Aim: We report our experience and results of the only study ever carried out in the world, regarding managing outbreaks of Nairobi eye in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Materials and Methods: This prospective study was conducted over 4 years from April 2008 to May 2012 at the United Nations (UN) Hospital located in the DRC. After a detailed history and examination, treatment was initiated and all patients were followed up until complete recovery.

Results: 49 (15.7%) out of a total of 312 cases of Paederus dermatitis suffered from Nairobi eye. 37 (75.5%) were male and 12 (24.5%) were females. The age of the patients ranged from 3 to 78 years. No significant difference was observed on the basis of gender, race, or nationality. Burning sensation was the major symptom. The average duration of symptoms and loss of person-hours was 7 days and 72 h, respectively. The most common papular lesions were seen in 20 (40.8%) cases. 5 (10.2%) cases who presented with pre-septal orbital cellulitis needed systemic antibiotics and steroids. Dyschromia was seen in 6 (12.4%) cases. The overall healing time in majority of patients (31, 63.3%) was 7-14 days.

Conclusion: Awareness of Nairobi eye and simple preventive measures, timely diagnosis, appropriate treatment, and follow-up are very essential in decreasing the suffering, loss of person-hours and complications from the illness. As the DRC has a significant presence of the UN troops including Indians, essential features of this study should be incorporated as an advisory for them to prevent as well treat this disease if needed.

Key words: Nairobi eye, Paederus dermatitis, UN troops

How to cite: Baranwal VK, Goenka R, Gupta RP, Kumar A, Ambiya V. Bugs don’t bite to do damage: A study of Nairobi eye in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. MIMER Med J 2018;2(2):25-30.

Source of Support: Nil.

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Background: The heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, mercury, aluminum, zinc, chromium, and iron are found in a wide variety of personal care products including lipstick, whitening toothpaste, eyeliner, and nail color.

Aims and Objectives: The main aim of our study was to find out the heavy metals in routinely used cosmetics such as surma, kajal, lipsticks, rose powder, sindoor, and turmeric powder.

Materials and Methods: Samples of commonly used personal care products, i.e., cosmetics such as surma, kajal, lipsticks, rose powder, sindoor, and turmeric powder of different companies were purchased from local markets of Pune and Mumbai. Heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and strontium were estimated by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry from cosmetics of different companies.

Results: The lead level was very high in surma and other cosmetics, i.e., kajal, lipsticks, sindoor powder, cheek rose powder, and turmeric powder are also contained the detectable amount of lead. Arsenic, cadmium, and mercury levels were also very high in surma samples. Strontium levels were above the level of detection in almost all the samples of cosmetics.

Conclusions: All the cosmetics contained lead and strontium heavy metals. The absorption of these heavy metals might be more and affects all organs and systems. It is very essential to see the status of heavy metals in the blood, creating awareness and preventing the use of such cosmetics.

Key words: Cosmetics, cadmium, heavy metals, lead, sindoor, surma

How to cite: Pratinidhi SA, Sagare AA, Patil AJ. Heavy metal levels in commonly used cosmetic products in Asia. MIMER Med J 2018;2(2):31-36.

Source of Support: Nil.

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Aim: The study reports of Chryseobacterium indologenes are limited in India. Hence, we retrospectively investigated the underlying diseases in patients in whom we isolated this organism and studied the antimicrobial resistance pattern.

Background: C. indologenes is a rare pathogen in humans and is not normally present in the human microflora although it is widely distributed in nature. It shows a multidrug resistance pattern which makes the treatment challenging for the clinicians.

Description: Patients with C. indologenes were identified in our hospital between January 2016 and August 2017. Clinical features and antimicrobial susceptibilities of these patients were analyzed. Five isolates of C. indologenes were identified, with all the patients having underlying diseases. C. indologenes were isolated from endotracheal secretions, blood, pleural fluid and hemodialysis catheter tip. Majority patients had other co-morbidities. Out of 5 isolates, 3 isolates were pandrug resistant for our selected panel of drugs.

Conclusion: C. indologenes are shown to be resistant isolates to multiple antibiotics, making the treatment challenging for the clinicians. However, the outcomes of the patients remain favorable. Although resistance was high, virulence is not very high.

Key words: Chryseobacterium indologenes, hospital infection, multidrug resistance

How to cite: Dalai S, Bhatawadekar S, Lahiri KK. Chryseobacterium Indologenes: An emerging hospital infection. MIMER Med J 2018;2(2):37-40.

Source of Support: Nil.

Conflict of Interest: None declared

Adult metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) is a rare and serious genetic demyelinating disorder. Very few cases of adult MLD manifesting as hebephrenic schizophrenia-like symptoms have been described till now. This is a case report of a 24-year-old female having hebephrenic schizophrenia-like symptoms for 2 years, who was later diagnosed to be MLD on imaging. This case highlights the importance of demyelinating disorders as a cause of apparent hebephrenic schizophrenia.like disorder. Psychiatric symptoms can be the preemergent markers of the neurodegenerative disorders.

