RÉSUMÉ
Background: Scrub typhus is an emerging but neglected infectious diseases that generally results in acute febrile illness, with spectrum of diseases ranging from mild illness to multiorgan dysfunction. Hence we planned this study to know the demographic, clinical and biochemical profile of scrub typhus patients in hilly state of Uttarakhand. Methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted from June 2020 to November 2020 in the Department of Internal Medicine, in a tertiary care institution located in state of Uttarakhand, India. All scrub typhus patients were evaluated by detailed history, examination and laboratory tests. Results: Among 60 cases, the mean age of patients was 38.3�.43 years, with majority of patients (70.2%) being young adults between the age 18?40 years. Majority of patients were females (60.0%) with (M:F-1:1.3). 53.3% patients reported from rural and 46.7% patients from urban area. Fever (100%), cough and breathlessness (40.0%), nausea and vomiting (20%), abdominal pain and diarrhoea (16.7%), headache (16.7%) and altered sensorium (8.3%) were the predominant clinical features. Hepatic dysfunction (51; 85.0%) and respiratory dysfunction (25; 41.6%) were the commonest findings followed by renal dysfunction (13; 21.7%). Conclusions: Scrub typhus is often misdiagnosed or diagnosed late due to its wide clinical spectrum overlapping with clinical presentation of other commonly prevalent tropical diseases. An increasing awareness of this disease coupled with prompt management will go a long way in reducing both morbidity and mortality in this disease.
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Introduction: Varicella outbreaks are known to occur in developing nations as vaccine coverage is still low. Material and Methods: In the present study, an institutional outbreak from Chandigarh, India, is reported wherein the utility of non-invasive samples such as saliva and urine was studied for the molecular diagnosis of varicella by conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time PCR and real-time loop-mediated isothermal amplification (real-time LAMP). Results: The results of the present study showed that saliva and urine samples can be used for outbreak investigation of varicella compared to varicella-zoster virus DNA in vesicular swab samples with reasonable sensitivity. Conclusion: Thus, molecular techniques may be useful in the early identification of the outbreak and timely isolation, and the treatment of cases can further prevent its spread.
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Purpose: Cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women in developing nations. Nearly 90% of the cases have been linked to the presence of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) types 16 and 18. The risk of cervical cancer may be high in female sex workers (FSWs) due to multiple sexual partners. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of cytological abnormalities and hrHPV types 16 and 18 in FSWs in Chandigarh, North India using the liquid-based cytology (LBC) approach. Materials and Methods: The cervical brush samples were collected from 120 FSW and 98 age-matched healthy controls (HCs). These were subjected to pap smear using conventional method, LBC and the detection of hrHPV types 16 and 18 was carried out using polymerase chain reaction. Results: The LBC samples showed better cytological details and also reduced the number of unsatisfactory smears from 11% in Pap to 1.5% in the LBC. A significantly higher number of inflammatory smears were reported in FSWs (51.7% vs. 34.7%, P = 0.01). The hrHPV types 16/18 were detected in 33/120 (27.5%) FSW versus 23/98 (23.5%) HCs. The risk of acquiring hrHPV was higher in FSWs, who had age at first sex ≤25 years, higher income and the habit of smoking. Conclusion: The high prevalence of hrHPV among FSWs and HCs suggests the need for the implementation of effective National Screening Programme for early detection of hrHPV types to decrease the burden of cervical cancer, especially in high-risk population.
RÉSUMÉ
Recently, doripenem has been approved for the treatment of nosocomial pneumonia (NP), including ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). The E-test was performed to determine the MICs of doripenem and meropenem in 203 endotracheal aspirate isolates that consisted of 140 Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-Acinetobacter baumannii complexes and 63 Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Doripenem showed minimum concentration necessary for inhibition of 50% (MIC 50 ) of P. aeruginosa isolates at 0.38 mg/L which is several times (84.2 times) lower than the corresponding MIC 50 value of >32 mg/L for meropenem. The MIC 50 and MIC 90 were similar for both the drugs against A. baumannii. Thus, P. aeruginosa was consistently more susceptible than the A. baumannii.