Antimicrobial resistance, virulence profiles and molecular subtypes of Salmonella enterica serovars Typhi and Paratyphi A blood isolates from Kolkata, India during 2009-2013.

Enteric fever, caused by Salmonella enterica, remains an unresolved public health problem in India and antimicrobial therapy is the main mode of treatment. The objective of this study was to characterize the Salmonella enterica isolates from Kolkata with respect to their antimicrobial resistance (AMR), virulence profiles and molecular subtypes. Salmonella enterica blood isolates were collected from clinically suspected enteric fever patients attending various hospitals in Kolkata, India from January 2009 to June 2013 and were tested for AMR profiles by standard protocols; for resistance gene transfer by conjugation; for resistance and virulence genes profiles by PCR; and for molecular subtypes by Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE).

Validation of a new serology-based dipstick test for rapid diagnosis of typhoid fever.

Currently, no reliable diagnostic test is available for typhoid fever. One serology-based dipstick test, developed indigenously, was validated in this study. Preserved sera from 336 fever patients with known culture results for Salmonella Typhi were blindly tested by the Widal test and the new assay.

Pulmonary tuberculosis among HIV seropositives attending a counseling center in Kolkata.

The study was carried out to detect the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis among HIV-seropositive individuals (HIV/TB co-infection) who attended counseling center of National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata. A total of 109 HIV-seropositive individuals were screened. Of them, 36 (33%) had HIV/TB co-infection diagnosed by chest X-ray and presence of acid fast bacillus (AFB) detected by repeated microscopic examination of sputum.

Zinc, vitamin A, and micronutrient supplementation in children with diarrhea: a randomized controlled clinical trial of combination therapy versus monotherapy.

Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy of supplementation of zinc, zinc plus vitamin A, and zinc plus combination of micronutrients and vitamins (iron, copper, selenium, vitamin B(12), folate, and vitamin A) on acute diarrhea in children.

Study Design: This was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Children aged 6 to 24 months with diarrhea and moderate dehydration were randomized to receive zinc plus placebo vitamin A (group 1), zinc plus other micronutrients plus vitamin A (group 2), zinc plus vitamin A (group 3), or placebo (group 4) as an adjunct to oral rehydration solution.

Randomised controlled clinical trial of Lactobacillus sporogenes (Bacillus coagulans), used as probiotic in clinical practice, on acute watery diarrhoea in children.

Objective: To assess the clinical efficacy of Lactobacillus sporogenes (Bacillus coagulans), as probiotic preparation, against dehydrating diarrhoea in children.

Methods: Double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, hospital-based clinical trial with children aged 6-24 months who had diarrhoea with some dehydration. Children received tablets of L.

Subtype prevalence, plasmid profiles and growing fluoroquinolone resistance in Shigella from Kolkata, India (2001-2007): a hospital-based study.

Objectives: Shigellosis is a major public health problem, and increasing antimicrobial resistance has complicated its treatment. We report isolation frequency, plasmid profiles and antimicrobial resistance of Shigella subtypes in Kolkata, India, from a prospective hospital-based study.

Methods: Fresh stool or rectal swabs were collected from children (<5 years) attending the Diarrhea Treatment Unit of a governmental paediatric referral hospital in Kolkata.

Full genomic analysis of a human group A rotavirus G9P[6] strain from Eastern India provides evidence for porcine-to-human interspecies transmission.

Deduced amino acid sequence and phylogenetic analyses of a group A rotavirus G9P[6] strain (designated as mcs/13-07), detected from a 3-year-old child in Eastern India, revealed a VP8* closely related to porcine P[6] strains (P[6] sublineage 1D), and the VP7 clustered with G9 lineage-III strains. To our knowledge, this is the first report of human P[6] strain clustering in sublineage Id. Thus, to further characterize the evolutionary diversity of strain mcs/13-07, all gene segments were analyzed.

Immunogenicity, reactogenicity and safety of human rotavirus vaccine (RIX4414) in Indian infants.

Aim: This study was undertaken to assess the immunogenicity, reactogenicity and safety of two doses of an oral live-attenuated human rotavirus vaccine, strain RIX4414 (Rotarix()) in an Indian setting.

Results: The seroconversion rate observed one month post-dose 2 in the RIX4414 group 58.3% [95% CI: 48.

Increase in prevalence of human group A rotavirus G9 strains as an important VP7 genotype among children in eastern India.

Background: In addition to four globally important group A rotavirus (GARV) VP7 genotypes (G1-G4), recent surveillance studies have revealed importance of G9 strains as an aetiological agent of infantile diarrhoea.

Objective: Detection and genotyping of GARVs from children, admitted with gastroenteritis to Dr. B.

Multilocus sequence typing and genetic structure of Cryptosporidium hominis from children in Kolkata, India.

Endemicity of cryptosporidiosis in India has been documented with little genetic characterization of the parasites. Fifty Cryptosporidium-positive specimens collected between 2001 and 2004 from pediatric patients in Kolkata, India were analyzed for parasite genetic structure using multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Genotype analyses showed the presence of Cryptosporidium hominis, Cryptosporidium meleagridis and Cryptosporidium felis in 49, 2 and 1 patients, respectively (two patients had mixed infections of C.

Molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium spp. from children in Kolkata, India.

The intracellular parasite Cryptosporidium is responsible for severe diarrhea in immunocompromised persons in developing countries. Few studies on the characterization of the parasite in India are available. In this study, molecular characterization of the parasite from diarrheic children was carried out by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis.

Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1, Kolkata, India.

Since July 2002, bacteriologically confirmed shigellosis cases have increased, and multidrug-resistant Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 strains have reemerged in patients hospitalized with diarrhea in Kolkata, India. The isolated strains of S. dysenteriae 1 showed resistance to chloramphenicol (80%), ampicillin (100%), tetracycline (100%), co-trimoxazole (100%), nalidixic acid (100%), norfloxacin (100%), and ciprofloxacin (100%).

Genetic variability of human rotavirus strains isolated from Eastern and Northern India.

An epidemiological study was conducted in Eastern and Northern India to determine the genomic diversity of rotaviruses in these parts of the country. In 2001, a total of 126 Group A rotavirus positive samples were detected from children below 4 years of age with diarrhoea from Kolkata, Dibrugarh and Bhubaneswar in Eastern India, and Chandigarh, a city in Northern India. All the samples were genotyped for VP7 (G-type) and VP4 (P-type) gene by reverse transcription (RT) and multiplex PCR using different type specific primers.

Distribution of rotavirus VP7 genotypes among children suffering from watery diarrhea in Kolkata, India.

A combined reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT/PCR) was used to produce cDNA of the VP7 gene of rotavirus present in the stool samples. A total of 150 rotavirus positive stool samples were used in this study. Multiplex PCR, using the type specific primers, revealed the presence of G1 (49/150, 32.