Key words: Adult, hebephrenic, metachromatic leukodystrophy, schizophrenia

How to cite: Deshmukh SD, Mhetre BB, Deshpande SS. Adult metachromatic leukodystrophy with hebephrenic schizophrenialike symptoms: A case report. MIMER Med J 2018;2(2):41-43.

Source of Support: Nil.

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Loa loa, a benign filarial nematode eye worm, is endemic in tropical rain forest areas of Africa. It is, especially, common in Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria. Travelers and migrants are more commonly found to be infected in India. In the past 100 years, very few cases have been reported in India. In our case, a 9.5 cm-long female eye worm L. loa was recovered from the infraorbital area of a 22-year-old young Indian lady. She presented with a swelling in the right infraorbital area over the face. A history of similar swelling in zygomatic region was noted on the same side 2 months back which disappeared of its own. After ophthalmological opinion and with routine pre-operative evaluation, she was planned for excision under local anesthesia. During procedure, a mobile structure was found suggestive of a live worm. It was further identified as a female species of L. loa macrofilaria on microbilogical examination. The patient was advised oral diethylcarbamazine for 14 days. Post-operative follow-up for 2 years was uneventful.

Key words: Eye worm, Loa loa, macrofilaria

How to cite: Gawade S, Patil R. Loa loa - An Eye Worm Infestation: A Rare Case in India. MIMER Med J 2018;2(2):44-47.

Source of Support: Nil.

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Hydatid disease is caused by Echinococcus granulosus and most commonly seen in liver and lung. Incidence of pancreatic hydatid cyst is very rare. A 45-year-old female housewife presented with lump in the right side of her hypochondrium that persisted for 1 year. She did not have a history of abdominal pain, jaundice or fever, loss of appetite, or weight loss. Her abdominal computed tomography revealed a 9.5 cm × 8 cm sized thick-walled cystic lesion with a wall thickness of 7 mm. The lesion was seen abutting liver, pancreatic head, adjacent bowel loops, superior mesenteric artery, superior mesenteric vein, and mass effect in the form of adjacent bowel loops. Considering the cystic lesion of pancreas, the patient was planned for exploratory laparotomy. Intraoperative findings were evident of cystic mass involving head of pancreas with adhesions and superior mesenteric vein. The patient was considered for pancreaticoduodenectomy with clinical suspicion of neoplastic lesion. Histopathology of specimen suggested hydatid cyst. The patient was given albendazole 15 mg/kg postoperatively. The patient was monitored in our outpatient department for 6 months. Hydatid cyst of the pancreas should be considered in the differential diagnosis of cystic lesion of the pancreas and thorough pre-operative assessment can offer appropriate choice of surgery for complete cure of the disease and avoid the complex post-operative course and prolonged hospitalization.

Key words: Hydatid cyst, pancreas, pancreaticoduodenectomy

How to cite: Patil R, Gawade S, Naik S, Puntambekar S. Hydatid cyst of pancreas: A rare case at a rural hospital in India. MIMER Med J 2018;2(2):48-51.

Source of Support: Nil.

Conflict of Interest: None declared

Myths are the ideas which many people commonly believe but are false with respect to the available scientific evidence of that time. In every popular medical culture, there are beliefs and practices that do not have scientific evidence but are still used widely. Most of them may be harmless, but with time, they have a propensity to get recognized as a “fact” and thereby obscure the real facts. Myths do their work at the emotional level and can, therefore, be more powerful than logic with which it is juxtaposed. Just like any other branch of medicine, orthopedics too has its share of misconceptions. This article aims to create awareness about these myths using a few examples and to critically evaluate even the most ingrained and widespread practices, which are based on tradition and the assertive weight of authority but lack the scientific backing of available evidence.

Key words: Misconceptions, myths, orthopedics

How to cite: Maheshgauri DM. Myths and misconceptions in orthopedics. MIMER Med J 2018;2(2):52-55.

Source of Support: Nil.

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Forensic odontology (FO) is a specialized branch of forensic medicine that is concerned with appropriate handling and examination of dental evidence. The most common utilization of FO is toward finding the identity of unidentified remains of deceased persons by examination of the dental fragments, i.e., postmortem dental identification. This specialization assumes vital importance as part of the combat medical support team, especially in low-intensity conflicts or a theater of active operations. The main rationale for this is the high probability of aircraft or vehicular accidents, terrorist attacks, blast injuries, and similar incidents which result in mass casualties among both civilians and troops. It has often been seen that some of the dental structures and dental restorations may be the only parts of the body that is not destroyed and they can be useful even though they may be scattered over a wide area or may be recovered after a significant time. Recovered dental prostheses or postmortem dental radiographs may be invaluable to identify a deceased individual by comparing them with accurate antemortem records. These may be diagnostic enough to warrant a positive identification where other means are not conclusive.

Key words: Forensic dentistry, dental identification, post-mortem identification

How to cite: D’Souza SJD. When the dead speak - Forensic odontology identification. MIMER Med J 2018;2(2):56-60.

Source of Support: Nil.

Conflict of Interest: None declared.