HIV and Malnutrition: Effects on Immune System

HIV or human immunodeficiency virus infection has assumed worldwide proportions and importance in just a span of 25 years. Continuous research is being done in many parts of the world regarding its treatment and vaccine development, and a lot of money has flown into this. However, fully understanding the mechanisms of immune depletion has still not been possible. The focus has also been on improving the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS through education, counselling, and nutritional support. Malnutrition further reduces the capacity of the body to fight this infection by compromising various immune parameters. Knowledge of essential components of nutrition and incorporating them in the management goes a long way in improving quality of life and better survival in HIV-infected patients

Immune Dysfunction during Enteric Protozoal Infection: The Current Trends

Enteric protozoa usually cause severe morbidity and mortality in humans. Protozoal infections contribute to the high burden of infectious diseases. Despite recent advances in the epidemiology, diagnostic tool, molecular biology, and treatment of protozoan illnesses, gaps in knowledge still exist; hence, protozoal infections require further research. We are describing here some important enteric protozoal infections along with the immune dysfunction produced by them. Genus- 1. Entamoeba; 2. Giardia; 3. Cryptosporidium; 4. Cyclospora; 5. Cystoisospora; 6. Dientamoeba; 7. Blastocystis; 8. Balantidium

Morbidity, its Patterns and Associated Factors among School Children Residing in a North Indian City

INTRODUCTION: Children are the pillars of the future of a country shall rest, are no less than a treasure and need to be as healthy as possible. AIM: To assess the health status of school children in various areas of Una city, Himachal Pradesh, India. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The present study was conducted among school children aged 7-18 present on the day of the study. Data collected was cross-sectionally using a pre-validated and pre-tested questionnaire duly standardized prior to commencement of the study. The first section of the questionnaire contained details about the demographic profile, and in the second, the examiners recorded the presence or absence of common childhood diseases, namely pallor, lymphadenopathy (L.N.), Bitot spots, Worm infections, Scabies, Ear discharge, Dental caries and Fluorosis.  Statistical analysis included the Shapiro-wilk test to check for data normalcy, followed by descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation. Significance value (p) was kept significant at ≤0.5. RESULTS: Most children belonged to the age group of 12-15 years (42.8%), followed by 7-11 years(34.3%) and 16-18 years(22.9%). Majority of the students were girls (61.5%) and most them belonged to the age group of 12-15 years(41.0%). Disease in any from was observed in 813 (76.2%)  of the children, with the most prevalent disease observed being dental caries (32.3%), followed by fluorosis (20.5%) and pallor (14.3%). Pearson’s correlation revealed a strong, positive association between the disease status and age (0.7) and gender (0.8). CONCLUSION: The results of the present study indicate the need to have various specific programmes to reduce the burden of various diseases, namely dental caries and pallor among school children through efforts of various programmes

ANTIFUNGAL SUSCEPTIBILITY OF CRYPTOCOCCUS NEOFORMANS ISOLATES FROM FUNGAL MENINGITIS IN AIDS PATIENTS IN INDIA

Objectives: This study was undertaken to determine the antifungal susceptibility of fifteen cryptococcal isolates from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of HIV seropositive patients with cryptococcal meningitis. Methods: Antifungal susceptibility testing of the isolates was done by CLSI M27 A-3 methodology for amphotericin B, fluconazole, voriconazole, itraconazole and 5-flucytosine. Results: Our study demonstrates no evidence of resistance among clinical isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans for any of the above mentioned antifungal drugs. Only two isolates showed slightly higher minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) to 5-flucytosine (8 µg/ml). Conclusion: Routine In vitro antifungal susceptibility for cryptococcal isolates is important, in order to obtain a baseline data and to predict any shift in the susceptibility patterns in the Indian population

Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis: first reported case from Rohtak, North India

