Background: Dengue fever (DF) is a common mosquito borne disease caused by dengue virus and is transmitted by Aedes mosquito. It is one of the major public health problems in India. A large-scale outbreak of dengue fever occurred in 2016 involving several districts of Assam. Here we report our experience with Dengue cases. The present study was aimed to assess clinical and epidemiological aspects of dengue cases presenting in down town hospital, Guwahati, Assam.Methods: A record based retrospective study conducted in our centre. Total 880 fever cases, fulfilling WHO criteria for dengue suspicion were included in our study. Required data from the entire laboratory confirmed cases from 1st January to 31st December 2016 were collected from MRD (medical record department) and analysed. Epidemiological data were compared with previous year’s available data from 1st January to 31st December 2015.Results: The number of dengue cases in 2016 clearly outnumbered the dengue cases in past years. Most of the cases were in the age group 20-50 years with a male preponderance. The outbreak occurred during the months of August-November indicating increased vector transmission in the monsoon and post monsoon periods. Average days of hospital stay were 6 days.Conclusions: Measures can be taken both at personal and government level to reduce morbidity and mortality from dengue particularly during the monsoon period.

It is always been controversial whether to treat subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) or not. In last decade many clinical studies have been published about the adverse outcome with SCH in pregnant women. Due to lack of randomized prospective clinical trials, it is difficult to formulate the consensus on creating guidelines managing SCH. Here we discuss some of the data available in this regard.

Non-specific symptoms such as asthenia, anorexia, unintentional weight loss, nausea/vomiting particularly in the elderly population are often overlooked both by caretakers and physicians. Deteriorating general health and neuro-psychiatric symptoms are often attributed to depression in the elderly population. The most common electrolyte abnormality, hyponatremia is again more common in the elderly population. Often neglected chronic hyponatremia remains asymptomatic in many cases. Once hyponatremia is detected clinicians should establish a proper diagnosis before supplementation. Failure to diagnose such cases will lead to repeated hospitalization, poor quality of life, wastage of resources and even death. Isolated ACTH deficiency (IAD) is a rare disorder and potentially fatal. IAD can present rarely as hyponatremia and diagnosis can easily be missed if not suspected. IAD may not be as rare as earlier thought as more and more such cases are been reported. Here we report two cases of generalized weakness and nausea; they were repeatedly hospitalized and treated for hyponatremia and ultimately diagnosed as IAD in our hospital.

Patients who earlier suffered from chicken pox may develop herpes zoster (HZ) due to reactivation in dorsal root ganglia. The occurrence of both clinical conditions at the same time is sporadic. Unusual presentation and a belligerent course are seen in immunocompromised hosts. The presence of both HZ and chicken pox in immunocompetent patients is infrequent and incoherent with the present understanding of pathogenesis. Here, we present a case of HZ involving the maxillary division of the right trigeminal nerve with simultaneous occurrence of varicella-zoster and right peripheral facial nerve palsy.