From the desk of Editor in Chief

Dear IAPians,

At the outset, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to IAP Karnataka for selecting me as editor-in-chief of this prestigious journal. I should place on record the services rendered by Dr. Sanjeev Rai as editor-in-chief of this journal for nearly 20 years. The responsibility on me is huge, I am happy to present the first issue of the journal July–September 2020. Although the first issue was supposed to be published from January 2020, due to unforeseen circumstances and prevailing pandemic, we could not do that. The most important goal would be to publish high- quality articles and to get the journal indexed. This process needs support and guidance from you all, especially if you could contribute original articles, review articles, and case reports to make the journal go strong.

The present issue contains very interesting and relevant articles. The article on cerebral palsy is a complete review incorporating recent advances in management of cerebral palsy.

In the article on “clinicians dilemma in the management of acute flare up of wheeze and asthma,” the author has discussed the current management guidelines. Asthma is an earliest onset non communicable respiratory disease with significant psycho-socioeconomic burden. In the diagnosis of allergic disorders in children, the emphasis is still on a good clinical history and examination, demonstration of IgE-mediated reaction with correlated ingested foods either with skin prick test or in vitro testing, patient education about avoidance of causative foods, and treatment of allergic reactions.

The original article on pulmonary function tests in children with beta-thalassemia major is a very interesting study of lung function in children with beta-thalassemia. Lung dysfunction is among the least studied complication in thalassemic child. Antimicrobial resistance is a global problem and is particularly pressing in developing countries where the infectious disease burden is very high. In developing countries, where relatively easy availability and higher consumption of medicines have led to disproportionately higher incidence of inappropriate use of antibiotics and greater levels of resistance. The current article is an attempt to provide a set of key principles to guide the efforts to improve responsible and rational antibiotic use.

Asthma is the most common chronic respiratory illness affecting children. Inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) form the main treatment modality in asthma. Anticipating the impact of steroids on bone metabolism and monitoring for it is essential. Annual monitoring of Vitamin-D levels and BMD in children on chronic therapy is beneficial for the early detection and management of steroid- induced osteopenia. Judicious ICSs use at the lowest effective dose should be tailor-made for every individual. These issues are discussed in the article “Vitamin D status and bone mineral density in children on long-term inhaled corticosteroids.” In addition, an interesting case of Senior Loken syndrome has been included. We have a regular section on journal bits.

I thank the managing editor Dr. Vinod Ratageri who has been the backbone of this journal, all the editorial board members, authors, reviewers, Dr. Sanjeen Rai, and Dr. Santosh Soans for guiding me in every stage in making this issue get published. I thank the publishers Scientific Scholars for the excellent support in the publication process. I thank Microlabs for the generous contribution for this academic endeavor, without whose support, publication of this journal would not have been possible. I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Shantaraj (President IAP Karnataka 2020) and Dr. Natesh (Secretary, IAP Karnataka 2020) for their unstinted support and guidance in bringing out this journal.

Stay safe Stay healthy

JAI IAP