Biological Characterization and Evaluation of the Therapeutic Value of Phages 4141 and MJW Isolated from Clinical and Sewage Water Samples of Kolkata.

The growing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) necessitates the development of new treatment methods to combat diseases like cholera. Lytic bacteriophages are viruses that specifically target and lyse bacteria upon infection, making them a possible treatment option for multi-drug-resistant pathogens. The current study investigated the potential role of bacteriophages isolated from clinical stool and sewage water samples in treating multi-drug-resistant infection, finding that over 95% of the strains were susceptible.

Adverse outcomes in patients hospitalized with pneumonia at age 60 or more: A prospective multi-centric hospital-based study in India.

Background: Limited data exists regarding risk factors for adverse outcomes in older adults hospitalized with Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) in low- and middle-income countries such as India. This multisite study aimed to assess outcomes and associated risk factors among adults aged ≥60 years hospitalized with pneumonia.

Methods: Between December 2018 and March 2020, we enrolled ≥60-year-old adults admitted within 48 hours for CAP treatment across 16 public and private facilities in four sites.

AMFR promotes innate immunity activation and proteasomal degradation of HMGCR in response to influenza virus infection in A549 cells.

Differential regulation of the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR), which is considered the rate-limiting enzyme of the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway, has been reported in case of infection with many viruses. In our study, we have found that influenza virus infection decreases total cellular cholesterol level which is directly related to the downregulation of HMGCR protein. We found that HMGCR is degraded through ubiquitination and proteasomal-mediated pathway upon viral infection.

Upsurge in hospitalization of pediatric patients with severe acute respiratory infections in Kolkata and surrounding districts caused by recombinant human respiratory adenovirus type B 7/3.

Globally, different genotypes of human adenoviruses are associated with outbreaks of acute respiratory infection (ARI) though such evidence is lacking from India. In the present study, we report a sudden increase in the positivity of respiratory adenovirus among hospitalized children with ARI from Kolkata and the surrounding districts of West Bengal, India, from December 2022 to date. A sharp rise in the positivity rate of respiratory adenovirus was found which ranged from 22.

Evolutionary dynamics of influenza A/H1N1 virus circulating in India from 2011 to 2021.

Influenza A viruses (IAV) are fast-evolving pathogens with a very high mutation rate (2.0 × 10 to 2.0 × 10) compared to the influenza B (IBV) and influenza C (ICV) viruses.

Prediction of Phage Virion Proteins Using Machine Learning Methods.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major problem and an immediate alternative to antibiotics is the need of the hour. Research on the possible alternative products to tackle bacterial infections is ongoing worldwide. One of the most promising alternatives to antibiotics is the use of bacteriophages (phage) or phage-driven antibacterial drugs to cure bacterial infections caused by AMR bacteria.

Phage Therapy as a Protective Tool Against Pathogenic Bacteria: How Far We Are?

Bacterial infections continue to jeopardize human and animal health, impacting millions of lives by causing significant deaths every year. The use of antibiotics remains the primary choice of therapy and has only been partly successful in reducing the disease burden due to the evolving nature of resistant microbes. Widespread and inappropriate use of antibiotics resulted in the development of antibiotic-resistant microbial species provoking substantial economic burdens.

Development of lab score system for predicting COVID-19 patient severity: A retrospective analysis.

Aim: To develop an accurate lab score based on in-hospital patients' potent clinical and biological parameters for predicting COVID-19 patient severity during hospital admission.

Methods: To conduct this retrospective analysis, a derivation cohort was constructed by including all the available biological and clinical parameters of 355 COVID positive patients (recovered = 285, deceased = 70), collected in November 2020-September 2021. For identifying potent biomarkers and clinical parameters to determine hospital admitted patient severity or mortality, the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve and Fischer's test analysis was performed.

Viral Inactivation and Biocompatibility Study of Electrically Activated Water Mist.

In addition to the ongoing global problem of healthcare-acquired infections, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose a serious threat to the health of the global population. This unprecedented pandemic situation has reinforced the need for the development of technologies that can curb the transmission of viruses among human beings and help to control the infection. Existing disinfection techniques using either ultraviolet light or harsh chemicals pose safety risks and are not suitable for use in the presence of humans.

Screening of Potential Bacteriophages for Cholera Therapy: A Comparative Genomic Approach.

Cholera continues to be a major burden for developing nations, especially where sanitation, quality of water supply, and hospitalization have remained an issue. Recently, growing antimicrobial-resistant strains of underscores alternative therapeutic strategies for cholera. Bacteriophage therapy is considered one of the best alternatives for antibiotic treatment.

Cohort profile: Indian Network of Population-Based Surveillance Platforms for Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses among the Elderly (INSPIRE).

Purpose: We describe here a multicentric community-dwelling cohort of older adults (60 years of age) established to estimate incidence, study risk factors, healthcare utilisation and economic burden associated with influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in India.

Participants: The four sites of this cohort are in northern (Ballabgarh), southern (Chennai), eastern (Kolkata) and western (Pune) parts of India. We enrolled 5336 participants across 4220 households and began surveillance in July 2018 for viral respiratory infections with additional participants enrolled annually.

