Risk profiling of soil-transmitted helminth infection and estimated number of infected people in South Asia: A systematic review and Bayesian geostatistical Analysis.

Background: In South Asia, hundreds of millions of people are infected with soil-transmitted helminths (Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm, and Trichuris trichiura). However, high-resolution risk profiles and the estimated number of people infected have yet to be determined. In turn, such information will assist control programs to identify priority areas for allocation of scarce resource for the control of soil-transmitted helminth infection.

Correcting India's Chronic Shortage of Drug Inspectors to Ensure the Production and Distribution of Safe, High-Quality Medicines.

Background: Good drug regulation requires an effective system for monitoring and inspection of manufacturing and sales units. In India, despite widespread agreement on this principle, ongoing shortages of drug inspectors have been identified by national committees since 1975. The growth of India's pharmaceutical industry and its large export market makes the problem more acute.

Appraisal of maternity management and family planning guidelines using the agree II instrument in India.

Introduction: Guideline development gathered pace in India after the inception of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in 2005. However, there is a lack of adequate information about guideline development process, review, and update. This paper reports on the systematic appraisal of Indian guidelines related to maternity management (MM) and family planning (FP) using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) instrument, which was one of the components of a pilot research in 2012-13.

BCG immunotherapy as an adjunct to chemotherapy in BL-lL patients--its effect on clinical regression, reaction severity, nerve function, lepromin conversion, bacterial/antigen clearance and 'persister' M. leprae.

Background And Objective: Multidrug therapy in leprosy has failed to eliminate the problem of persister bacilli. Clearance of bacterial antigens is extremely slow which could predispose to continued nerve damage even after release from treatment. In the present study the immunomodulatory efficacy of BCG vaccine administered post-MDT in BL-LL leprosy patients was investigated in depth with a view to determining if augmenting chemotherapy with immunotherapy would help in faster clearance of M.

Drug resistance mutations and heteroresistance detected using the GenoType MTBDRplus assay and their implication for treatment outcomes in patients from Mumbai, India.

Background: Only 5% of the estimated global multidrug resistant TB (MDRTB) load is currently detected. Endemic Mumbai with increasing MDR would benefit from the introduction of molecular methods to detect resistance.

Methods: The GenoType MTBDRplus assay was used to determine mutations associated with isoniazid and rifampicin resistance and their correlation with treatment outcomes.

Chest X-rays and associated clinical parameters in pulmonary tuberculosis cases from the National Tuberculosis Programme, Mumbai.

The study was carried out in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients from the local Tuberculosis control programme, Mumbai, India. It examined features of chest X-rays and their correlation with clinical parameters for possible application in suspected multidrug resistant TB (MDRTB) and to predict outcome in new and treatment failure PTB cases. X-ray features (infiltrate, cavitation, miliary shadows, pleural effusion, mediastinal lymphadenopathy and extent of lesions) were analyzed to identify associations with biological/clinical parameters through univariate and multivariate logistic regression.

Perceptions, health seeking behaviour and access to diagnosis and treatment initiation among previously undetected leprosy cases in rural Maharashtra, India.

Objectives: To study sociodemographic profiles, perceptions about leprosy and health seeking patterns among adult leprosy patients and parents of children with leprosy detected through a prevalence survey conducted earlier, in rural areas of Panvel tehsil in Maharashtra.

Methods: The study was cross-sectional and used mixed (qualitative and quantitative) methods. Of the 97 confirmed rural leprosy cases who had been detected through the initial prevalence survey, 58 newly detected adult leprosy cases and parents of 22 children detected with leprosy were interviewed with a semistructured interview schedule between May 2008 and March 2009.

Risk factors associated with MDR-TB at the onset of therapy among new cases registered with the RNTCP in Mumbai, India.

Background: Multidrug - resistant TB (MDR - TB) has emerged as a major threat to global TB control efforts in recent years. Facilities for its diagnosis and treatment are limited in many high - burden countries, including India. In hyper - endemic areas like Mumbai, screening for newly diagnosed cases at a higher risk of acquiring MDR - TB is necessary, for initiating appropriate and timely treatment, to prevent its further spread.

High levels of multidrug resistant tuberculosis in new and treatment-failure patients from the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme in an urban metropolis (Mumbai) in Western India.

Background: India, China and Russia account for more than 62% of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) globally. Within India, locations like urban metropolitan Mumbai with its burgeoning population and high incidence of TB are suspected to be a focus for MDRTB. However apart from sporadic surveys at watched sites in the country, there has been no systematic attempt by the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) of India to determine the extent of MDRTB in Mumbai that could feed into national estimates.

A community-based bacteriological study of quality of drinking-water and its feedback to a rural community in Western Maharashtra, India.

A longitudinal study of the bacteriological quality of rural water supplies was undertaken for a movement towards self-help against diseases, such as diarrhoea, and improved water management through increased community participation. Three hundred and thirteen water samples from different sources, such as well, tank, community standpost, handpumps, percolation lakes, and streams, and from households were collected from six villages in Maharashtra, India, over a one-year period. Overall, 49.

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in India: an attempt to link biosocial determinants.

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has emerged as a possible threat to global tuberculosis control efforts in recent years. It is a challenge not only from a public health point of view but also in the context of global economy, especially in the absence of treatment for MDR-TB at national-level programs in developing countries. Biological accounts are insufficient to understand the emergence and dynamics of drug resistance.

Spoligotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from multiple-drug-resistant tuberculosis patients from Bombay, India.

Spoligotyping was undertaken in 65 multiple-drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from Bombay, India. The spoligotype patterns showed seven closely related clusters, a cluster with 2 Beijing-like isolates, and unique spoligotypes (43%). Of the clusters, one with 29% of all the isolates suggested transmission of a dominant resistant clone.