South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
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The infliction of corporal punishment on children (in the home) was found to be unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of South Africa (September 2019). Corporal punishment was historically permitted if exercised within reasonable grounds (moderate or reasonable chastisement). In reaching its judgment, the apex court found that the child's right to human dignity and to be free from all forms of violence was unjustifiably infringed by the exercising of this form of discipline. ⋯ Importantly, there were other non-violent means available to parents to discipline their children. This article examines what this judgment means for medical doctors who reasonably suspect that a child has been the victim of corporal punishment. It is argued that medical doctors have a duty to report such incidents in terms of section 110(1) of the Children's Act 38 of 2005.
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Case Reports
Cytomegalovirus-associated supraglottic mass in a patient on immunosuppressive therapy.
A 33-year-old woman on chronic immunosuppressive treatment for rheumatoid arthritis with a history of inhaled methamphetamine use presented with respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation for a prolonged period. After being given plasma exchange, pulses of methylprednisolone and a dose of cyclosporine for suspected ANCA (anti-neutrophilic cytoplasmic autoantibodies) vasculitis, she developed an obstructive supraglottic laryngeal mass that required a tracheostomy to bypass. ⋯ The mass resolved after several weeks of intravenous ganciclovir therapy. This is an extremely unusual presentation of localised CMV disease, with only two or three similar cases having been reported worldwide.