Background: Viral hepatitis is a major public health issue throughout the world affecting millions of children despite the availability of vaccines, prophylactic measures and improved sanitation. The objective of the study was to determine the etiological profile of acute viral hepatitis in patients admitted in a tertiary care hospital, West Bengal, India.Methods: This prospective hospital-based study was done in, Midnapore Medical College, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India from February 2020 to July 2021. Children between 6 months to 12 years who presented with fever and prodromal symptoms, with or without jaundice, abdominal pain, high coloured urine, pale coloured stools with suspicion of acute viral hepatitis were included in the study. The data were statistically analysed using Microsoft excel and statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) software.Results: Majority of the study subjects were from Lower middle class i.e. 59.6%. Only 34.6% regularly boiled water before consuming. Majority 44.2% of the subjects had history of practicing unhealthy eating practices which included not cleaning hands before eating. 66.7% subjects did not boiled water before consumption, 33.3% were involved in unhygienic food habits and 100% were using unhygienic sanitary practices. Prevalence of hepatitis A in our study was 96.2%. and hepatitis E was 5.8%. Prevalence of HAV IgM positive was 96.2%, prevalence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV) positive was 1.9% and prevalence of HEV IgM positive was 5.8%.Conclusions: Prevalence of hepatitis A in our study was 96.2%. Hence, HAV was the most common etiological factor causing acute viral hepatitis in children. It’s important to create awareness in the society regarding preventive measures like hygienic food practices and improved sanitation which is of utmost importance in its prevention.

Background: A large number of tribal populations reside in different parts of India. The indigenous population experiences a greater burden of diseases. Effects of tobacco smoking and smoking related disease such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be different among tribal populations. Aims and Objectives: This study was carried out to find out pattern of dyslipidemia and its association with body mass index (BMI) and smoking with or without COPD in tribal population. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional and observational study carried out in a teaching hospital over a period of 1 year. All willing patients of both genders above 12 years of age belonging to any tribal community attended to hospital were included in this study. Demographic and anthropometric data along with reports of biochemical and other relevant tests were collected. SPSS version 27 was used for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests were used. P≤0.05 was considered significant. Results: Among 190 patients, mean age of the study population was 46.3053±17.2563 (mean±standard deviation) years with male: female ratio of 4.94:1. About 14.7% patients were underweight, 66.3% patients were normal weight, 15.3% patients were overweight, and 3.7% patients were obese. Low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was most common (47%) form of dyslipidema. No significant association found between dyslipidemia and BMI. 35.3% of patients were smoker. Association of BMI versus history of smoking was not statistically significant. Among smokers 29.9% patients had COPD. Association between COPD and history of smoking was statistically significant. Statistically significant association also found between with all component of lipid profile with smoking and COPD. Conclusion: Dyslipidemia is an important risk factor in ethnic tribal population. Smoking of tobacco is common among them. Smoking has significant association with all components of lipid profile. COPD has high prevalence among smokers of tribal community. COPD has significant association with all components of lipid profile among them.

Thalassemia is a common congenital hemolytic anemia in the South Asian subcontinent. This disease is associated with multiple complications, which accumulate as the age of the patient progresses. Extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) is a compensatory physiological mechanism for chronic anemia. EMH can occur in different parts of the body and present with varied imaging features, some of which may be misleading. We here describe the case of a 22-year-old male patient with thalassemia who presented with paracardiac lobulated masses on chest X-ray. They were thought to be lung tumors; however, subsequent computed tomography scan of the thorax showed typical features of EMH involving the vertebrae, ribs and sternum. The patient was assured about the appearance of the masses on the chest X-ray. Imaging features of EMH in the thorax has been discussed in detail.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem worldwide. It is one of the main causes of infectious disease and mortality, especially in the developing countries, and has been recognized as one of the top ten causes of death worldwide by the World Health Organization. Aims and Objectives: The aims of this study were to assess clinical pattern and efficacy of Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course (DOTS) in management of peripheral tubercular lymphadenitis. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective, observational study among pediatric peripheral tubercular lymphadenitis patients to assess the clinical pattern, investigations, and treatment outcome. Results: In this study, 72 patients having peripheral tubercular lymphadenitis were enrolled. Most cases had cervical node involvement (81%). Discharging sinus was found in 28.98% cases. Acid-fast bacillus (AFB) was detected by fine needle aspiration and cytology (FNAC) in 21 cases (30.43%). Among them, pulmonary TB was found in two cases (9.52%), one patient being sputum positive. After treatment completion, lymph node(s) enlargement persisted in 6 (8.69%) cases, of which two patients (2.89%) had persistent discharging sinus. On repeat FNAC, acid-fast bacilli were seen in two patients. Success rate was 91.3% confirming the efficacy of DOTS in the management of tubercular lymphadenitis. Conclusions: Cervical lymphadenitis was found to be most common type of peripheral lymphadenitis. Cytopathology from the suspected lymph nodes had better success rate than AFB detection or CBNAAT of FNAC samples for diagnosing tubercular etiology in the study. DOTS strategy was effective for peripheral tubercular lymphadenitis with high success rate in this study.

Objective: Organophosphorus (OP) poisoning is a very common form of poisoning, especially in rural areas due to the use of OP poisons for agricultural purposes. There is high mortality and morbidity among patients with a history of consumption of this poison. This study aimed to find various biochemical test parameters among patients with OP poisoning admitted to a hospital in the state of West Bengal, India. Methods: This was an observational and cross-sectional study and conducted from January 2020 to July 2021. During the study period, any patients admitted to general medicine with a history of OP poisoning were included in the study. Aseptically collected venous blood was collected on admission, 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h of admission and immediately sent to the central laboratory for analysis in an automated analyzer. Results: A total of 100 patients were analyzed. Among them, 80 patients were alive and 20 patients died. The majority of the patients were young adults (21–30 years [53%]). Among the patients, 64% were male, 91% were rural inhabitants, and 43% were a farmer in the profession. The level of hemoglobin was higher, total WBC count was lower, liver enzymes were lower, and urea and creatinine were lower among the patients who survived. However, the sodium, potassium, and calcium were not significantly different between dead and alive patients. Conclusion: In the management of OP poisoning, the biochemical profile of blood may help identify the patients at risk, and appropriate management can be started accordingly. The biochemical profile also helps in the prognosis of OP poisoning.