Diurnally subperiodic filariasis in India-prospects of elimination: precept to action?

The elimination of lymphatic filariasis in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands provides unique opportunities and challenges at the same time. Since these islands are remote, are sparsely populated, and have poor transport networks, mass drug administration programs are likely to be difficult to implement. Diurnally subperiodic Wuchereria bancrofti vectored by Downsiomyia nivea was considered for the scope of vector control options.

Outbreak of chikungunya fever, Dakshina Kannada District, South India, 2008.

The outbreak of chikungunya fever that surfaced in India during late 2005 has affected more than 1.56 million people, spread to more than 17 states/union territories, and is still ongoing. Many of these areas are dengue- and leptospirosis-endemic settings.

Emergence of chikungunya virus infection in Orissa, India.

From September through October 2006, an unknown disease characterized by acute onset of fever, joint pain with or without swelling, and maculopapular rash along with fatigue was reported from three villages of Cuttack and one village of Kendrapara district of Orissa, India, by the State Health Department. Upon learning this, a team from Regional Medical Research Centre (Indian Council of Medical Research), Bhubaneswar, Orissa, conducted an epidemiological investigation in the area. Household survey was carried out and clinical examination of the symptomatic individuals (n = 1289: Kendrapara, 752; Cuttack, 537) undertaken.

Transplacental transfer of filarial antigens from Wuchereria bancrofti-infected mothers to their offspring.

Objective: Maternal infection has been considered to be a risk factor for filarial infection in offspring. In order to examine the influence of maternal infection in neonates, we have determined the prevalence of circulating filarial antigen (CFA) and anti-filarial antibodies in 119 maternal and corresponding cord blood samples collected from an area endemic for bancroftian filariasis.

Method: Prevalence of antigenaemia was detected using Og4C3 circulating filarial antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Vectorial role of Anopheles subpictus Grassi and Anopheles culicifacies Giles in Angul District, Orissa, India.

Malaria transmission by Anopheles subpictus Grassi, 1899 and Anopheles culicifacies Giles, 1901 was studied from March 2004 to February 2007 in Angul District, Orissa, India, which is highly endemic for malaria. Adult mosquitoes were collected from human dwellings using sucking tubes and a mechanical aspirator. After identification, some An.

Protective efficacy of a filarial surface antigen in experimental filariasis.

A water-insoluble, detergent-soluble, surface-associated glycoprotein, designated as Dssd1, was found to induce microfilaria clearance in Mastomys coucha implanted with Setaria digitata. Intraperitoneal implantation of adult female worms of S. digitata in M.

Leptospirosis in the Andaman Islands, India.

Leptospirosis is an emerging zoonosis. In the Andaman Islands during the early twentieth century, it occurred in the penal settlements of the British India Administration, mostly as Weil's disease, an acute febrile illness with hepato-renal complications. It was caused by leptospires belonging to groups Akiamy A and Andamans A.

Infant mortality and reproductive wastage associated with different genotypes of haemoglobinopathies in Orissa, India.

Background: Haemoglobinopathies, including sickle-cell disease and thalassaemia syndrome, are a group of blood diseases mostly confined to tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The spectrum of haemoglobin variants is a group of commonly encountered genetic conditions, with an average frequency of 19.32% in Orissa, varying from region to region and from community to community depending upon the type of mating practices.

Distribution of Shigella enterotoxin genes and secreted autotransporter toxin gene among diverse species and serotypes of shigella isolated from Andaman Islands, India.

We studied the prevalence and distribution of the newly described genes for Shigella enterotoxins (ShET1 and ShET2, encoded by set and sen genes) and secreted auto-transporter toxin (encoded by sat gene) in clinical isolates from the Andaman Islands, India. A total of 153 Shigella isolates obtained from hospitalized patients during 1994-2004 were analysed. These isolates included all the four species of Shigella (S.

Human bancroftian filariasis: immunological markers of morbidity and infection.

Induction of host cytokines plays a critical role in infection as well as disease in human filariasis. Measurements of such molecules in plasma could be used as windows of markers both for understanding the pathogenesis of the disease and for identifying markers of morbidity. Eight inflammatory and non-inflammatory host molecules in circulation were quantified in 207 subjects in filariasis endemic area of Orissa, India.

Malnutrition and high childhood mortality among the Onge tribe of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Objectives: A study was conducted among the Onge tribe of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with the objectives of identifying demographic factors responsible for the decline in their population and assessing their nutritional status, which is an important determinant of child survival.

Study Design And Subjects: The study included estimation of indices of fertility and child mortality, and assessment of nutritional status. All individuals of the Onge community settled on Little Andaman Island were included.

