Medical record·\ of 6-1 children admitted into the Paediatric wards for measles at the University of' Benin Teaching Hospital (l 18TH), Benin City, Nigeria between July 1 993 and June 1996 were reviewed. The last quarter o/ 1995 and first quarter of 1996 witnessed upsurge in the admission rate of measles with increasingly older children being affected. Forty-eight of 60 cases (75%) were immunised against measles while 75% of the 16 patients who had immunisation did so in private health facilities. was the commonest complication but ocular complication seen in 9.8% of cases as well as poor nutritional status were associated with poor prognosis. The health education curriculum l?(our schools would need to he improved upon as educational status of mothers of such children did not positively influence the use of vaccination against measles. it would appear that the initial gains of the Expanded Programme on immunisation (HPJ) are being undermined. This may be connected with the recent changes in the methods· of vaccine procurement and distribution.\· in Nigeria. if the global eradication of measles is to be achieved. factors perpetuating measles infections in various communities as epitomised by our Benin experience should be promptly addressed.

Gestating age (GA) determined by date and Dubowitz criteria was correlated to Birth weight (BW), Head circumference (HC) cumm head length (CHL) and chest circumference (CC) in 113 newborns of gestational age -43 weeks. correlation coefficient (r), regression equation and 95 percentage confidence limit for estimating gestational age from a single reading of each of these anthropometric measurements was determined. It was concluded that two or three of these simple to measure parameters in combination would be used to estimate gestational age in newborns to within ΁2 to 3 weeks. This would be especially useful in general hospitals and basic health centres where experienced and highly skilled paediatric manpower or high tech equipment like ultrasound may not be readily available.

In a survey of nutritional assessment in 600 children aged 1 - 60 months in Gwoza, a sub-saharan rural community, it was found that malnutrition based on weight deficits was 52%, which was much higher than the prevalence of stunting. The factors which were responsible for this include diarrhoeal disease, large family size, high illiteracy rate especially among mothers, low immunization coverage; which adversely affected the nutritional status of the children. It is concluded that attempts must be made to encourage education in respect of breast feeding , environmental sanitation, nutritional education and immunization.

In a fi ve year period . thirty cases of poisonous snak e bite in children were recorded at the department of peadiatrics. Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital sokoto. There were 18 males and 12 females. given a .F. ratio o f 1.5 : I . The highest number of bite (60%) occurred in the farm during the rainy season. All patients had either local or syst ematic signs of' envenomation. at presentation to hospital. There was a mean delay period of 18 hours between time of' bite and presentation at the hospital. A II of the victims have had traditional medicine administered at home before reporting to hospital. At admission polyvalent anti snake venom was administered when available. ()\·era// mortality was 10.0 percent, which is similar to figures reported from other centres in Africa. it is recommended that polyvalent anti snake venom be made available in all health care facilities. Public enlightenment campaign on early presentation to hospital and dangers ofdelay in snake bite care should also be canvassed

A four year old girl with supposedly mild acute viral hepatitis developed functional renal failure (hepatorenal syndrome) on the third week of admission when she was apparently recovering from the liver disease, and died within hours despite resuscitative measures. The need to regularly monitor urine output and "renal function in a patient with acute viral hepatitis is stressed. The possible etiologic role of endotoxaemia, activation of renin­ angiotensin system, sensitisation of to anoxic damage by conjugated bilirubin are highlighted. r · is suggested that prompt dialysis be carried out in patients with hepato-renal syndrome

With the advent of ultrasound , the elucidation of fetal anatomy has become highly effective and specific. It is non-invasive and a very essential diagnostic modality for ail tiers o/ Health Care Delivery. Diagnostic errors are more likely to be due to inexperience in obtaining and interpreting the images rather than any deficiency of the equipment. putative- advantages of gestational diagnosis by ultrasound had been those of allowing the chance of effective preterm delivery, elective caesarean section and a higher rate of primary repair. Ho.. _·; r. others like parental counseling, in utero transfer and collaboration of perinatal team, and for determining both the future evaluation need:; and the possibility of intervention, should also be considered. For many parents, the opportunity to be forewarned of the baby 's problem allows them to adjust emotionally and prepare practically for the postnatal period. pertinent clinir.al illustrations would be used in this article as evidence to further highlight the realm, importance and necessity of this diagnostic modality.