Protection conferred by typhoid fever against recurrent typhoid fever in urban Kolkata.

We evaluated the protection conferred by a first documented visit for clinical care of typhoid fever against recurrent typhoid fever prompting a visit. This study takes advantage of multi-year follow-up of a population with endemic typhoid participating in a cluster-randomized control trial of Vi capsular polysaccharide typhoid vaccine in Kolkata, India. A population of 70,566 individuals, of whom 37,673 were vaccinated with one dose of either Vi vaccine or a control (Hepatitis A) vaccine, were observed for four years.

Mapping cholera outbreaks and antibiotic resistant Vibrio cholerae in India: An assessment of existing data and a scoping review of the literature.

Although fluid and electrolyte replenishment remains the mainstay of clinical management of cholera, antibiotics are an important component of the strategy for clinical management of moderate to severe cases of cholera. The emergence of antibiotic resistance (ABR) in Vibrio cholerae has led to difficulties in case management. The past decade has also seen the development of cheap and effective oral cholera vaccines (OCVs).

Re-evaluating herd protection by Vi typhoid vaccine in a cluster randomized trial.

Background: In a cluster randomized trial (CRT) of a Vi polysaccharide vaccine against typhoid in the slums of Kolkata we found evidence of vaccine herd protection. However, transmission of typhoid into clusters from the outside likely occurred in this densely populated setting, which could have diminished our estimates of vaccine herd protection.

Methods: Eighty clusters (40 in each arm) were randomised to receive a single dose of either Vi or inactivated hepatitis A vaccine.

Effect of insecticide-treated bed nets on visceral leishmaniasis incidence in Bangladesh. A retrospective cohort analysis.

Background: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a parasitic disease, transmitted by the sand fly species Phlebotomus argentipes in the Indian sub-continent. Effective vector control is highly desirable to reduce vector density and human and vector contact in the endemic communities with the aim to curtail disease transmission. We evaluated the effect of long lasting insecticide treated bed nets (LLIN) and bed nets impregnated with slow-release insecticide tablet K-O TAB 1-2-3 (jointly insecticide-treated nets or ITN) on VL incidence in a highly endemic sub-district (upazila) in Bangladesh.

Use of oral cholera vaccine as a vaccine probe to define the geographical dimensions of person-to-person transmission of cholera.

Background: Cholera is known to be transmitted from person to person, and inactivated oral cholera vaccines (OCVs) have been shown to confer herd protection via interruption of this transmission. However, the geographic dimensions of chains of person-to-person transmission of cholera are uncertain. The ability of OCVs to confer herd protection was used to define these dimensions in two cholera-endemic settings, one in rural Bangladesh and the other in urban India.

Serological and Molecular Analysis of Infection in Healthy Individuals from Two Districts of West Bengal, India, Endemic for Visceral Leishmaniasis.

AbstractSeveral epidemiological studies have indicated the presence of asymptomatic infections with in the Indian subcontinent, where parasite transmission is considered anthroponotic. In India, such asymptomatic cases have been identified in the state of Bihar. We explored here, the presence of asymptomatic infection among healthy individuals living in two districts in the state of West Bengal, India, using serological and molecular tests.

Elimination of Kala-Azar from the Southeast Asia Region.

AbstractVisceral leishmaniasis (VL), popularly known as kala-azar, is essentially a disease of poverty. Kala-azar is caused by a parasite, . Recent review indicates that worldwide 98 countries are endemic for kala-azar.

Potential for Controlling Cholera Using a Ring Vaccination Strategy: Re-analysis of Data from a Cluster-Randomized Clinical Trial.

Introduction: Vaccinating a buffer of individuals around a case (ring vaccination) has the potential to target those who are at highest risk of infection, reducing the number of doses needed to control a disease. We explored the potential vaccine effectiveness (VE) of oral cholera vaccines (OCVs) for such a strategy.

Methods And Findings: This analysis uses existing data from a cluster-randomized clinical trial in which OCV or placebo was given to 71,900 participants in Kolkata, India, from 27 July to 10 September 2006.

Validity of the estimates of oral cholera vaccine effectiveness derived from the test-negative design.

Background: The test-negative design (TND) has emerged as a simple method for evaluating vaccine effectiveness (VE). Its utility for evaluating oral cholera vaccine (OCV) effectiveness is unknown. We examined this method's validity in assessing OCV effectiveness by comparing the results of TND analyses with those of conventional cohort analyses.

Assessing different measures of population-level vaccine protection using a case-control study.

Background: Case-control studies have not been examined for their utility in assessing population-level vaccine protection in individually randomized trials.

Methods: We used the data of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of a cholera vaccine to compare the results of case-control analyses with those of cohort analyses. Cases of cholera were selected from the trial population followed for three years following dosing.

Visceral leishmaniasis-associated mortality in Bangladesh: a retrospective cross-sectional study.

Objective: To investigate visceral leishmaniasis (VL) deaths and risk factors in two VL endemic areas of Bangladesh.

Design: Retrospective cross-sectional.

Setting: Two geographically and culturally different VL endemic subdistricts, Godagari in the district of Rajshahi and Trishal in the district of Mymensingh in Bangladesh, August 2009-December 2011.

