋯ She was finally diagnosed to have scrub typhus with scrub typhus IgM being positive and became afebrile with prolonged oral doxycycline monotherapy. Although atypical organisms such as Legionella, Mycoplasma and Coxiella are described to cause culture-negative endocarditis, vegetations were present on both the anterior and posterior mitral valve leaflets in our patient.
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Historical Article
India's role in the odyssey of medical training in South Africa.
Apartheid had a devastating impact on medical education in South Africa. Until the development of the University of Natal Medical School in 1951, there were minimal opportunities for blacks (collectively Africans, Indians and so-called coloureds) to undertake undergraduate and postgraduate medical training in South Africa. At the height of apartheid (1968-1977), whites who had constituted 17% of the population, accounted for up to 87% of all medical graduates. ⋯ The global isolation of South Africa from the late 1940s further impacted negatively on the medical training for blacks in South Africa. During apartheid, the Government of India provided full scholarships to the marginalized in South Africa to study medicine in India. This initiative, coming at a time when India was grappling with its post-colonial challenges, was a remarkable yet seldom appreciated gesture.