A fatal case of primary amoebic encephalitis (PAM) in a 20 year old boy, a proven case of acute leukemic leukemia (ALL) type L2, in remission is described. No history of swimming could be elicited. The clinical presentation, the isolation of the amoeba from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the poor response to amphotericin B, and the ultimately fatal outcome are all consistent with the diagnosis of PAM. On the basis of its ability to grow at temperature 42ºC and 45ºC, morphology of trophozoite, and the presence of flagellate forms in CSF, the amoeba was identified as Naegleria fowleri. Other drugs used in combination with amphotericin B are tetracycline, rifampicin, and miconazole. A possibility of PAM should always be considered in all cases of acute purulent meningoencephalitis in which no bacteria or fungus are found

Predictive Role of Proteinuria in Urinary Tract Infection

Introduction: Urine culture is considered as holy grail in diagnosis of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). However, the significance of preliminary urinalysis cannot be neglected. Aim: To evaluate proteinuria as a predictor of UTI. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted at the Department of Microbiology, Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, New Delhi, India, over a period of three months (April 2015 to June 2015). Urine specimens from clinically suspected cases of UTI were analysed microscopically for pyuria and by reagent strip test for albuminuria. The results were correlated with urine culture findings. Antimicrobial resistance for various antimicrobials was compared among proteinuria positive and negative cases. Statistical analysis was done by Fisherfs-exact test and p-value was calculated. A p-value .0.05 was considered significant. Results: A total of 369 urine samples received for both routine microscopy and culture, out of which 73 were proteinuria positive. Out of these 73 samples, 32 were culture positive while 41 were culture negative. Among culture positive, 62.5% patients were symptomatic (20/32) while 37.5% were asymptomatic (12/32). Their age ranged from five months to 83 years. Male to female ratio was 1:1.5. Association between culture positivity and proteinuria was statistically significant (p<0.001) with 43.8% positive predictive value. Pyuria was observed in 42.5% cases. Out of 296 proteinuria negative samples, 36 were culture positive. ƒÀ-lactam antibiotic resistance among proteinuria positive cases and chloramphenicol resistance among proteinuria negative cases was significantly high. Conclusion: Proteinuria as a urinalysis parameter may have good predictive power combined with the clinical presentation to diagnose UTI

HLA class II allele genetic propensity in Oral submucous fibrosis

Aim or Purpose: Oral Sub-Mucous Fibrosis (OSMF) is a premalignant condition that alters fibro elasticity of oral submucosa and predominantly confined to Southeast Asian region. Variability in clinical course is intriguing, a fraction of betel nut users develops OSMF (0.1-11%), while a majority show no signs and symptoms despite prolonged use; severe forms are associated with very short history of tobacco use. This inconsistency in disease association is indicative of genetic association, but specific role of genes in its susceptibility remains largely unidentified. The objective was to assess and compare HLA-DRB1, -DQB1, -DPB1 allele phenotype frequencies in OSMF patients and healthy controls. Materials and Methods: Patients aged 18-55 years were recruited and tobacco history was recorded followed by collection of blood sample for DNA extraction and quality check. HLA class II genotyping was performed using Next Generation Sequencing protocol for 154 samples with 119 OSMF patients and 35 controls. Data was analysed using sequencing software. Study was approved by Institute Ethics committee of AIIMS New Delhi and study duration was 18 months. Results: Mean age of patients was 42.23±11.98 years with mild (36.7%), moderate (36.7%) and severe (26.7%) OSMF patients. -DPB1*04 was observed as the most frequent allele (71.43%) followed by HLA-DQB1 *03 allele in 46.5% of the samples. HLA-DQB1 *04 was the least frequent allele present in 1.73% of the samples. Conclusions: Insights into potential predisposing or protective HLA allele help better characterize inter individual variations in immune responses in severity and progression of OSMF and develop potential genetic biomarker for screening and prognosis &amp; reduce malignant transformation rate in OSMF

New clonal strain of Candida auris, Delhi, India.

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