A Comparative Analysis of Rapid Immunochromatographic Card Test with MAC –ELISA Used in Detection of Dengue at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand

Introduction: Dengue virus transmitted by mosquitoes iswidely distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics. It isone of the most rapidly spreading mosquitos borne viraldisease in the world. In India specially, dengue has emergedas a matter of major concern because of its epidemicproportions. Therefore, early diagnosis for dengue is called for,to reduce the mortality and morbidity attributed to it.Aims and Objective: There are numerous methods for thediagnosis of dengue of which the serological tests play asignificant role. Various rapid ICT tests are being used in thelaboratories for the early diagnosis of dengue these days. Thepresent study aims to evaluate the performance of rapid ICTwith reference to MAC-ELISA for its role in diagnosis ofdengue.Methods and Materials: In the present study 305 suspectedsamples of dengue were collected during the month of October2017 to December 2017. All the samples were collected byaseptic techniques.Results: 92 samples were positive by Mac Elisa IgM Ab test.The prevalence of the disease was 30.16 %. When ICT IgM Abtest was compared with Elisa IgM capture Ab test a sensitivityof 95.65 % and specificity of 98.59 % was observed.Conclusion: The high sensitivity and specificity makes itsuitable to be used in acute diagnosis of dengue but Mac ElisaIgM capture Ab test combination will make it more reliable andconfirmatory.

Barriers to ART adherence & follow ups among patients attending ART centres in Maharashtra, India.

Background & objectives: Adherence to ART is a patient specific issue influenced by a variety of situations that a patient may encounter, especially in resource-limited settings. A study was conducted to understand factors and influencers of adherence to ART and their follow ups among patients attending ART centres in Maharashtra, India. Methods: Between January and March 2009, barriers to ART adherence among 32 patients at three selected ART centres functioning under national ART roll-out programme in Maharashtra, India, were studied using qualitative methods. Consenting patients were interviewed to assess barriers to ART adherence. Constant comparison method was used to identify grounded codes. Results: Patients reported multiple barriers to ART adherence and follow up as (i) Financial barriers where the contributing factors were unemployment, economic dependency, and debt, (ii) social norm of attending family rituals, and fulfilling social obligations emerged as socio-cultural barriers, (iii) patients’ belief, attitude and behaviour towards medication and self-perceived stigma were the reasons for suboptimal adherence, and (iv) long waiting period, doctor-patient relationship and less time devoted in counselling at the center contributed to missed visits. Interpretation & conclusions: Mainstreaming ART can facilitate access and address ‘missed doses’ due to travel and migration. A ‘morning’ and ‘evening’ ART centre/s hours may reduce work absenteeism and help in time management. Proactive ‘adherence probing’ and probing on internalized stigma might optimize adherence. Adherence probing to prevent transitioning to suboptimal adherence among patients stable on ART is recommended.

Phenylalanine transport in Aspergillus nidulans: demonstration of role of phenylalanine binding proteins.

Crude shock proteins extracted by two stage osmotic shock were further purified by affinity chromatography to obtain ligand (phenylalanine) specific binding protein (phebip) a component of phenylalanine (phe) transport system from wild type and a phe transport mutant fpaD11 of Aspergillus nidulans. A new eluent 0.1 M Tris-HCl containing 1.5 N NaCl and 0.5 N Na2CO3, pH 8 was used during the investigation. The elution profile of mutant phebip exhibited one simple and two compound peaks instead of three simple ones as exhibited by the wild type phebip. SDS-PAGE profile of mutant phebip showed faster electrophoretic mobility than that of wild type one. It is therefore evident that the mutant phebip has reduced molecular mass (M(r)) due to deletion of a segment that somehow has bearing on the binding capacity of the active site of phebip. The resultant erosion in the binding capacity of the mutant phebip is in turn responsible for its incapability to stimulate transport of ligand across the plasma membrane.