Seroprevalence of leptospirosis among high-risk population of Andaman Islands, India.

Leptospirosis is a severe spirochetal zoonosis in the world. It is considered an occupational disease of persons engaged in agriculture, sewage works, forestry, and animal slaughtering. A study was conducted with an objective of assessing the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among the high-risk groups of Andaman Islands.

The spectrum of haemoglobin variants in two scheduled tribes of Sundargarh district in north-western Orissa, India.

Background: Tribal communities in India constitute a major part of the population and are vulnerable to many erythrocytic hereditary and haematological disorders such as haemoglobinopathies. Genetic studies so far undertaken on tribal groups are scanty, patchy and incomplete. No field-based systematic studies of hereditary haemolytic disorders in Orissa are available.

A clone of Leptospira interrogans sensu stricto is the major cause of leptospirosis in the archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India.

Aims: Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India has a century long history of human leptospirosis. Several isolates have been recovered over the years from different locations. The present study was undertaken to understand the clonal relationship between all these pathogenic leptospires recovered from these islands.

A cholera epidemic among the Nicobarese tribe of Nancowry, Andaman, and Nicobar, India.

Cholera has not been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India. In October 2002, an outbreak of diarrhea occurred among the Nicobarese tribe of the Nancowry group of islands. The outbreak affected 16 of the 45 inhabited villages of three islands with an attack rate of 12.

Leptospirosis among schoolchildren of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India: low levels of morbidity and mortality among pre-exposed children during an epidemic.

Leptospirosis is an important public health problem in the Andaman Islands. The disease is being increasingly reported among children and adolescents in recent times. An attempt was made to find out the level of exposure to leptospires, to estimate the incidence of infection and to identity the risk factors for acquiring infection among children.

The PfCRT (K76T) point mutation favours clone multiplicity and disease severity in Plasmodium falciparum infection.

In Orissa, a malaria-hyperendemic area of India, we assessed the relationship between the PfCRT (K76T) point mutation of Plasmodium falciparum and the clinical severity of malaria. Forty uncomplicated and 36 severe malaria cases were selected, and parasite species, density and schizontaemia determined by examination of Giemsa-stained thick or thin blood films. The PfCRT point mutation was analysed by PCR-RFLP and genotypes of the parasite isolates investigated by nested PCR using the polymorphic region of the merozoite surface protein-2.

Age-dependent prevalence of asymptomatic amicrofilaraemic individuals in a Wuchereria bancrofti-endemic region of India.

The age-related prevalence of asymptomatic amicrofilaraemics, apparently uninfected individuals, was determined in a Wuchereria bancrofti-endemic region of Orissa, India during 2001. The prevalence of these uninfected individuals was highest in the younger age groups (aged < or = 15 years), decreased rapidly in those aged > 15 to 40 years, and then stabilized in those aged > 40 years.

Leptospiral carrier state and seroprevalence among animal population--a cross-sectional sample survey in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

A study was conducted with the objective of assessing the leptospiral carrier state and seroprevalence among animal population of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A total of 494 sera samples from different domestic animals and 85 samples from rats (Rattus rattus) were tested by microscopic agglutination test using nine serogroups prevalent in these islands. Antibodies to leptospires were detected in 164 samples giving an overall seroprevalence of (33.

Leptospira interrogans serovar Valbuzzi: a cause of severe pulmonary haemorrhages in the Andaman Islands.

Outbreaks of leptospirosis that present with predominant pulmonary signs and symptoms have been occurring in the Andaman Islands since the late 1980s. Before this, pulmonary haemorrhage had not been observed as a common complication of leptospirosis in India. During an outbreak on North Andaman in 1997, four leptospire isolates were obtained from blood of a fatal case and three other patients who recovered.

Antigenic and genetic relatedness of Leptospira strains isolated from the Andaman Islands in 1929 and 2001.

Leptospirosis is a major public health problem in Andaman Islands. Several strains of Leptospira have been isolated from the Andamans over the years. Leptospires isolated recently from human cases were compared with one of the earliest available isolates from these islands, dating back to 1929, to study their serological and genetic relatedness.

Field application of Lepto lateral flow for rapid diagnosis of leptospirosis.

The Lepto lateral flow assay for leptospirosis was evaluated at a primary health centre in the Andaman Islands, where leptospirosis is endemic. One hundred and seventeen suspected patients were included in the study; acute serum samples were collected from all of them and convalescent samples from 104. The standard criteria for diagnosis of leptospirosis were: (i) isolation of leptospires from blood, (ii) seroconversion in microscopic agglutination test (MAT) with a minimum titre of 100, (iii) a fourfold rise in titre in MAT or (iv) a MAT titre of 400 or more if only a single sample was available.