Aim: To study the complications and visual impairment in vernal keratoconjunctivitis. Method: A prospective hospital-based study was carried out in 100 VKC patients over a period of 2 years. All patients suffering from VKC irrespective of age and gender were included while patients suffering from ocular infections and ocular trauma were excluded from the study. Ocular complaints, duration of symptoms and previous treatment taken. The ocular examination included visual acuity, slit lamp examination, IOP and refraction. Results: Corneal complications were noted in 21% of cases followed by lids in 18% of cases. Corneal complications such as superficial scarring was noted in 11% followed by micropannus in 4%, pseudogerontoxon in 3% and shield ulcer in 2% and keratoconus in 1%. the corneal involvement was seen in 5.5% in palpebral form, 23.53% in bulbar, and 48.2% in mixed pattern of VKC. Thus, it is concluded that maximum corneal involvement is observed in mixed clinical pattern of VKC. Majority of cases (82%) had visual acuity ranging from 6/6 to 6/9 in right eye as well as left eye. Visual acuity in the form of counting fingers was present in 4 cases. Out of 100 cases, 55% cases showed refractive errors in the form of astigmatism, myopia and hypermetropia. Astigmatism was found to be commonest refractive error. In our study we observed steroid induced glaucoma in 1% of cases. Conclusion: VKC is of more concern due to involvement of cornea and its complications like, shield ulcers, superficial corneal scarring, keratoconus, astigmatism, mechanical ptosis. Steroid induced glaucoma although rare but is a serious complication. Visual acuity is affected mainly due to corneal involvement leading to astigmatism, scarring and keratoconus.

Infection with the SARS-Cov-2 virus induces an unusual pre-thrombotic state, of multifactorial origin, responsible for a high incidence of venous thromboembolic events but also of arterial thromboses which have a negative impact on the prognosis of patients. Knowledge of the mechanisms of thrombosis formation has improved significantly since the onset of the pandemic pending appropriate protocols for preventive and curative anticoagulant therapy during COVID 19, emerging from randomized controlled clinical trials. We report the case of a young patient hospitalized with a moderate form of COVID 19 who presented with pulmonary embolism and acute ischemic stroke related to internal carotid thrombosis.

The existence of National Forensic DNA Database enormously helps investigations & control of crime. But criticisms have been raised at the ethical & social risks from misuse of DNA database. In India, there is no legislation on DNA profiling. Hence, peoples’ support is required. So, we aimed to study the knowledge & attitude about the benefits & risks of National Forensic DNA Database among 400 medical students. We found that the knowledge about the use of DNA fingerprinting as an evidence is good. The knowledge about National Forensic DNA Database & its current status in India is poor. Most of them (87.5%) opinioned that it’s a step forward in criminal investigations. 42% felt it’s beneficial. Many of them doubted its efficiency (40%), safe guarding (53%) & its establishment (47.5%) in India. Many of them feel that they have privacy issues (62.7%) & it has potential to harm (39.3%). 51.5% felt it should be a permanent record. Most of them supported for inclusion of all crime scene stains, suspects, recordable offence, missing persons & unidentified dead bodies DNA should be profiled. 42.75% were willing to provide their DNA samples. Hence, we found that the knowledge of medical students about National Forensic DNA Database is not adequate. This will lead to lack of support & may be interpreted as violation of human rights. But most of them supported the need for such a database; hence creating awareness on our part will definitely help in improving the people’s understanding.

Othematoma is a frequent reason for consultation in the emergency department, occurs after trauma to the face or sometimes spontaneously. It must be well known by practitioners because failure to treat in time exposes severe functional and aesthetic complications. Reporting to us the case of a patient treated for an left Othematoma with a review of the course of action to be taken.

Biosurfactants are biomolecules with surface active properties, produced mostly by microbes and which offer potential commercial applications. Chemically, biosurfactants can be either glycopeptides, lipopeptides/lipoproteins, fatty acids, phospholipids or neutral lipids, particulate extracellular membranes or polysaccharides conjugated with proteins. Despite of varying chemical composition and molecular weights, all biosurfactants possess the characteristic properties of surface activity, like, lowering surface energy, amphiphilic behaviour towards organic and inorganic solvents. These biomolecules also increase the permeability of and disrupt biomembranes, disrupt biofilms, bind proteins, with bacteriostatic or bactericidal effects. Bacteria may show short-term or long-term tolerance to these effects. In dentistry, biosurfactants offer a vast scope in development and potential use due to their anti-inflammatory as well as antiadhesive activity, immunomodulatory action, antimicrobial applications (antiviral, antitubercular, antibacterial, antifungal), antineoplastic activity and novel uses in gene therapy and drug delivery. The rising death toll in the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is also pushing towards novel avenues of research. Current management of patients is mainly symptomatic but biosurfactants can potentially be both preventive and even curative agents. As the ongoing global environmental, economic and healthcare crises continue to develop, biosurfactants offer hope. Successful commercial use will depend on how well the scientific community and industry leaders clear the bottlenecks in production and supply chain optimisation.