Monday, December 9, 2013

Pandora's Box ?

After reading through my better half’s guest post on the importance of laboratory services at NJH, I’ve been stuck by the sudden increase in the number of cases where we ended up diagnosing as meningitis. 

Of course, Dr. Roshine taking over as consultant physician has done quite a lot towards this. The number of patients who’ve been subject to a lumbar puncture has gone up. I’m sure that many of the patients who had been stamped as cerebral malaria in the earlier years are being diagnosed as meningitis now, thanks to the assurance of a lumbar puncture.

I was quite inquisitive about the trends of the meningitis patients over the last 6 months. I requested information from the the Acute Care Unit about the distribution of patients. This was the slip I received.


Now, this has fuelled an exercise where Dr. Roshine would be looking at the patient load with probable diagnosis of meningitis. Watch out for the initial findings which should be out soon. 

I'm sure that we have quite a surprise waiting for us . . . 

4 comments:

  1. Jeevan - did you get Sheba's thesis on cerebral malaria at NJH? Curious about what you think about it...

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  2. That is quite a lot of Encephalitis with a possible outbreak in September-October. Do put the number of Pf positive in another column (maybe add which are unconscious patients/ patients with fits). I know Hiranpur had a Japanese Encephalitis outbreak in September-October 1989 (just before I joined) with similar numbers. after that there was a long gap as immunity had developed (at least up to 2007 when the JE immunization was done in Birbhum)

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  3. All unconscious patients or patients /those with fits in malarial areas should have Malaria testing and CSF (latter if there is a fever)

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