Methaemoglobinaemia — out of the wash comes a blue baby*

To the Editor: “Out of the blue”, I received a personal message from a retired nursing sister of a children’s hospital, who had earlier written to the MJA1 describing “a cluster of neonates [who had] simultaneously turned blue” in the 1950s. Her letter to me followed one of mine in the Journal, describing methaemoglobinaemia (MetHgb) in infantile keto-acidosis, where the cyanosis responded rapidly to diabetic control alone.2 Rare as MetHgb is, it has previously been recognised as a presentation of infantile acidosis.3