A Brief Update on Inter-lab Quality Control (ILQC) Activities for COVID-19 Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Nagpur, India.

Inter-lab quality control (ILQC) is vital for ensuring reliable test results, especially when laboratories are using assays authorized for newly emerging pathogens. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, had developed a network of laboratories to assess the quality of real-time reverse transcription (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays used in India to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In a three-tier ILQC lab structure, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Nagpur, an institute of national importance & a tertiary care hospital, was designated as a state quality control (QC) lab for the region of Maharashtra.

Neurological Manifestations of Scrub Typhus Infection in Pediatric Patient: A Case Report From Tertiary Care Hospital in Central India.

Scrub typhus is a neglected tropical bacterial disease endemic in central India which can manifest as meningitis/meningoencephalitis in children. It is difficult to diagnose clinically, especially in the absence of eschar or rash. Scrub typhus is seldom considered the differential diagnosis of meningitis in the Indian subcontinent.

: Spotting a scarce saprophyte in bacterial-fungal co-infection of the sinuses in a post-COVID-19 patient.

Atypical fungal co-infections in post-COVID-19 patients may have been underreported due to limited diagnostic methods. We present a case of sinusitis in a 55-year-old post-COVID-19 patient with pain in the left side of the face, mimicking rhino-cerebral mucormycosis. CT-paranasal sinuses showed mucosal thickening of left paranasal sinuses, biopsy of which grew a velvety, white colony.

The Characteristics of Ocular Findings and the Presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the Tears of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients.

Purpose The purpose of the study is to observe the characteristics of ocular manifestations in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients and to analyze the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ribonucleic acid (SARS-CoV-2 RNA) in the tears of patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19. Material and methods We conducted this prospective cross-sectional study from February to June 2021 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, one of the tertiary eye care centers in Nagpur, India. The study included confirmed COVID-19 patients based on real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) nasopharyngeal swabs, whether or not the patients exhibited ocular symptoms.

Incidence of COVID-19 infection and its variation with demographic and clinical profile: lessons learned at a COVID-19 RT-PCR laboratory in Nagpur, India.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic emerged as a global health crisis in 2020. The first case in India was reported on 30 January 2020 and the disease spread throughout the country within months. Old persons, immunocompromised patients and persons with co-morbidities, especially of the respiratory system, have a more severe and often fatal outcome to the disease.

Symptomatology and Relationship Between Symptoms and Duration Among COVID-19 Patients in a COVID-19 Care Hospital in Central India.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world population across the globe. India has the secondlargest number of cases and the thirdlargest number of deaths due to COVID-19 in the world. There have been close to 4.

A comparison of swab types on sample adequacy, suspects comfort and provider preference in COVID-19.

Aim: This study was aimed to compare the virological, suspect reported outcomes and provider preferences during COVID-19 swab taking procedure used for sampling.

Methods: The COVID-19 suspects are subjected to nasopharyngeal (NP) and oropharyngeal (OP) swabs for testing. Two types of swabs (Nylon and Dacron) are used for sample collection.

Space time analysis of dengue fever diagnosed through a network of laboratories in India from 2014-2017.

Background & Objectives: The Department of Health Research and the Indian Council of Medical Research, Government of India, have established Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory Network (VRDLN) to strengthen the laboratory capacity in the country for providing timely diagnosis of disease outbreaks. Fifty-one VRDLs were functional as on December 2017 and had reported about dengue fever across Indian states. The objectives of the study were to detect space time clusters and purely temporal clusters of dengue using Kulldorff's SaTScan statistics using patient level information; and to identify regions at greater risk of developing the disease using Kriging technique aggregating at district level.

Effectiveness of Presumptive Treatment of Acute Febrile Illness With Doxycycline or Azithromycin in Preventing Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in Gorakhpur, India: A Cohort Study.

Objective: To estimate effectiveness of presumptive doxycycline or azithromycin treatment in preventing progression of Acute Febrile Illness to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in Gorakhpur.

Study Design: Prospective cohort study.

Study Setting: Primary healthcare centers and Community healthcare centers of Gorakhpur district, Uttar Pradesh.

Exploration of population ecological factors related to the spatial heterogeneity of dengue fever cases diagnosed through a national network of laboratories in India, 2017.

Background & Objectives: Dengue virus (DENV) transmission is known to be influenced by the environmental conditions. During 2017, the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratories (VRDLs) tested 78,744 suspected dengue fever (DF) patients, of whom, 21,260 were laboratory confirmed. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the hypothesis that spatial heterogeneity existed for DF patients and to identify significant determinants of DENV transmission in various districts across the Indian States during 2017.

Epidemiology of chikungunya based on laboratory surveillance data-India, 2016-2018.

Background: We analysed the laboratory surveillance data generated by the network of virology laboratories from January 2016 to July 2018 to describe the epidemiology of chikungunya in India.

Methods: Suspected patients reporting to virology laboratories are investigated for the presence of immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies against chikungunya virus (CHIKV) as evidence of recent infection. We analysed the data to describe the distribution of seropositive individuals by time, place and demographic characteristics.

Epidemiology of dengue fever in India, based on laboratory surveillance data, 2014-2017.

Objectives: The Indian Council of Medical Research and the Department of Health Research have established a network of Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratories (VRDL) to strengthen laboratory capacity in India. We analyzed the data generated by the 52 VRDLs during 2014-2017 to describe the epidemiology of dengue fever (DF) in India.

Methods: As per the laboratory protocol, suspected DF patients reporting to various hospitals where VRDLs are located, or samples from suspected DF outbreaks are investigated for the presence of NS1 antigen or IgM antibodies against dengue.

Analysis of Aminoglycoside Modifying Enzyme Genes Responsible for High-Level Aminoglycoside Resistance among Enterococcal Isolates.

Enzymatic modification results in high-level resistance to aminoglycoside (HLAR), which eliminates the synergistic bactericidal effect of combined exposure to a cell wall-active agent and an aminoglycoside. So aim of the study was to determine prevalence of HLAR enterococcal isolate and to study distribution of aminoglycoside modifying enzyme genes in them. A total of 100 nonrepeat isolates of enterococci from various clinical samples were analyzed.

Burden of extensively drug-resistant and pandrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria at a tertiary-care centre.

The emergence of resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents in Gram-negative bacteria is a significant threat to public health, as it restricts the armamentarium of the clinician against these infections. The aim of this study was to determine the burden of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) and pandrug-resistant (PDR) Gram-negative bacteria at a tertiary-care centre. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of 1240 clinical isolates of Gram-negative bacteria obtained from various clinical samples during the study period was carried out by the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method.

Multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Background: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) due to a multi-drug resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter is one of the most dreadful complications, which occurs in the critical care setting.

Aims And Objectives: To find out the incidence of Acinetobacter infection in VAP cases, to determine various risk factors responsible for acquisition of Acinetobacter infection and to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Acinetobacter.

Materials And Methods: A total of 60 endotracheal aspirate specimens from intubated patients diagnosed clinically and microscopically as VAP were studied bacteriologically.

Acinetobacter septicemia in neonates admitted to intensive care units.

Background: Acinetobacter species are gaining importance as potential pathogens in neonatal septicemia because of their frequent isolation and multidrug resistance.

Aims And Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of Acinetobacter spp. as important pathogens in neonatal blood stream infection, to identify the associated risk factors, and to evaluate the drug sensitivity pattern.