A multifaceted intervention to improve diagnosis and early management of hospitalised patients with suspected acute brain infections in Brazil, India, and Malawi: an international multicentre intervention study.

Background: Brain infections pose substantial challenges in diagnosis and management and carry high mortality and morbidity, especially in low-income and middle-income countries. We aimed to improve the diagnosis and early management of patients admitted to hospital (adults aged 16 years and older and children aged >28 days) with suspected acute brain infections at 13 hospitals in Brazil, India, and Malawi.

Methods: With hospital stakeholders, policy makers, and patient and public representatives, we co-designed a multifaceted clinical and laboratory intervention, informed by an evaluation of routine practice.

Performance evaluation of TaqMan™ Arbovirus Triplex Kit (ZIKV/DENV/CHIKV) for detection and differentiation of dengue and chikungunya viral RNA in serum samples of symptomatic patients.

Introduction: Global outbreaks of mosquito-transmitted arbovirus infections, such as dengue (DENV) and chikungunya (CHIKV), are increasing. Differentiating these infections is challenging due to non-specific symptoms and serology limitations. PCR-based approaches offer higher sensitivity and specificity.

Standardization and evaluation of an in-house ELISA for the detection of rabies antibody in a tertiary care centre in South India.

Background: Rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test (RFFIT), a neutralization-based assay for detecting rabies antibodies, is the gold standard. The National Action Plan for Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination (NAPRE) is a national program that strategizes the establishment of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) to detect rabies antibodies.

Objective: We developed an in-house ELISA to screen for rabies antibodies using rabies vaccine antigen to study vaccine response among health care workers (HCWs) who received pre-exposure prophylaxis and a few animal bite victims who received post-exposure prophylaxis with rabies vaccine.

Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in Children and Adolescents: A Five-Year Descriptive Study From South India.

Objective: Acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in children results in significant neurocognitive deficits or mortality. It is pertinent to study the AES patterns periodically to identify the changes in the etiological trends and outcomes. Our objective was to find the etiological agents of AES, mode of diagnosis, treatment given, and outcomes.

Severe disease during both primary and secondary dengue virus infections in pediatric populations.

Dengue is a global epidemic causing over 100 million cases annually. The clinical symptoms range from mild fever to severe hemorrhage and shock, including some fatalities. The current paradigm is that these severe dengue cases occur mostly during secondary infections due to antibody-dependent enhancement after infection with a different dengue virus serotype.

Early detection, reactivation of cytomegalovirus DNA & immediate early (IE)-mRNA expression in hematopoietic stem cell-transplant patients.

Background: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) reactivation is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among stem cell transplant recipients post-transplantation.

Aim: HCMV immediate-early messenger RNA (IE-mRNA) was evaluated as marker of post-transplant HCMV reactivation in bone marrow transplant recipients.

Method: ology: An in-house real-time reverse transcriptase PCR targeting IE-mRNA was developed to estimate HCMV mRNA levels post-transplantation.

Profile of cardiac lesions among laboratory confirmed congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) infants: a nationwide sentinel surveillance, India, 2016-22.

Background: The phenotypical profile of cardiovascular malformations in patients with congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) is varied. We aimed to describe the profile of cardiac defects among CRS patients detected in the sentinel CRS surveillance in India during 2016-22.

Methods: Sentinel sites enrolled infants with suspected CRS based on presence of cardiac defects, hearing impairment, eye signs, or maternal history of febrile rash illness.

Congenital rubella syndrome surveillance in India, 2016-21: Analysis of five years surveillance data.

Background: In India, facility-based surveillance for congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) was initiated in 2016 to estimate the burden and monitor the progress made in rubella control. We analyzed the surveillance data for 2016-2021 from 14 sentinel sites to describe the epidemiology of CRS.

Method: We analyzed the surveillance data to describe the distribution of suspected and laboratory confirmed CRS patients by time, place and person characteristics.

Comparison of a chemiluminescence immunoassay and an enzyme immunoassay for detection of IgM antibodies against measles, mumps, rubella, cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein Barr virus (EBV), and human herpes virus (HHV) -1 and -2 infections.

Purpose: Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable viral diseases have been increasingly reported globally over the past few years. The burden of congenital viral infections, their impact on physical and mental development and the resulting economic loss to the family and the community are also well known. IgM antibody detection has been convenient in the diagnosis of acute viral infections, particularly in settings with limited resources where molecular tests are not feasible.

Age-stratified adeno-associated virus serotype 3 neutralizing and total antibody prevalence in hemophilia A patients from India.

Gene therapy using an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector offers a new treatment option for individuals with monogenetic disorders. The major bottleneck is the presence of pre-existing anti-AAV antibodies, which impacts its use. Even very low titers of neutralizing antibodies (NAb) to capsids from natural AAV infections have been reported to inhibit the transduction of intravenously administered AAV in animal models and are associated with limited efficacy in human trials.

Changing epidemiology of human enteroviruses (HEV) in a hand, foot and mouth disease outbreak in Vellore, south India.

