Background: Diarrhoeal infections are the fifth leading cause of death worldwide and continue to take a high toll on child health. The objective of the study was toassess and compare mothers’ knowledge, attitude and practice regarding prevention and management of diarrhoea in children.Methods: A hospital based observational study was carried out in the Department of Paediatrics, M.K.C.G. Medical College. Data collected from mothers by questionnaire method.Results: Diarrhoea is more common in less than 2 years of age with males are affected more than females and more cases are seen from rural areas. Diarrhoeal diseases are more common in the lower educated group and low socioeconomic status families with prevalence of overcrowding. 47% mothers had knowledge about diarrhoea, 52% about the aetiology and 58% about risk factors of diarrhoea. Regarding role of breastfeeding in diarrhoea 48% mothers had good knowledge and regarding adverse effects of bottle feeding 56% mothers were aware. In this study only 34% of mothers were aware of assessment of danger signs and dehydration and 27% about treatment of dehydration. 33% mothers had good knowledge on sanitary latrine and safe drinking water uses in prevention and treatment of diarrhoea. Regarding preparation of ORS only 19% mothers had good knowledge, 65% mothers had average knowledge.Conclusions: Among mothers’ knowledge about diarrhoea along with the importance of breastfeeding and the adverse effects of bottle feeding is significantly lacking. Also, the knowledge about assessment, management and practices about diarrhoeal diseases among mothers is significantly less.

Background: Complementary feeding is the introduction of semisolid or solid food in infant who is on breast feeding, when mother’s milk is no longer enough to meet the nutritional needs. Understanding the social beliefs, knowledge, attitude and practices about complementary feeding among mothers is an important step prior to designing an intervention strategy to prevent malnutrition in children. Aim of the study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding complementary feeding among mothers and its effect on growth of the child.Methods: Prospective study including 500 mothers with children between 6 to 24 months of age in KIMS, from December 2014 to November 2015. Results: Mean age of knowledge regarding complementary feeding in mothers was 8.01 months. Most of the mothers 307/500 (61.4%) started complementary feeding because of insufficient milk, 183/500 (36.6%) mothers started complementary feeding as they felt the child required more milk, 30/500 (6%) mothers started complementary feeding as the child was sick and not drinking milk. There is significant positive correlation between age of complementary feeding and malnutrition in first 2 years of life.Conclusions: Mother’s knowledge regarding timing of complementary feeding is inadequate and practices are inappropriate. Majority of them are not aware of the current recommendations. It is essential to give accurate information and education about complementary feeding to prevent malnutrition and improve the health status of children.

BACKGROUNDAnaemia is the most common symptom in the developing countries including India where under nutrition is prevalent besides haemoglobinopathy is also prevalent in this geographic region. Haemoglobinopathies especially thalassaemia minor present in the paediatric age group with microcytic hypochromic anaemia and hence often misdiagnosed and treated wrongly as iron deficiency anaemia. Simpler cost-effective techniques like study of haematological indices by performing Complete Blood Count (CBC) and in suspicious cases haemoglobin electrophoresis the exact diagnosis can be established at the earliest. MATERIALS AND METHODSUnder aseptic condition, 5 mL of blood collected in K2EDTA Vacutainer. One part was analysed in cell count analyser. Other part was used to prepare hemolysate and subsequently gel electrophoresis. RESULTSGel Electrophoresis is done in 210 cases of microcytic hypochromic anaemia which is detected by haemogram assay, 21% of cases were diagnosed to be thalassaemia and 79% were iron deficiency anaemia. CONCLUSIONIron-Deficiency Anaemia (IDA) is the commonest cause of microcytic hypochromic anaemia, the second being thalassaemia. Differential diagnosis is based on complete haemogram and peripheral smear. Serum iron profile study and haemoglobin electrophoresis are must for confirmation of diagnosis.

Mesothelial cysts of inguinal area are extremely rare and few cases have been reported in females, arising from round ligament of uterus. Inguinal hernias are a common surgical problem in children presenting as an inguinal or inguino scrotal swelling. Usually the contents of hernial sac in a male child are intestine or omentum and in females  it may contain ovary. Mesothelial cyst of round ligament may present as an inguinal mass in females, but it is very rare to find in side inguinal hernial sac of a male child. Here in we report a case of 2 year 9-month-old male child, who was operated for irreducible right congenital inguinal hernia. A pedunculated cystic mass was found to be the content and was removed. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of mesothelial cyst. Because of rarity, we report this case.

Phototherapy is a common mode of treatment for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. Bronze baby syndrome is an infrequent complication of phototherapy. The characteristic feature is a grayish-brown discoloration of the skin, plasma and urine. The pigment responsible for the discoloration has not been properly identified and pathogenesis remains still unelucidated. The bronze color disappears spontaneously and the findings are compared to other causes of dusky-hued skin in the neonate. The bronze baby syndrome is usually innocuous but can signal life-threatening disease for which investigations should be performed routinely.