Background: According to the status of newborns report 2014, about 0.76 million neonatal deaths occur in India, the highest for any country in the world. Although the neonatal mortality rate (NMR) has declined in the last 2 decades, the early NMR has been the slowest to decline. The three major causes of neonatal deaths are preterm birth complications, infections, and intrapartum related complications; together, they contribute to nearly 90% of total neonatal deaths. The aim of the study was to study the immediate clinical outcomes of culture proven neonatal sepsis in the NICU of Yenepoya Medical College Hospital during the period January 2016 to June 2016.Methods: Retrospective hospital based study of records of all neonates admitted to the NICU with blood culture positive neonatal sepsis from January 2016 till June 2016. Blood cultures were done using the BACTEC 460. Data analysed using SPSS version 20.Results: A diagnosis of probable sepsis was made in 84 (54%) of the total neonates (154) admitted to the NICU during the study period of which 6 were out born babies. Culture positive sepsis was found in 11.6% (18).  The most commonly isolated organisms were Escherichia coli, Enterococcus and coagulase negative Staphylococcus aureus. Of the total 18 culture positive cases, urine culture was positive in only 2 cases while the remaining had a positive blood culture. Among the 18 cases of culture positive neonatal sepsis, 8 died while 10 survived.Conclusions: Incidence of neonatal sepsis was relatively high in YMCH with the most predominant organism being coagulase negative Staphylococcus aureus. 12.7% of the sepsis cases died. Resistance to cefotaxime and ampicillin was prevalent.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the relief from pain afforded by orally administered 20% dextrose as an analgesic for the purpose of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening. Setting and Study Design: This was an observational case–control subject study design. Materials and Methods: This study was performed over a period of 19 months during the first ROP screening. The readings of clinical and behavioral parameters of preterm babies were taken at baseline and monitored continuously during the screening procedure. The right eye was examined before administration of oral dextrose (WOD) and the left eye was examined after administration of dextrose orally (WD). Babies were given 2 ml of 20% dextrose orally with syringe. ROP screening was performed under topical anesthesia with binocular indirect ophthalmoscope. Pain score was calculated by premature infant pain profile scoring system. Results: One hundred and two babies participated in this study, of which 33 (32.35%) babies had a gestational age ≤32 weeks. Statistical analysis done using Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed significant P values for pain score (P < 0.001), heart rate (P < 0.05), oxygen saturation (P < 0.05), and behavioral parameters (P < 0.001) for WOD and WD. Pain score, WOD, and WD in babies ≤32 and >32 weeks were also significant (P < 0.001) for pain score, heart rate (<0.05), and behavioral parameters except for oxygen saturation (P > 0.05) (Mann–Whitney U test). Conclusions: Oral dextrose has a significant role in reducing pain, during ROP screening, but does not alleviate pain completely. The within-subject study design ensured close to identical baseline parameters, thereby providing better internal reliability of the study.

Background: Breast milk is optimum for a neonate as it is a natural food and the best gift a mother can give to her baby. Breast feeding is an art and skill which need to be learnt and mastered by mothers. As health care workers are the first line of contact for lactating mothers, this study was planned to assess their knowledge on breast feeding. Methods: Hospital based cross-sectional study was performed among health care workers at Yenepoya Medical College and Hospital of Mangalore. 100 health care workers consisting of 60 medical interns and 40 staff nurses were enrolled in the study. Health care workers were given a questionnaire that sought responses pertaining to the knowledge on breastfeeding and its techniques. The data were analyzed using Microsoft Access and Excel software. Results: The present study showed 92% of medical interns and 95% of nursing staff had correct knowledge about initiation of breastfeeding. Knowledge on contents of colostrums and its advantage was more among medical interns (85%) as compared to nursing staffs (30%). Knowledge on prelacteal feeds was good among medical interns as compared to nurses. Both medical interns and nursing have poor knowledge on breastfeeding during maternal illness. Knowledge on correct feeding position and good breast attachment was good among nursing staffs. Conclusions: Study showed there is some substantial knowledge gap on breastfeeding among health care workers. Enhancing their knowledge on breastfeeding and the problems associated with it will be useful for the nurturing mothers as well as themselves.

MATERIAL & METHOD: This retrospective study was conducted during the period of June-August 2020 for 3months in newborns born to COVID-19 positive mothers at YMCH after obtaining ethical clearance. All newborns born to mothers with COVID-19 positive status during any trimester of pregnancy, irrespective of neonatal COVID-19 RT-PCR test, and delivered at YMCH during the study period were included. Relevant history and complete systemic examination ndings of the neonate were noted down from the case records and laboratory results of RT-PCR test on nasopharyngeal and throat swab if done was noted down which was done at 24-48hours of birth.RESULT:Total of 25newborns born to COVID-19 positive mothers were included in the study. Among the neonates born, 64% were female and 36% were male. 76% of the pregnant mothers were asymptomatic at the time of detection of COVID-19 infection. The neonatal outcome found to have only 1 newborn with positive COVID-19 infection compared to 24 healthy newborns. CONCLUSION: Signicant measures for preventing neonatal SARS-CoV-2 infection are to prevent maternal illness and to decrease the potential of neonatal viral exposure.

A 15-year-old boy presented with fever, skin, and oral lesions for 4 weeks. The cutaneous lesions were suggestive of subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus and erythema multiforme. His clinical, histopathological, and immunological features were indicative of Rowell syndrome and he satisfied the diagnostic criteria of Rowell syndrome proposed by Zeitouni et al . He subsequently developed neurological manifestations and was diagnosed to have neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus. We report this case for the unusual occurrence of a rare entity like Rowell syndrome in an adolescent male with co-existence of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus.