ABSTRACT
Chikungunya virus is a mosquito-transmitted RNA virus and emerging as a pathogen that has a major public health impact because of the high morbidity including high fever, headache, rash, nausea, vomiting, myalgia, arthralgia with or without neurological manifestation or fulminant hepatitis. One hundred fifty-one patient samples were analyzed during the years 2006-2008, and compared conventional tests and CCRT-PCR (cell culture RT PCR). The conventional tests included ELISA, inoculation into C6/36 cell line and CPE were examined by PCR after RNA extraction. A total of 20/151 (13.2%), 8/151 (5.29%) and 7/151 (4.6%) samples were found to be positive by ELISA, cell culture and PCR, respectively. While 7/20 (35%) of the samples were positive by CCRT_PCR when ELISA 20 positive samples were detected. A total of 5/7 positive strains were sequenced in the E1 gene region. Remarkable changes (M269V, D284E, P294L, S295F, A316V, V322A, and C328W) were observed in the membrane fusion glycoprotein E1. These unique molecular features of the isolates with the continuing epidemic demonstrated high evolutionary potential and thereby indicating higher virulence.
Subject(s)
Alphavirus Infections/virology , Chikungunya virus/genetics , Mutation , Viral Envelope Proteins/genetics , Adolescent , Adult , Alphavirus Infections/blood , Alphavirus Infections/epidemiology , Amino Acid Sequence , Animals , Base Sequence , Cell Line , Chikungunya virus/isolation & purification , Chikungunya virus/pathogenicity , Child , Child, Preschool , Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Female , Genes, Viral , Genetic Variation , Humans , India/epidemiology , Infant , Male , Membrane Fusion Proteins/genetics , Middle Aged , Molecular Sequence Data , Phylogeny , RNA, Viral/genetics , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Young AdultABSTRACT
Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a serious central nervous system infection and major public health problem in several countries of Southeast Asia including India. This study evaluated the use of IgM ELISA and reverse-transcriptase (RT)-PCR in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from acute encephalitis patients for the detection of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). Forty-four children suffering from acute encephalitis were enrolled, and 36 were selected from whom both CSF and serum samples were available. Twenty-two of the 36 CSF samples were positive for JEV by IgM ELISA and all were negative by RT-PCR. Twenty-three of the 36 serum samples were positive by IgM ELISA while 28 were positive by RT-PCR. Total positivity for JEV infection in CSF and serum samples was 66.7% (24/36) and 83.3% (30/36) respectively by one or both tests. The overall positivity for JEV infection was 86.1% (31/36). We suggest that the use of RT-PCR in serum samples during the early days of JEV infection may be helpful in confirming diagnosis in those cases which are negative for JEV-specific IgM antibodies in both serum and CSF samples.
Subject(s)
Encephalitis Virus, Japanese/immunology , Encephalitis, Japanese/diagnosis , Immunoglobulin M/cerebrospinal fluid , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Encephalitis, Japanese/immunology , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/methods , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/standards , Humans , Immunoglobulin M/blood , India , Infant , RNA, Viral/blood , RNA, Viral/cerebrospinal fluid , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction/standards , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
Four crop plants Oryza sativa (rice), Solanum melongena (brinjal), Spinacea oleracea (spinach) and Raphanus sativus (radish) were grown to study the impact of secondary treated municipal waste water irrigation. These plants were grown in three plots each of 0.5 ha, and irrigated with secondary treated waste water from a sewage treatment plant. Sludge from the same sewage treatment plant was applied as manure. Cultivated plants were analyzed for accumulation of heavy metals and pesticides. Results revealed the accumulation of six heavy metals cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) as well as two pesticides [1,1-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-2,2,2-trichloroethane; DDT] and benzene hexa chloride (BHC). Order of the plants for the extent of bioaccumulation was S. oleracea > R. sativus > S. melongena > O. sativa. The study has shown the secondary treated waste water can be a source of contamination to the soil and plants.
