Asim Sarfraz

Impediments of reporting dengue cases in India

Dengue has emerged as one of the most important mosquito-borne, fatal flaviviral disease, apparently expanding as a global health problem. An estimated 3.6 billion people are at risk for dengue, with 50 million infections per year occurring across 100 countries globally. The annual number of dengue fever cases in India is many times higher than it is officially reported. This under reporting would play a major role in the governments decision-making. Underestimating of the disease in India encumbers its people from taking preventive measures, discourages efforts to ensnare the sources of the disease and deliberates efforts for vaccine research. In this article, we highlight the probable impediments of under reporting leading to its impact on national and global public health and also offer key remedies to effectively address the issues across the clinics to the community level.

Breast abscess in a case of duct atresia caused by CO 2 -auxotrophic small colony variants of Staphylococcus aureus: Case report and review of literature

Small colony variants (SCV) are persistent, intracellular morphotypes of Staphylococcus aureus causing indolent, subclinical infections. They are usually auxotrophic for Thymidine, menadione or carbon dioxide. Diagnosis is often misleading due to small colony type, delayed coagulase activity and lack of hemolysis. We hereby describe a case of CO2-auxotrophic SCV of S. aureus causing left breast abscess in a young female with duct atresia of breast, detected by increased colony size in CO2 rich environment. SCVs can often be missed and have to be identified and treated properly.

Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis (SBP) caused by Bacillus Cereus in an Alcoholic Patient: Case Report and Review of Literature.

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is infection of peritoneal covering of the abdomen caused by bacteria, without any known etiology. Common known predisposing factors are cirrhosis of liver and old age among others. Bacillus cereus is an uncommon cause of SBP and often wrongly interpreted as a contaminant. We hereby report a case of peritonitis in chronic alcoholic, elderly male patient presenting in the outpatient department. Bacillus cereus is often regarded as contaminant but must be carefully identified and correlated clinically in case of isolation from peritoneal fluid.