BACKGROUND:Little information is available about the prevalence of skin conditions among children in the general population in India. Low socioeconomic status, malnutrition, overcrowding and poor standards of hygiene are important factors accounting for the distribution of skin diseases in developing countries such as India. AIM OF THE STUDY: To study prevalence of skin diseases among children presenting to paediatric OPD. METERIALS AND METHODS: A predesigned and pretested questionnaire was used to gather information about socio-demographic profile, personal history, social history and all the children were thoroughly examined by detailed clinical examination depending on signs and symptoms. Suspected cases were subjected to bacterial cultures, KoH examination was done. RESULTS: In the present study, pyoderma was the most common frequent skin disorder accounting to 11.2% followed by Scabies 10.6%, Papular urtricaria 8.8%, Impetigo 6.8% and the least prevalent were Measles 0.8%, Acanthosis nigricans 0.4% and Psoriasis 0.2%. CONCLUSION: In the present study pyoderma, utericaria and scabies were highly prevalent among children's. Personal hygine, health education and periodic deworming measures will prevent majority of skin diseases.

Introduction: Birth asphyxia is associated with reduction in the arterial oxygen tension, accumulation of carbon dioxide and fall in blood pH. Acidosis occurs due to anerobic utilization of glucose, production of lactic acid and accumulation of carbon dioxide. Aim: To study outcome of neonates who suffered birth asphyxia and Hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in a teaching hospital over a period of 2 years. Materials & Methods: 325 neonates with birth asphyxia and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy were studied, with well defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. They were treated according to standard protocols. Observations : 106 neonates of HIE-I, 58 neonates of HIE-II, and 59 neonates of HIE-III were followed up: for various outcomes like death due to complications, cerebral palsy, developmental delay with epilepsy, hearing handicap etc. Results: In HIE-I no case progressed to cerebral palsy, in HIE-II 24.13% progressed into CP and in HIE-III 54.2% developed spastic cerebral palsy. Conclusion: Infants with severe grades of HIE have increased risk of long term neurological sequlae. Keywords: Neonate, Birth asphyxia, Acidosis, Neonatal encephalopathy

BACKGROUND: The significant advancement in the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome can be attributed to prenatal identification of high risk pregnancies, prevention of illness through antenatal care, prenatal administration of glucocorticoids, advancement in respiratory support and surfactant therapy. These measures resulted in the reduction of mortality and morbidity rates in preterm infants. AIM OF THE STUDY: To find the efficacy of surfactant therapy in relation to time of administration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed data of 122 preterm babies with Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) hospitalized in the Special Neonatal Care Unit (SNCU) of the Pediatric Department, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Kadapa, A. P., India. RESULTS:We investigated the clinical efficacy of surfactant therapy in relation to the time of administration and found that early treatment with surfactant is more effective and resulted in highly significant reduction of mortality rate (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: Surfactant therapy is beneficial in preterm babies with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). So a reasonable recommendation is to treat the infants with surfactant as soon as the clinical signs of respiratory distress appear.