Purpose: Hand Foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a major childhood exanthematous disease causing outbreaks that have become a major public health threat in recent years. In Vellore district of Tamil Nadu, south India, occasional outbreaks are common among the paediatric age group, most commonly in those under 5years of age (U5s). CoxsackieA6, A4, A5, A9, A10, B2 and B5 are the common serotypes causing outbreaks.

BK Polyomavirus Hemorrhagic Cystitis in Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients.

Introduction: BK polyomavirus-associated hemorrhagic cystitis (BKPyV-HC) is a well-recognized infective complication of hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) with increased organ dysfunction and mortality. This study was performed to describe the local incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of BKPyV infection.

Methods: This retrospective case-control study was conducted between 2007 and 2016 from a tertiary hospital in South India.

Infant Dengue a 10-Year Experience from a Tertiary Center in South India.

Dengue remains a major problem in the tropics. Several Asian countries have reported an increasing trend in the proportion of infants with dengue fever. However, most studies are limited to case reports or small case series from isolated outbreaks.

Prevalence of Adeno-Associated Virus 3 Capsid Binding and Neutralizing Antibodies in Healthy and Hemophilia B Individuals from India.

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector-based gene therapy offers a new treatment option for individuals with hemophilia. Pre-existing anti-AAV antibodies significantly impact the use of AAV vectors. Even relatively low titers of AAV neutralizing antibodies (NAb) from natural AAV infections against the capsid have been shown to inhibit the transduction of intravenously administered AAV in animal models and were associated with limited efficacy in human trials.

Performance of molecular and serologic tests for the diagnosis of scrub typhus.

Diagnosis of scrub typhus, caused by the bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi, is challenging because of the overlap of its non-specific symptoms with other infections coupled with the lack of sufficient data on the performance of diagnostic tests. Early diagnosis of scrub typhus is crucial to improve outcomes and this study evaluates the diagnostic performance of various tests. The present study aims at assessing the accuracy of various rapid diagnostic tests, serologic tests, and nucleic acid amplification methods on well-characterized patient samples.

Clinical Features of Four West Nile Virus Cases and Its Molecular Characterization from a South Indian Tertiary Care Hospital.

West Nile virus (WNV) is currently a significant reemerging virus of the 21st century. It belongs to the family Flaviviridae and genus . Although it is primarily transmitted by the spp of mosquitoes, other routes of transmission are also well defined.

Epidemiology of Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) in India, 2016-18, based on data from sentinel surveillance.

Background: Government of India is committed to eliminate measles and control rubella/congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) by 2020. In 2016, CRS surveillance was established in five sentinel sites. We analyzed surveillance data to describe the epidemiology of CRS in India.

Predictors of Major Bleeding and Mortality in Dengue Infection: A Retrospective Observational Study in a Tertiary Care Centre in South India.

We conducted a retrospective observational study to describe the clinical profile and outcomes of patients admitted with a diagnosis of dengue fever in a tertiary hospital in South India. A total of 159 patients admitted from April 2014 to October 2018 were included in the study. Vomiting (70.

B cell epitopes in the intrinsically disordered regions of neuraminidase and hemagglutinin proteins of H5N1 and H9N2 avian influenza viruses for peptide-based vaccine development.

Avian influenza viruses (AIV) are very active in several parts of the globe and are the cause of huge economic loss for the poultry industry and also human fatalities. Three dimensional modeling was carried out for neuraminidase (NA) and hemagglutinin (HA) proteins of AIV. The C-score, estimated TM-Score, and estimated root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) score for NA of H5N1 were -1.

Direct cost of illness for dengue in hospitalized children and adults at a referral hospital in India.

Objectives: To describe the direct cost of illness in pediatric and adult inpatients at a referral hospital in India.

Methods: Inpatients who tested positive for dengue were identified in the hospital records of a single private non-profit hospital over a period of 1 year and line-listed. Hospital discharge bills were obtained for pediatric and adult patients and the median costs by severity of illness for bed and treatment were estimated.

Comparison of two commercial ELISA kits for detection of rubella specific IgM in suspected congenital rubella syndrome cases and rubella IgG antibodies in a serosurvey of pregnant women.

Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for antibody identification, is important for laboratory confirmation of rubella infection in different settings. The Enzygnost rubella ELISA, widely used in the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network, is expensive and often unavailable. Qualitative and quantitative performance of the Euroimmun ELISA was compared with the Enzygnost ELISA, for detection of rubella specific IgM, using 283 sera collected from suspected congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) patients and IgG antibodies using 435 sera from a serosurvey among pregnant women.

Incidence of dengue illness among children in an urban setting in South India: A population based study.

Objectives: Our main objective was to estimate population based dengue incidence estimates in children with fever >3 days.

Methods: The study used the 'National Surveillance System for Enteric Fever in India' (NSSEFI) cohort at the Vellore site. Children aged 6 months to 14 years from a peri-urban setting in Vellore were followed up for a year for the presence of fever.