If kissing your child leaves a saline taste, and the child is suffering from frequent bouts of pneumonia coupled with deterred growth and being underweight, it is time that the child should be taken for sweat test done to confirm a dreaded genetic disorder known as Cystic Fibrosis.
Pediatrics at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education say that once a rare genetic disorder, Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is affecting more and more children and there are increasing instances of the disorder, with a significantly higher prevalence rate especially among the North-Indian children.
Dr Meenu Singh, of the Advanced Pediatric Center, who has done extensive research on the disorder said, “There is no precise data as of now on the disorder in India but there are cases which are being reported in various tertiary care hospitals in the country. In PGI, in our special clinics, we see 4-5 children every week suffering from the disorder which also includes follow up cases”.
However, as per statistics 80 per cent of the patients are diagnosed for CF at a later stage and by that time they end up being treated for Tuberculosis which is a matter of grave concern.
“This happens because many general physicians in the city are not well aware of the symptoms of this genetic disorder,” said Dr Meenu. The symptoms of CF include meconium ileus at birth, recurrent or persistent pneumonia, malabsorption causing failure to gain weight and growth problems, salt-losing syndromes.
For the diagnosis of CF, sweat test remains the first line diagnostic test as in our country facilities to test the panel of gene mutations are still unavailable at most of the places. "The research is still going on to find the exact genetic mutation in Indian children. Since the life span of the children suffering from the disease is short and we do not have a data base of adult population of patients to study on the genetic mutations, currently, therefore we have to rely on studies done in the west," added Dr Meenu.
This is one of those disorders of the respiratory tract that adversely affects other body functions and have, what they call non-pulmonary affects. This disorder adversely affects the pancreas of the child and thus his body is not able to digest fats, and remain under nourished, has growth problems besides constant coughing and other respiratory problems.