Pan-India influenza-like illness (ILI) and Severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) surveillance: epidemiological, clinical and genomic analysis.

Background: Over time, COVID-19 testing has significantly declined across the world. However, it is critical to monitor the virus through surveillance. In late 2020, WHO released interim guidance advising the use of the existing Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) for the integrated surveillance of influenza and SARS-CoV-2.

Neutralization assays for SARS-CoV-2: Implications for assessment of protective efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.

The WHO emergency use-listed (EUL) COVID-19 vaccines were developed against early strains of SARS-CoV-2. With the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) - Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron, it is necessary to assess the neutralizing activity of these vaccines against the VOCs. PubMed and preprint platforms were searched for literature on neutralizing activity of serum from WHO EUL vaccine recipients, against the VOCs, using appropriate search terms till November 30, 2021.

Inter-laboratory testing as a strategy for external quality assessment for qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 by real-time RT-PCR testing in India.

To implement the strategy of test, track and treat to tackle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the number of real-time RT-PCR-based testing laboratories was increased for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 in the country. To ensure reliability of the laboratory results, the Indian Council of Medical Research initiated external quality assessment (EQA) by deploying inter-laboratory quality control (ILQC) activity for these laboratories by nominating 34 quality control (QC) laboratories. This report presents the results of this activity for a period of September 2020 till November 2020.

SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza Virus Co-Infection Cases Identified through ILI/SARI Sentinel Surveillance: A Pan-India Report.

SARS-CoV-2/influenza virus co-infection studies have focused on hospitalized patients who usually had grave sequelae. Here, we report SARS-CoV-2/influenza virus co-infection cases from both community and hospital settings reported through integrated ILI/SARI (Influenza Like Illness/Severe Acute Respiratory Infection) sentinel surveillance established by the Indian Council of Medical Research. We describe the disease progression and outcomes in these cases.

External quality assessment of COVID-19 real time reverse transcription PCR laboratories in India.

Sudden emergence and rapid spread of COVID-19 created an inevitable need for expansion of the COVID-19 laboratory testing network across the world. The strategy to test-track-treat was advocated for quick detection and containment of the disease. Being the second most populous country in the world, India was challenged to make COVID-19 testing available and accessible in all parts of the country.

Clinical Characterization and Genomic Analysis of Samples from COVID-19 Breakthrough Infections during the Second Wave among the Various States of India.

From March to June 2021, India experienced a deadly second wave of COVID-19, with an increased number of post-vaccination breakthrough infections reported across the country. To understand the possible reason for these breakthroughs, we collected 677 clinical samples (throat swab/nasal swabs) of individuals from 17 states/Union Territories of the country who had received two doses ( = 592) and one dose ( = 85) of vaccines and tested positive for COVID-19. These cases were telephonically interviewed and clinical data were analyzed.

Comparison of the immunogenicity & protective efficacy of various SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates in non-human primates.

Background & Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a global public health crisis and research groups worldwide are engaged in developing vaccine candidates to curb its transmission, with a few vaccines having progressed to advanced stages of clinical trials. The aim of this systematic review was to compare immunogenicity and protective efficacy of various SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates tested in non-human primate (NHP) models.

Methods: Literature on effect of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in NHP models reported on PubMed and preprint platforms (medRxiv and bioRxiv) till October 22, 2020, was searched with the following terms: coronavirus vaccine, COVID-19 vaccine, SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, nonhuman primate, and rhesus macaque.