Infant Suffering From Rare Skin Disease Treated In PHC In Bijapur With Modern Treatment, Local Traditional Nursing Practice

The newborn, hailing from a Muria tribe family in the remote village of Korsaguda under Basaguda block, was brought to the PHC in the district headquarters of Bijapur on April four in a serious dermatologic condition, called in medical terms as Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome.

“This is a serious, toxin-mediated skin infection caused by the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, primarily affecting children under six. It causes widespread painful, red, blistering and peeling skin resembling a burn”, doctors said.

“The highly infected infant was spotted by the local ‘mitnani’ (female health worker) and later admitted in the PHC. It is a rare skin disease, caused by infection due to the improper handling during the delivery at home in the tribal families”, Bijapur district chief medical health officer (CMHO) Dr B R Pujari told this newspaper on Friday.

The kid’s condition was very serious when she was admitted in the PHC, he said and added that this was the first case reported in the district.

The infant was admitted in the Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of the PHC and treated by the pediatrician Dr Neha Chauhan.

The kid was treated with antibiotic therapy and special nursing care involving a traditional nursing system, according to the doctors in the PHC.

The traditional nursing practice involves the kid being slept on a banana leaf bed and also fully covered by the banana leaf for healing.

The banana leaves were sterilized and regularly changed.

“It took around 25 days for the infant to fully recover from the rare skin disease”, the medical officer said.

The infant was discharged from the hospital on April 29.