Clinical profile and outcomes of Scrub typhus in pregnant women presenting to a tertiary care hospital of North India.

Scrub typhus, caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, is a re-emerging endemic zoonosis in the Asia Pacific region. It is a febrile condition ranging in severity from mild to severe, with fatality rates as high as 30%. The present study aims towards analysing the clinical profile and pregnancy outcomes in 27 cases of scrub typhus admitted to a tertiary care centre in North India. The medical records of 27 pregnant women who had scrub typhus were analysed. The IgM ELISA was used to look for IgM antibodies to Orientia tsutsugamushi in the patient's serum sample. An optical density of more than or equal to 0.468 was considered as positive. Majority of the pregnant females delivered healthy and live babies. However, poor foetal outcomes were observed in four (14.8%) cases with intrauterine deaths occurring in two (7.4%) cases and still birth in one (3.7%) case, while one (3.7%) patient had spontaneous abortion. Maternal mortality was reported in one patient (3.7%) due to a delay in diagnosis. In endemic settings, a strong index of suspicion for scrub typhus is necessary in pregnant females presenting with fever. The key to reducing morbidity in both the mother and foetus is early diagnosis and treatment.Impact StatementWhat is already known on this subject? Scrub typhus is a febrile condition ranging in severity from mild to severe, with 30% mortality in untreated patients.What do the results of this study add? Majority of the pregnant females delivered healthy and live babies. However, poor foetal outcomes were observed in four (14.8%) cases with intrauterine deaths occurring in two (7.4%) cases and still birth in one (3.7%) case, while one (3.7%) patient had spontaneous abortion. Maternal mortality was reported in one patient (3.7%) due to a delay in diagnosis.What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? In endemic settings, a strong index of suspicion for scrub typhus is necessary for pregnant females presenting with fever. The key to reducing morbidity in both the mother and foetus is early diagnosis and treatment.

Globicatella sanguinis corneal abscess with endophthalmitis.

Globicatella sanguinis is a rare microorganism known to affect the bloodstream, urinary tract, and central nervous system. We report a case of Globicatella sanguinis ocular infection in a 9-year-old boy, who presented with a corneal abscess with endophthalmitis, following trauma. Isolation of the infection using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and determination of its antibiotic sensitivity via Vitek 2 highlight the important role of microbiology laboratories for the diagnosis and management of infections caused by atypical microorganisms.

Pediatric case of conidiobolomycosis: A rare entity.

Conidiobolomycosis caused by Conidiobolus species is an uncommon infection restricted to tropical and subtropical regions, usually affecting immunocompetent individuals. More than half of pediatric cases of conidiobolomycosis across the globe are from India. We report a case of subcutaneous conidiobolomycosis in an adolescent with development delay who responded to combined therapy with itraconazole and saturated solution of potassium iodide.

In vitro cost-effective methods to detect carbapenemases in Enterobacteriaceae.

The rise in carbapenemases-producing organisms has challenged the scientific community. Infections caused by these bacteria have limited treatment options. There are various types such as Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (Ambler class A), metallo-beta-lactamases of VIM-type, IMP-type, NDM-type (Ambler class B), and OXA-48-types (Ambler class D). An efficient strategy for detection of carbapenemase producers is important to determine the appropriate therapeutic modalities. In this study, four methods - Carba NP test, modified Carba NP (MCNP) test, carbapenem inactivation method (CIM) test, and Rapidec Carba NP kit test were evaluated. We evaluated an in-house MCNP test to detect carbapenemase production using a single protocol which gave reliable results. Furthermore, CIM using routine antibiotic discs gives good results. Both these tests were found to be cost-effective.