The Department of Internal Medicine at the Amrita School of Medicine organized a one-day seminar on Recent Trends in the Diagnosis and Management of Infections on Oct 14, 2012.

The seminar conducted as part of a Continuing Medical Education (CME) program, was inaugurated by Dr. Prem Nair, Medical Director, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences.

The seminar saw the participation of experts from various fields of medicine who shared their knowledge on infectious diseases, their diagnosis and management methods. Around 200 postgraduate scholars from all over the country attended.

“Pneumonia continues to be a leading infectious disease, known for its considerable morbidity and mortality. Even with the advent of modern medicine, we find that the mortality rate of pneumonia has gone up,” stated Dr. (Lt. Col) V. P. Gopinathan, Professor and Head of the Department of Pulmonology at the Amrita School of Medicine.

His lecture elaborated on Recent Trends in the Diagnosis and Management of Pneumonia. Diagnostic tests including lab tests, chest x-ray, arterial blood gas test, blood culture, bronchoscopy were discussed as also drugs for treatment of different types of pneumonia viz. Pneumococcal, legionella, mycoplasma, staphylococcal, klebsiella, pseudomonas and viral.

Dr. S. Bhasi, Professor and Head of Internal Medicine at the Gokulam Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram highlighted Infections in Pregnancy, in his lecture.

“Urinary tract infections are common during pregnancy. Acute pyelonephritis (infection of kidneys) is more seen during the second trimester. Dengue fever during pregnancy can cuase complications. Chances for first trimester abortion and fetal death increase,” he elaborated.

The doctor also cautioned about the use of antibiotics during pregnancy.

Dr. Aswini Kumar, Professor of Medicine, Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram discussed various monsoon fevers.

“Death rates due to dengue fever are increasing in our state. Patients may suffer from fever, severe body pain, mild jaundice, generalized rashes, petechiae in the limbs or develop ecchymosis. In Kerala, the transmission season of Japanese encephalitis is from July to November. The peculiarity of the West Nile virus is that it can produce meningoencephalitis, acute flaccid paralysis and movement disorders,” he stated.

A lecture on Recent Trends in the Management of Hepatitis B was delivered by Dr. Narayanan, Professor of Gastroenterology, Amrita School of Medicine. Admitting that there were no good virucidal drugs to eliminate the Hepatitis B virus, he nevertheless outlined the importance of lab tests and the treatment strategy.

Dr. Anand Kumar, Professor and Head of the Department of Neurology at the Amrita School of Medicine spoke on Fever with Altered Sensorium – Diagnosis and Management.

A quiz program in the afternoon for the postgraduate scholars, included questions on the history of medicine, infections, general medicine and clinical case scenarios. Thirumala Devaswom Medical College (TDMC), Alappuzha; Amrita School of Medicine, Kochi and Medical College, Kottayam won the first, second and third prizes respectively.

October 19, 2012
School of Medicine, Kochi