Ventriculitis associated with meningitis is a difficult to treat infection with significant mortality and morbidity. It requires prolonged administration of antibiotics. External ventricular drainage may improve cure rate and hasten clearing of CSF infection.

Acute diarrhea is the second leading cause of under-five mortality in India. It is defined as the passage of frequent watery stools (>3/24 h). Recent change in consistency of stools is more important than frequency. Acute diarrhea is caused by variety of viral, bacterial and parasitic agents. The common ones are: Rotavirus, E. coli, Shigella, Cholera, and Salmonella. Campylobacter jejuni, Giardia and E. histolytica are also not uncommon. The most important concern in management of acute diarrhea in Emergency room (ER) is fluid and electrolyte imbalances and treatment of underlying infection, wherever applicable. It includes, initial stabilization (identification and treatment of shock), assessment of hydration and rehydration therapy, recognition and treatment of electrolyte imbalance, and use of appropriate antimicrobials wherever indicated. For assessment of hydration clinical signs are generally reliable; however, in severely malnourished children sunken eyes and skin turgor are unreliable. Oral Rehydration Therapy is the cornerstone of management of dehydration. Intravenous fluids are not routinely recommended except in cases of persistent vomiting and/or shock. Majority of cases can be managed in ER and at home. Hospitalization is indicated in infants <3 mo, children with severe dehydration, severe malnutrition, toxic look, persistent vomiting and suspected surgical abdomen. Supplementations with zinc and probiotics have been shown to reduce severity and duration of diarrhea; however evidence does not support the use of antisecretary, antimotility and binding agents. Education of parents about hand hygiene, safe weaning and safe drinking water etc., can help in reducing incidence of this important health problem in the country.

Community acquired pneumonia is the leading killer of children under the age of 5 years. In ER, a diagnosis of pneumonia may be made and the severity graded on basis of WHO's classification for pneumonia in children up to 5 years of age. It relies on age-specific respiratory rate, presence of lower chest indrawing and signs of severe illness. A diagnosis of pneumonia is made if a febrile child has history of cough and difficult or rapid breathing and a respiratory rate above age specific threshold; however, signs of airway obstruction should be ruled out. Severe pneumonia is diagnosed if with the above features lower chest wall retraction is present; nonetheless, all infants below 2 months and children with moderate to severe malnutrition with pneumonia are categorized as having severe pneumonia. A chest radiograph is indicated only if the diagnosis is in doubt; complications are suspected and there is severe/very severe or recurrent pneumonia. Non-severe pneumonia is treated at home with oral amoxicillin for 3-5 days. If there is no improvement in 48 h it is changed to amoxicillin-clavulanate. Azithromycin is added for atypical pneumonia. Indications for hospitalization include age <2 months, treatment failure on oral antibiotics, severe/very severe or recurrent pneumonia, shock, hypoxemia, severe malnutrition, immunocompromised state. Severe pneumonia is treated with injectable ampicillin; Cloxacillin is added if clinical/radiographic features suggest Staphylococcal infection. On review after 48 h, if improved, the child may be sent home on oral amoxicillin for 5 more days; if not, it is treated as very severe pneumonia. Very severe pneumonia is treated with injectable Ampicillin plus gentamicin. If improved after 48 h, oral amoxicillin and gentamicin are continued for 10 days. If not, respiratory support is enhanced, antibiotics are changed to intravenous ceftriaxone and amikacin and further work up is planned. Children with chronic diseases and recurrent pneumonia require specific antibiotics depending on the underlying cause.

A bstract Objective To study if protocolized monitoring of endotracheal tube (ETT) cuff pressure every 6 hours is better than adjusting endotracheal tube cuff inflation by the only bedside clinical assessment. Materials and methods This was a single-center prospective randomized controlled study done between July 1, 2017 and March 31, 2019. Children between 1 month and 18 years, intubated with cuffed ETT by our trained doctors were included. After obtaining consent, patients were randomized into two groups, standard group (SG) and cuff pressure monitoring group (MG). Sample size was calculated with 80 patients in each group with a power of 80%, significance level (alpha 0.05 and beta 0.2). In the SG, ETT cuff inflation was adjusted by clinical assessment (bedside minimal leak technique and monitoring the percentage of leak displayed on ventilator display) at 6 hours interval. In the MG, cuff pressures were monitored by the device every 6 hours to maintain between 20 and 25 mm Hg. Results Out of 543 mechanically ventilated children during the study period, 266 were eligible and randomized for study. During the study, 89 patients died and 17 were left against medical advice, leaving 80 patients in each group. Incidence of post-extubation stridor (PES), re-intubation rate, ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rate, ventilator days, and length of pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) stay were analyzed and found no advantage of protocolized monitoring of cuff pressures in the reduction of any of the above variables. Conclusion Our findings if confirmed by large multicentric studies can bring an end to routine ETT cuff pressure measurements and emphasize more on clinical assessment. Clinical trial registry (CTRI/2019/05/019098). Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine (2021): 10.5005/jp-journals-10071-23737 How to cite this article Shaikh F, Janaapureddy YR, Mohanty S, Reddy PK, Sachane K, Dekate PS, et al. Utility of Endotracheal Tube Cuff Pressure Monitoring in Mechanically Ventilated (MV) Children in Preventing Post-extubation Stridor (PES). Indian J Crit Care Med 2021;25(2):181–184.

Background: The studies are required to better understand the needs of adolescents and to help policy makers to develop appropriate need-based adolescent reproductive health programs. Objectives: The objective was to assess the awareness among adolescents regarding various reproductive health issues and to assess their attitude and perceptions regarding reproductive health and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). Design: Community-based cross-sectional descriptive study. Participants: 423 adolescents of 11-19 years age group in two rural (219 students) and two urban (204 students) schools. Methodology: The survey used was a 4-part, 52-item self-administered questionnaire eliciting information on knowledge regarding reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. Result: Awareness of all reproductive health matters was suboptimum. Awareness was more in urban adolescents than in rural and in late teens than earlier teens. Overall, majority were aware of legal age of marriage (79%), two child family norm (90%), and birth spacing, disadvantages of early marriage, disfavor female feticide, and felt need for sex education (91%). Condoms were the most commonly known method of contraception among boys (80.15%) and oral pills among girls (60.24%). AIDS was the most well-known sexually transmitted disease (93.38%). Conclusion: Lacunae in awareness of all reproductive health matters suggests that young people’s sexual and reproductive health issues need to be further addressed and explored in order to promote safer and responsible sexual behavior.