Can HIV reverse transcriptase activity assay be a low-cost alternative for viral load monitoring in resource-limited settings?

Objective: To evaluate the performance and cost of an HIV reverse transcriptase-enzyme activity (HIV-RT) assay in comparison to an HIV-1 RNA assay for routine viral load monitoring in resource limited settings.

Design: A cohort-based longitudinal study.

Setting: Two antiretroviral therapy (ART) centres in Karnataka state, South India, providing treatment under the Indian AIDS control programme.

Prevalence of virulence factors and phylogenetic characterization of uropathogenic Escherichia coli causing urinary tract infection in patients with and without diabetes mellitus.

Background: We aimed to determine the virulence factor profile and phylogenetic grouping of uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) causing urinary tract infection (UTI) in patients with and without diabetes mellitus (DM).

Methods: A total of 280 UPEC were collected from the urine samples of patients with DM (n=126) and patients suffering from non-DM UTIs (n=154). All isolates were subjected to phenotypic and genotypic virulence factor profile and phylogenetic grouping.

Performance of genotypic tools for prediction of tropism in HIV-1 subtype C V3 loop sequences.

Currently, there is no consensus on the genotypic tools to be used for tropism analysis in HIV-1 subtype C strains. Thus, the aim of the study was to evaluate the performance of the different V3 loop-based genotypic algorithms available. We compiled a dataset of 645 HIV-1 subtype C V3 loop sequences of known coreceptor phenotypes (531 R5-tropic/non-syncytium-inducing and 114 X4-tropic/R5X4-tropic/syncytium-inducing sequences) from the Los Alamos database (http://www.

Lower prevalence of hlyD, papC and cnf-1 genes in ciprofloxacin-resistant uropathogenic Escherichia coli than their susceptible counterparts isolated from southern India.

Objective: The study was conducted to determine the association of the hlyD, papC and cnf-1 virulence genes with drug resistance in uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) isolated from cases of urinary tract infection (UTI).

Method: A total of 193 E. coli strains isolated from symptomatic cases of UTI in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Raichur, Northern Karnataka, India were included in the study.

HIV-1 coreceptor tropism in India: increasing proportion of X4-tropism in subtype C strains over two decades.

Background: Recent studies show an increase in the frequency of X4-tropism in African HIV-1 subtype C (HIV-1C) strains and among Indian children with a longer duration of infection. There is limited availability of comprehensive data on HIV-1 tropism in Indian HIV-1C strains and impact on coreceptor antagonist drug susceptibility. We evaluated coreceptor tropism trends over 2 decades and maraviroc resistance-associated V3 loop substitutions among the Indian HIV-1C strains.

High concordance of genotypic coreceptor prediction in plasma-viral RNA and proviral DNA of HIV-1 subtype C: implications for use of whole blood DNA in resource-limited settings.

Objectives: Genotypic tropism testing (GTT) of HIV is increasingly used prior to the initiation of CCR5 antagonist therapy in HIV-infected individuals. Normally performed on plasma-derived virus, the test is challenging when performed in patients with suppressed viraemia. We aimed to evaluate the performance of cell-associated proviral DNA against plasma-derived viral RNA as the genetic material for GTT in an Indian clinical setting.

The detection of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli in patients with symptomatic urinary tract infections using different diffusion methods in a rural setting.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of extended spectrum of beta lactamases (ESBLs), to compare different phenotypic methods for ESBL confirmation and to evaluate the antibiotic resistance patterns among ESBL-producing urinary Escherichia coli.

Methods: Urinary E. coli isolates that were resistant to at least one of the three indicator cephalosporins (cefotaxime, cefpodoxime and ceftazidime) were tested for ESBL production using the double disc synergy test (DDST), the inhibitory potentiated disc diffusion (IPDD) test and the quantitative E-strip method.

Metallo Beta lactamase producing pseudomonas aeruginosa and its association with diabetic foot.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains that produce metallo beta lactamases (MBLs) are becoming increasingly prevalent in wound infections. The aim of the present study is to determine the clinical features, incidence, and to find out the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in diabetic foot infections. Pus samples for bacterial culture were collected from 310 patients admitted with diabetic foot infections.

Multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis: the experience of an urban tertiary care hospital in South India using automated BACTEC 460 TB.

The emergence of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) strains has been a major obstacle in the tuberculosis (TB) control programme. In the present study we looked into the prevalence of MDR-TB in an urban tertiary care hospital in South India over four years (2007-2010). During this period, 641 clinical specimens (317 respiratory specimens and 324 non-respiratory specimens) were received for mycobacteriological culture and drug susceptibility testing for first-line drugs, using the BACTEC 460 TB system.

Diabetes mellitus and HIV as co-morbidities in tuberculosis patients of rural south India.

Objectives: Incidence of tuberculosis (TB) is greatest among patients with impaired immunity. India is experiencing a double epidemic of HIV and diabetes mellitus (DM), both of which are strongly associated with immuno-suppression. This study aimed to discover the prevalence of HIV and DM in both the pulmonary and extra-pulmonary TB patients of rural south India, retrospectively.

Prevalence of respiratory syncytial virus infection among hospitalized children presenting with acute lower respiratory tract infections.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of RSV among hospitalized young children presenting with ALRI in Bangalore, India.

Methods: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antigen detection was performed by direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) staining on 77 nasopharyngeal wash samples collected from hospitalized children below 2 years of age with a diagnosis of acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI).

Results: Out of 77 samples tested for RSV with DFA, 17 (22.

Ceftriaxone resistant Shigella flexneri, an emerging problem.

Shigellosis is a disease of public health importance in developing countries. It may cause self-limited diarrhea to severe dysentery. Emergence of multi drug resistant (MDR) strains is a growing concern globally.

Epidemiology of culture isolates from peritoneal dialysis peritonitis patients in southern India using an automated blood culture system to culture peritoneal dialysate.

Aim: Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) is a major form of therapy for chronic end stage renal disease patients, which may lead to CAPD-associated peritonitis. The spectrum of organisms associated with CAPD peritonitis varies geographically. Not much data is available regarding this from southern India.