Covid-19 Infection in India: A Comparative Analysis of the Second Wave with the First Wave.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is considered as the most dreaded disease that has spread all over the world in the recent past. Despite its outbreak in December 2019-January 2020, a few continents and countries such as India started to experience a significant number of COVID-19-positive cases from March 2020. GISAID clade variation analysis in the period March 2020-February 2021 (period I) and March 2021-first week of April 2021 (period II) showed a rapid variation of SARS-CoV-2 in all continents and India over time.

Phage Types of 01 Biotype ElTor Strains Isolated from India during 2012-2017.

Background: Cholera is a primordial disease caused by which existed from centuries in different parts of the world and still shows its periodic, endemic and epidemic presence. Thousands of cholera cases are reported from different parts of India and the disease remains endemic throughout the year. At present, we do not have enough knowledge about the phenotypic nature of the circulating strains in this part of the world.

Emergence of Novel Coronavirus and COVID-19: whether to stay or die out?

The last century has witnessed several assaults from RNA viruses, resulting in millions of death throughout the world. The 21st century appears no longer an exception, with the trend continued with escalated fear of SARS coronavirus in 2002 and further concern of influenza H5N1 in 2003. A novel influenza virus created the first pandemic of the 21st century, the pandemic flu in 2009 preceded with the emergence of another deadly virus, MERS-CoV in 2012.

Current challenges: from the path of "original antigenic sin" towards the development of universal flu vaccines.

Annual flu led by influenza viruses is contemplated to be one of the foremost global health challenges due to its rapid spread leading to the life-threatening epidemic or pandemic. An enormous number of people die due to flu and its associated intricacies every year. Annual vaccination is considered to be the gold standard strategy to protect the individual from acquiring infection and further decimation, although recent estimates suggest that overall flu vaccine effectiveness was within 19% to 53% in last five years.

Apoptotic and Early Innate Immune Responses to PB1-F2 Protein of Influenza A Viruses Belonging to Different Subtypes in Human Lung Epithelial A549 Cells.

PB1-F2 is a multifunctional protein and contributes to the pathogenicity of influenza A viruses. PB1-F2 is known to have strain and cell specific functions. In this study we have investigated the apoptotic and inflammatory responses of PB1-F2 protein from influenza viruses of diverse pathogenicities in A549 lung epithelial cells.

Isolation and Characterization of Novel Broad Host Range Bacteriophages of O1 from Bengal.

Objectives: We have isolated a total of five newer cholera phages which are novel broad host range to incorporate with the existing phage typing schemes for an extended typing scheme.

Materials And Methods: These newly isolated phages were well characterized including the electron micrograph. A total of 300 strains were isolated from the different endemic region in India were included in phage typing study.

Gene expression profile of high-fat diet-fed C57BL/6J mice: in search of potential role of azelaic acid.

High-fat diet (HFD) elevates circulatory fatty acids and influences glucose and fat metabolism. Azelaic acid (AzA), a naturally occurring α,ω-dicarboxylic acid in wheat, rye, barley, oat seeds and sorghum, has been reported to exert antidiabetic effects in HFD-induced type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) C57BL/6J mice. The present study was undertaken to identify the genes that are differentially modulated by treatment with AzA in HFD-fed mice.

Infection with influenza A viruses causes changes in promoter DNA methylation of inflammatory genes.

Background: Replication of influenza virus in the host cells results in production of immune mediators like cytokines. Excessive secretion of cytokines (hypercytokinemia) has been observed during highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI-H5N1) infections resulting in high fatality rates.

Objective: The exact mechanism of hypercytokinemia during influenza virus infection is still not known completely.

An insight into the PB1F2 protein and its multifunctional role in enhancing the pathogenicity of the influenza A viruses.

PB1F2 is the 11th protein of the influenza A virus. The protein has variable sizes with truncations either at the C- or N-terminal ends. The most recent example being the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus which codes for only 11 amino-acids of the C-terminus.

Non structural protein of avian influenza A (H11N1) virus is a weaker suppressor of immune responses but capable of inducing apoptosis in host cells.

Background: The Non-Structural (NS1) protein of Influenza A viruses is an extensively studied multifunctional protein which is commonly considered as key viral component to fight against host immune responses. Even though there has been a lot of studies on the involvement of NS1 protein in host immune responses there are still ambiguities regarding its role in apoptosis in infected cells. Interactions of NS1 protein with host factors, role of NS1 protein in regulating cellular responses and apoptosis are quite complicated and further studies are still needed to understand it completely.

Comprehensive global amino acid sequence analysis of PB1F2 protein of influenza A H5N1 viruses and the influenza A virus subtypes responsible for the 20th-century pandemics.

Background: PB1F2 is the 11th protein of influenza A virus translated from +1 alternate reading frame of PB1 gene. Since the discovery, varying sizes and functions of the PB1F2 protein of influenza A viruses have been reported. Selection of PB1 gene segment in the pandemics, variable size and pleiotropic effect of PB1F2 intrigued us to analyze amino acid sequences of this protein in various influenza A viruses.

Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza virus induces weaker host immune responses in vitro: a possible mechanism of high transmissibility.

Background: The world has recently overcome the first influenza pandemic of the 21st century caused by a novel H1N1 virus (pH1N1) which is a triple reassortant comprising genes derived from avian, human, and swine influenza viruses and antigenically quite different from seasonal H1N1 strains. Although the case fatality rates have decreased in many developed countries, the situation is still alarming in many developing countries including India where considerable numbers of new cases are appearing everyday. There is still a high morbidity and mortality of susceptible adult as well as young population without having underlying health issues due to the influenza infection.