No abstract

Hydatid disease is helminthic infection caused by tape worm echinococcus granulosis. It commonly involves liver (65-75%) and the lungs (25 to 30%). Involvement of bones and skeletal muscle is very rare, i.e. 3 to 5%. This is the report of a 21-year girl, city resident, presented with mass involving left proximal thigh. The mass was painless and had gradually increased in size over three years. MRI revealed solid cum cystic lesion in vastus medialis muscle. Tru-Cut needle biopsy of the lesion revealed necrotic material. Intraoperative findings were of different sized cystic lesions, typical of hydatid cyst. The cysts were removed intact. No recurrence was seen in 11-month follow-up. Hydatid cyst involving skeletal muscle is very rare entity, but should be considered while making differential diagnosis of soft tissue mass.

Malnutrition is a clinical disorder caused by insufficiency of dietary nutrients and characterised clinically by a broad range of presentations, predominantly affecting infants and young children. 1 Worldwide, malnutrition is a crucial health problem chiefly in the underdeveloped and developing countries. According to estimates, the affected population mostly belongs to developing countries which is divided across Asia (70%), Africa (26%) and (4%) in Latin America and Caribbean. 1 The proportion of children with malnutrition is highest in Asian countries, estimated as 70% of undernutritioned children belonging to this portion of the globe. Around half of preschool children in South Asia have restricted growth and low body weight. 2 Malnutrition of children, increasing infantile death rates and illiteracy are the most serious endemic issues in several developing countries, including Pakistan. Nutritional deficiencies in children in Pakistan have been reported in several studies. One of these studies report low weight in 33.03% of children under 5 years, inhibited growth in 53.38% and muscular wasting in 11.52%. 3Malnutrition in children is accounted as the main risk factor for diseases and mortality, causing mortality of more than half of children worldwide. 4 Furthermore, it increases morbidity of children

On average eight British children drown each year abroad. This is therefore a rare but tragic event. Most of these episodes happen in swimming pools and this needs to be compared to the one child that dies each year in municipal swimming pools in the United Kingdom where there is adequate lifeguarding. It may be that parents have a false sense of security for their children in pools abroad. We believe that there needs to be action from the European Union on this important event.