Etiological Profile and Clinico Epidemiological Patterns of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in Tamil Nadu, India.

Introduction: Establishing the etiological cause of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) is challenging due to the distinct distribution of various etiological agents. This study aims to determine the etiological profiles of both viruses and bacteria and their associated clinico-epidemiological features among the AES suspected cases in Tamil Nadu, India.

Methods: Samples of 5136 suspected AES cases from January 2016 to December 2020 (5 years) were subjected to the detection of etiological agents for AES through serological and molecular diagnosis methods.

Evolution and Phylodynamics of the Hemagglutinin Protein of Influenza A/(H1N1)pdm09 Virus Isolates from India from 2009 to 2020.

Influenza A/(H1N1)pdm09 virus evolves through continuous antigenic variation in both surface antigens, such as hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) proteins, which affect its pathogenicity, the effectiveness of the host immune response, and drug resistance. This study reports the evolution and dynamics of 527 HA protein sequences of influenza A/(H1N1)pdm09 Indian isolates submitted from 2009 to 2020. These isolates were aligned with a reference sequence and 22 sequences representing different clades using MEGA X, and subjected to phylogenetic analysis.

Epitope Identification and Designing a Potent Multi-epitope Vaccine Construct against SARS-CoV-2 Including the Emerging Variants.

Introduction: The emergence of a novel coronavirus in China has turned into a SARS-CoV-2 pandemic with high fatality. As vaccines are developed through various strategies, their immunogenic potential may drastically vary and thus pose several challenges in offering immune responses against the virus.

Methods: In this study, we adopted an immunoinformatics-aided approach for developing a new multi-epitope vaccine construct (MEVC).

Phylodynamic Pattern of Genetic Clusters, Paradigm Shift on Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Clades, and Impact of Spike Glycoprotein Mutations of SARS-CoV-2 Isolates from India.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with high morbidity and mortality, with the emergence of numerous variants. The dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 with respect to clade distribution is uneven, unpredictable and fast changing.

Methods: Retrieving the complete genomes of SARS-CoV-2 from India and subjecting them to analysis on phylogenetic clade diversity, Spike (S) protein mutations and their functional consequences such as immune escape features and impact on infectivity.

Dynamics of the occurrence of influenza in relation to seasonal variation in Chennai, Tamil Nadu: A 7 -year cumulative study.

Background: Influenza viruses have emerged as virulent pathogens causing considerable burden across the world. A thorough understanding of the pattern in occurrence of influenza globally is the need of hour. The present study deals with analysis of the dynamics of Influenza virus, especially the influence of seasonal change on viral circulation and causation of epidemics/pandemics in the context of subtropical region.

Development and evaluation of flavi-immunoglobulin M capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

In this study, we report the evaluation of In-house flavi virus immunoglobulin M (IgM) capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), which can be used as a screening test to determine the infecting flavivirus serotype over the current serological methods. A panel of 88 sera (inclusive of well characterized dengue, Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and West Nile virus (WNV) positive and negative samples tested and confirmed by commercial kit) was used for evaluation of the kit. The sensitivity and specificity of the In-house capture assay versus the commercial kit for the sero-diagnosis of dengue was 100% and 87% respectively, for JE IgM, it was found to be 90% and 100% respectively, and for West Nile it was 87.