Publications by authors named "J W V Thangaraj"

Objective: To estimate the proportion of children with acute febrile illness (AFI) attending the peripheral health facilities in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, due to Orientia tsutsugamushi (Ots) and re-evaluate the strategy of presumptive administration of doxycycline/azithromycin (PDA) to patients with AFI.

Methods: Children aged 2-18 years with AFI attending 16 peripheral health facilities in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, were enrolled in September 2023. Blood samples were tested for O.

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Background: Tuberculosis (TB) poses a significant social and economic burden to households of persons with TB (PwTB). Despite free diagnosis and care under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP), individuals often experience significant out-of-pocket expenditure and lost productivity, causing financial catastrophe. We estimated the costs incurred by the PwTB during TB care and identified the factors associated with the costs.

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Residual blood specimens collected at health facilities may be a source of samples for serosurveys of adults, a population often neglected in community-based serosurveys. Anonymized residual blood specimens were collected from individuals 15 - 49 years of age attending two sub-district hospitals in Palghar District, Maharashtra, from November 2018 to March 2019. Specimens also were collected from women 15 - 49 years of age enrolled in a cross-sectional, community-based serosurvey representative at the district level that was conducted 2 - 7 months after the residual specimen collection.

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Article Synopsis
  • Residual blood specimens offer a cost-effective way to track seroprevalence changes compared to traditional household surveys, as shown in a study in India focused on measles-rubella vaccinations.
  • A cross-sectional survey in Kanpur Nagar and Palghar found significant increases in rubella seroprevalence post-immunization, though measles trends were inconsistent between facility and community samples.
  • Younger children in public facilities initially had lower rubella seroprevalence than those in private hospitals, but this gap disappeared after the vaccination campaign, highlighting the importance of residual specimens for public health monitoring.
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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates the prevalence of dog bites and human rabies deaths in India, where a significant portion of global rabies cases occurs, aiming to assess progress toward a 2030 elimination goal.
  • - A nationwide survey found that in a year, there were approximately 9.1 million dog bites in India, with 20.5% of those bitten not receiving necessary anti-rabies vaccinations (ARV).
  • - The study estimates around 5,726 human rabies deaths annually, indicating that, despite some progress, there's still a critical need for improved vaccination and prevention strategies.
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