ABSTRACT
Background & objective: Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease associated with potentially fatal consequences and a grossly underreported disease in Uttar Pradesh. However, only a few studies are available which report the prevalence of leptospirosis in this State. Hence, this study was undertaken to know the status of the disease in central and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Methods: A total of 143 serum and urine samples were collected from patients with acute febrile illness from July 2017 to March 2019. All the serum samples were tested for Leptospira by rapid IgM antibody card and IgM ELISA and urine samples were tested by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect Leptospira DNA. All positive and 10 per cent negative sera from ELISA and RT-PCR (all rapid test positive were also ELISA positive) were sent to the ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, Port Blair for microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Results: Thirty eight (26.6%) out of 143 samples were positive for leptospirosis either by ELISA or RT-PCR. Positive results were eight (6%) by Rapid card, 32 (22%) by IgM ELISA, 10 (7%) by MAT, 10 (7%) by RT-PCR. In MAT, the most common serovar was Lai followed by Hebdomadis, Bangkinang and Pomona. Interpretation & conclusions: Leptospirosis was found to be one of the important causes for acute febrile illness in the central and eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh. The results of the present study suggest that it is necessary to increase diagnostic facility and awareness in clinicians for the screening of leptospirosis in acutely febrile patients to decrease morbidity and mortality associated with this disease.
ABSTRACT
Chryseobacterium indologenes organism is mostly confined to water and soil and has been isolated from patients in hospitals with severe underlying disease with indwelling devices and implants. Despite its low virulence, it has been found to be inherently resistant to many antibiotics. A rare case of meningitis was reported by C. indologenes in an 18-year-old patient treated for hydrocephalous with meningitis with an indwelling ventriculoperitoneal shunt, who was successfully managed with levofloxacin and gentamicin and discharged. This case report describes identification and isolation of C. indologenes on the basis of biochemical and microbiological analysis along with clinical signs and symptoms of meningitis with an indwelling ventriculoperitoneal shunt.
ABSTRACT
Context: Giardiasis is one of the most common nonviral infections causing diarrheal illness worldwide. In this prospective cross-sectional study, we evaluated the RIDASCREEN® Giardia kit for detection of Giardia intestinalis in stool samples and compared the results with direct microscopy. Materials and methods: A total of 360 fecal samples were collected. They were then processed by wet fi lm, iodine preparation and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit to determine the presence of Giardia trophozoites and cysts. Statistical analysis was performed by sensitivity, specifi city, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy. Results and Conclusion: Of the 360 cases, 17.2% samples were positive for Giardia by direct microscopy and 23.6% were found to be positive by ELISA (sensitivity ∼97%), but specifi city was ∼92% only. Because of less specifi city, we need to perform ELISA in congruence with direct microscopy, etc. Further studies need to be performed on a larger sample size using other molecular tests in order to get more accurate estimations