Vibriocidal antibody responses to a bivalent killed whole-cell oral cholera vaccine in a phase III trial in Kolkata, India.

Background: During the development of a vaccine, identification of the correlates of protection is of paramount importance for establishing an objective criterion for the protective performance of the vaccine. However, the ascertainment of correlates of immunity conferred by any vaccine is a difficult task.

Methods: While conducting a phase three double-blind, cluster-randomized, placebo-controlled trial of a bivalent killed whole-cell oral cholera vaccine in Kolkata, we evaluated the immunogenicity of the vaccine in a subset of participants.

Immune responses to Vi capsular polysaccharide typhoid vaccine in children 2 to 16 years old in Karachi, Pakistan, and Kolkata, India.

The geometric mean concentration (GMC) and the proportion maintaining a protective level (150 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) units [ELU]/ml) 2 years following a single dose of 25 μg of injectable Vi capsular polysaccharide typhoid vaccine was measured against that of the control hepatitis A vaccine in children 2 to 16 years old in cluster randomized trials in Karachi and Kolkata. The GMC for the Vi group (1,428 ELU/ml) was statistically significantly different from the GMC of the control hepatitis A vaccine group (86 ELU/ml) after 6 weeks. A total of 117 children (95.

5 year efficacy of a bivalent killed whole-cell oral cholera vaccine in Kolkata, India: a cluster-randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Efficacy and safety of a two-dose regimen of bivalent killed whole-cell oral cholera vaccine (Shantha Biotechnics, Hyderabad, India) to 3 years is established, but long-term efficacy is not. We aimed to assess protective efficacy up to 5 years in a slum area of Kolkata, India.

Methods: In our double-blind, cluster-randomised, placebo-controlled trial, we assessed incidence of cholera in non-pregnant individuals older than 1 year residing in 3933 dwellings (clusters) in Kolkata, India.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of smoking in subjects of lung cancer.

Lung cancer is the most common cancer in the world since 1988, both in terms of incidence and mortality among both men and women. Approximately half of the cases of lung cancer now occur in developing countries compared to 1980. Tobacco smoking is by far the predominant risk factor for lung cancer.

Risk map of cholera infection for vaccine deployment: the eastern Kolkata case.

Background: Despite advancement of our knowledge, cholera remains a public health concern. During March-April 2010, a large cholera outbreak afflicted the eastern part of Kolkata, India. The quantification of importance of socio-environmental factors in the risk of cholera, and the calculation of the risk is fundamental for deploying vaccination strategies.

SLE Developing in a Follow-Up Patient of Kikuchi's Disease: A Rare Disorder.

Kikuchi's disease or the Kikuchi-Fujimoto Disease (KFD) is a very rare, self-limiting, benign form of histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis, which is mostly seen in young females. We are presenting a case of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) which occurred after 2 years in a patient of Kikuchi's disease during a follow-up examination.

Vivax malaria and bacteraemia: a prospective study in Kolkata, India.

Background: Falciparum malaria increases the risk for bacteraemia, whereas the relationship between vivax malaria and bacteraemia is not clear. Data from a prospective fever surveillance study in Kolkata, India were reanalysed for the potential association between Plasmodium vivax malaria and bacteraemia.

Methods: Patients of all ages presenting with fever of three days or more to a project health outpost were invited to participate.

Low prevalence of Leishmania donovani infection among the blood donors in kala-azar endemic areas of Bangladesh.

Background: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a major public health problem in Bangladesh with the highest disease burden in the Mymensingh District. The disease is transmitted by sand fly bites, but it may also be transmitted through blood transfusions. No information is available about the prevalence of Leishmania infection among blood donors in Bangladesh; therefore we aimed to investigate this question.

Herd protection by a bivalent killed whole-cell oral cholera vaccine in the slums of Kolkata, India.

Background: We evaluated the herd protection conferred by an oral cholera vaccine using 2 approaches: cluster design and geographic information system (GIS) design.

Methods: Residents living in 3933 dwellings (clusters) in Kolkata, India, were cluster-randomized to receive either cholera vaccine or oral placebo. Nonpregnant residents aged≥1 year were invited to participate in the trial.

Endemic transmission of visceral leishmaniasis in Bhutan.

Visceral leishmaniasis was first reported in Bhutan in 2006. We conducted studies of the parasite, possible vectors and reservoirs, and leishmanin skin test and risk factor surveys in three villages. Nineteen cases were reported from seven districts.

Clinical, epidemiological, and spatial characteristics of Vibrio parahaemolyticus diarrhea and cholera in the urban slums of Kolkata, India.

Background: There is not much information on the differences in clinical, epidemiological and spatial characteristics of diarrhea due to V. cholerae and V. parahaemolyticus from non-coastal areas.

High-resolution genotyping of the endemic Salmonella Typhi population during a Vi (typhoid) vaccination trial in Kolkata.

Background: Typhoid fever, caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi), is a major health problem especially in developing countries. Vaccines against typhoid are commonly used by travelers but less so by residents of endemic areas.