ORIGINAL ARTICLE DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTIC OF HPV INFECTION IN WOMEN- A HOSPITAL BASED STUDY FROM

Background: Human papilloma virus is a dominant factor for cervical carcinogenesis. About 70 % of cervical cancer cases are related to infection with high risk (H-R) HPV types mostly HPV16 &HPV18. First coitus at a younger ( ≤ 15) age, high parity, and early age at marriage behave as major risk factors for HPV infection. Objective: On this background, the present study has been carried out to detect genital HPV infection in women between 15-65 years and its association with age factor, marriage and parity. Materials & methodology: The Nested PCR using primers for L1 consensus gene with My9/My11 & GP6+/GP5+ followed by multiplex PCR is carried out in cervical scrapping to detect HPV 16 & HPV18 by respective primers. The HPV positive cases were compared with their corresponding socio demographic data available in the proforma filled up during the sample collection. Result: The study showed significant association of HPV infection in women who had early marriage (p<0.01). Though age factor and parity status did not show significant association, they behave as an independent factor for HPV infection. Conclusion: on account of the central role of HPV infection in cervical carcinogenesis, any risk factor other than HPV like early marriage, high parity and age itself may play a role by either increasing the risk of acquisition or duration of the infection, or by increasing the risk of progression from HPV infection to cervical cancer

Clinical Characterization and Genomic Analysis of Samples from COVID-19 Breakthrough Infections during the Second Wave among the Various States of India

From March to June 2021, India experienced a deadly second wave of COVID-19, with an increased number of post-vaccination breakthrough infections reported across the country. To understand the possible reason for these breakthroughs, we collected 677 clinical samples (throat swab/nasal swabs) of individuals from 17 states/Union Territories of the country who had received two doses (n = 592) and one dose (n = 85) of vaccines and tested positive for COVID-19. These cases were telephonically interviewed and clinical data were analyzed. A total of 511 SARS-CoV-2 genomes were recovered with genome coverage of higher than 98% from both groups. Analysis of both groups determined that 86.69% (n = 443) of them belonged to the Delta variant, along with Alpha, Kappa, Delta AY.1, and Delta AY.2. The Delta variant clustered into four distinct sub-lineages. Sub-lineage I had mutations in ORF1ab A1306S, P2046L, P2287S, V2930L, T3255I, T3446A, G5063S, P5401L, and A6319V, and in N G215C; Sub-lineage II had mutations in ORF1ab P309L, A3209V, V3718A, G5063S, P5401L, and ORF7a L116F; Sub-lineage III had mutations in ORF1ab A3209V, V3718A, T3750I, G5063S, and P5401L and in spike A222V; Sub-lineage IV had mutations in ORF1ab P309L, D2980N, and F3138S and spike K77T. This study indicates that majority of the breakthrough COVID-19 clinical cases were infected with the Delta variant, and only 9.8% cases required hospitalization, while fatality was observed in only 0.4% cases. This clearly suggests that the vaccination does provide reduction in hospital admission and mortality