ABSTRACT
Background: SARS-CoV-2 infection poses tremendous challenge to the healthcare system of nations across the globe.Healthcare workers (HCWs) are crucial to the ongoing response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. During the course of their work, they are exposed to hazards that place them at the risk of infection. Serological testing for SARS-CoV-2 among healthcare workers, which form a high risk group helps in identifying the burden of hidden infection in an institutional setting. The present study aims to investigate the seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 among HCWs during 1stand 2ndwave.Material & Methods:A prospective study was conducted at Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory, Government Medical College, Amritsar during JuneJuly2020 (1stwave)and April May 2021(2nd wave). During this period, 184 blood samples were collected from healthcare workers from Government Medical College and Hospital, Amritsar. Serum was separated and used for detection of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies by ELISA technique.Results:Out of the 184 samples, 79 (42.9 %) were found to be seropositive. Higher seropositivity was seen i.e 60.8 % during the 2ndwave (April-May 2021 ) as compared to 25% during 1st wave. The increase in seroprevalence was observed in almost all categories of HCWs, Doctors 44.4% vz 13.04%, nurses 54.8 % vz 34.7 %, lab technicians 72% vz 30.4 % and housekeeping staff 72.2 % vz 21.7%. Also the unvaccinated HCWs showed higher seroprevalence during the second wave and 87.5 % of vaccinated HCWs had demonstrable IgG antibodies.Conclusions:High seropositivity was observed among healthcare workers due to their nature of work. Rise of seropositivity among unvaccinated HCWs during 2ndwave concludes that increase in seroprevalence was attributable to natural infection.The vaccine’s immunological response was also highlighted in the study.
ABSTRACT
Background: Severe acute respiratory illness due to SARS-CoV-2 represents great global public health concern. The spectrum of disease ranges from mild to life-threatening. Surveillance of hospitalized patients with severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) is an important public health tool used to identify etiologies to understand the disease, track changes in circulating viruses and as an alert mechanism for potential pandemic viruses. We aim to find out the rate of SARS-CoV-2 positivity in SARI cases and further study the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients.Material & Methods:A Prospective study was conducted on 200 Severe Acute Respiratory Illness patients admitted at tertiary care hospital. The clinical, demographic, epidemiological, risk factors / co-morbidities of all the patients were recorded. Oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal samples were collected and tested for SARS-CoV-2 by real time reverse transcriptase (RT-PCR) test.Results:Out of 200 SARI patients, 51 (25.5%) were tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Maximum cases (54.90%) were in the age group of 41-60 years; males were infected predominantly (52.94%). The most common symptoms of presentation were fever (100%), cough (86.27%), dyspnoea (82.35%) and sore throat (56.86%). Comorbidities associated with COVID-19 were Hypertension (56.86%), Diabetes Mellitus (33.33%), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (13.72%) and Coronary Artery disease (9.8%). More than 30% of the patients were admitted in ICU and 9.80% received mechanical ventilation.Conclusions:Evaluation of clinical and epidemiological profiles of SARI patients can help in understanding and managing the outbreak more efficiently. Close monitoring and quarantine will be required to prevent extensive transmission within the community.
ABSTRACT
Background: Staphylococcus is notorious for its ability to become resistant to antibiotics. MRSA emerged as nosocomial pathogen in the early 1960. Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus are implicated in serious infections and nosocomial infection outbreaks, thus limiting the treating options to very few agents such as vancomycin and teicoplanin. Vancomycin has been regarded as the first line drug for the treatment for MRSA but its irrational use lead to emergence of vancomycin resistance. The Aim was to determine the prevalence and resistance of MRSA ,VRSA,VISA isolates from various clinical samples in a tertiary care hospital.Material & Methods:This present prospective study was done in the Microbiology department of Government Medical College. The study was conducted for a period of one and half year i.e from January 2019 to June 2020. All the samples (pus, urine, blood, body fluids, sputum etc) were processed as per standard protocols.Results:Out of 26,471 samples, 6578(24.85%) were found to be culture positive. 1583 isolates were identified as Staphylococcus aureus. Among them 1278(80.7%) were MRSA, 21(1.3%) were VISA and 8(0.5%) were VRSA. Maximum number of MRSA isolates were obtained from orthopaedics ward (22.7%) and Intensive Care Unit and most of them were isolated from pus(45%) followed by blood (19.09%)samples. Among them highest resistance were observed against azithromycin (85.6%), followed by ciprofloxacin (63.5%) and least resistance to rifampicin and doxycycline. Majority of the VISA and VRSA strains were isolated from ICU followed by orthopaedics, surgery. Most of them were isolated from pus followed by blood and urine specimen and most were found to be multidrug resistant while they retained their sensitivity to Linezolid and Teicoplanin.Conclusions:As there is high prevalence of MRSA isolates so the treatment options are limited to vancomycin. Overuse of vancomycin can lead to emergence of VRSA strains. So the need for rational use in the infection-control practices to prevent transmission of MRSA as well as VISA strains. Strict implementation of hand hygiene, decolonization of MRSA carriers,and education of healthcare team will be quite helpful.
ABSTRACT
Background: Coronavirus disease?19 (COVID?19), produced by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS?CoV?2), has become a global pandemic, giving rise to a serious health threat globally. Many countries have seen a two?wave pattern in there reported cases during the period of pandemic. Similarly, our country has reported the first peak between March and October 2020 followed by the second peak between April and June 2021. Objectives: The objective of this study was conducted to describe the spatiotemporal patterns and early epidemiological features of COVID?19 cases from November 2020 to May 2021 in the central (Majha) region of Punjab state of India which was considered as the epicenter of the infection. Methods: The multiplexed real?time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT?PCR) method was used to detect SARS?CoV?2, with co?amplification of specific target genes using real?time PCR kits. Results: During the second wave, test positivity rate for COVID?19 in our laboratory (the central region of Punjab) was recorded as 4.8%. The study revealed that an increased sustained proportion of COVID?19 incidence is present in young adult age group (20–39 years) with 8.65% positive rate followed by the older age group and least in young ones. It was observed that during the second wave, more symptomatic individuals are positive (10.26%) alongside it was also observed that male population (5.61%) was more prone to infection in comparison to females (3.78%). Whole?genome sequencing carried out on 120 random samples selected from all the districts of Majha region of Punjab state showed two prominent strains, namely alpha variant (95 cases) and delta variant (19 cases). Conclusion: A higher positivity rate in the second wave demonstrates the rapid spread of the new emerging virus variants and warrants the implementation of strict vaccination regimes and quarantine in the affected region.