Seroprevalence and risk factors of hepatitis B and C infections among pregnant women

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are serious public health problem affecting billions of people globally with maternal-fetaltransmission on the rise. This study sought to determine the prevalence and factors associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among pregnant women attending integral institute of medical sciences and research hospital, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.Methods: In this cross-sectional study 345 pregnant women were recruited from the integral institute of medical sciences and research hospital, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Blood samples were collected for the detection of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg) and anti-HCV antibodies. A pretested questionnaire was used to obtain demographic data and identify the risk factors associated with the two infections. Ethical clearances were taken from the institution. Data tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis.Results: Out of total 345 samples of pregnant females examined during the study. In which, 20(5.8%) were seropositive for hepatitis B and 6(1.7%) positive for hepatitis C among pregnant women.8.8% positive for hepatitis B among pregnant females in their age group 15-25. Maximum non-reactive patients of hepatitis C (99.9%) belongs to age group (15-25). 33.3% hepatitis B positive out of total blood transfusion cases. Patients having previous history surgery, in which 24.2% positive with hepatitis B. Hepatitis B and C positive patients having abdominal pain were 9.3% and 3.1% respectively. Patients were having history of jaundice, in which 55.6% and 33.3% suffering with hepatitis B and C.Conclusions: The need to institute public health measures to reduce disease burden and transmission, including routine screening of all pregnant mothers for HBV and HCV infections Factors associated with higher rate of HBV and HCV infections include advancing age, low level of education, tattooing, blood transfusion, and history of jaundice

Seroreactivity of HIV among patients attending a tertiary care hospital in North India: a retrospective analysis

Background: HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is the causative agent of AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). It belongs to the lentivirus subgroup of the family Retroviridae. The HIV/AIDS is spreading worldwide at an alarming rate. India has the third largest number of estimated people living with HIV/AIDS. Most common mode of HIV transmission is through heterosexual contact, blood transfusion, percutaneous, mucosal and perinatal mode. The present study was done to evaluate the seroreactivity of HIV among patients attending Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) of our Tertiary care hospital.  Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on data of patients who had attended ICTC and undergone HIV testing from January 2017 to January 2019. A total of 4519 patients were included in the study who gave their consent followed by pre-test and post-test counseling and were screened for HIV antibody by using rapid kit Comb-Aids.Results: Out of 4519 samples tested, 23 were reactive to HIV screening test, hence sero-reactivity of HIV was found to be 0.50%. Higher seroreactivity was seen among males (56.5%, 13/23), and patients aged 31-40 years (39.1%, 9/23). Maximum seroreactivity was found among patients of rural areas (73.9%, 17/23), indoor patients (91.3%, 21/23) and married patients (73.9%, 17/23).Conclusions: In this study the seroreactivity of HIV was found to be low among patients attending ICTC but still HIV continues to be a major contributor to the global burden of disease. ICTC data can be used as an important tool for planning and improving the national HIV/AIDS intervention strategy

Antibiotic resistance pattern among aerobic bacterial isolates from osteomyelitis cases attending a Tertiary care hospital of North India with special reference to ESBL, AmpC, MBL and MRSA production

Background: Osteomyelitis is a common cause of morbidity in developing countries. Its treatment comprises of surgical debridement of all necrotic bone and soft tissue along with use of appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Treatment is becoming increasingly troublesome due to rise in drug resistant isolates in osteomyelitis cases. The present study was done to determine the antibiotic resistance pattern among aerobic bacterial isolates from osteomyelitis cases.Methods: 125 samples from osteomyelitis cases were aerobically cultured and isolates from culture positives were identified by standard procedures. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done by Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method. Staphylococcal isolates were screened for methicillin resistance and Gram negative bacilli were screened and confirmed for ESBL, AmpC and MBL production.Results: Out of 125 samples cultured, 20 were culture negative and 105 were culture positive giving rise to 120 isolates (58 Gram positive and 62 Gram negative organisms). The prevalence of methicillin resistant staphylococcal (MRS) isolates, ESBL, AmpC and MBL producers was found to be 43.1%, 51.6%, 24.2% and 14.5% respectively. All the resistant isolates were multidrug resistant, with MRS being 100% sensitive only to vancomycin, linezolid and teicoplanin, ESBL and AmpC producers being 100% sensitive only to imipenem and colistin, and MBL producers being 100% sensitive only to colistin.Conclusions: Antibiotic therapy on the basis of antibiotic susceptibility pattern helps the clinician to choose appropriate drugs leading to successful treatment and prevention of emergence and dissemination of drug resistant isolates

Comparison of antibacterial activity of parent plant of Tylophora indica Merr. with its in vitro raised plant and leaf callus

The antibacterial potential of an endangered medicinal plant Tylophora indica was analyzed by agar well diffusion method and its activity was compared with that of its in vitro raised plant and callus. The extracts of parent plant of T. indica showed good antibacterial activity against gram negative bacteria only; whereas, the extracts from in vitro raised plant and leaf callus showed good activity against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of the alcoholic leaf extract of in vitro raised plant was determined by broth microdilution method. MIC against gram positive bacteria ranged from 3.05 to 12.0 μg/ml and MIC against gram negative bacteria ranged from 1.53 to 24.0 μg/ml. The present study leads to conclusion that extracts of T. indica contains good antibacterial activity which can be used in the treatment of various infections showing resistance to treatment by currently used antimicrobial agents. As the in vitro raised plant and callus gave better results as compared to parent plant, in vitro cultivation of explants may be used to obtain novel antibacterial compounds. This is the first report on antibacterial activity of T. indica through in vitro raised plant and its callus.Keywords: Tylophora indica, in vitro raised plant and callus, antibacterial activityAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(31), pp. 4891-489

Prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus antibodies among indoor patients and blood donors attending a tertiary care hospital in North India

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes acute as well as chronic hepatitis such as cirrhosis of liver and hepatocellular carcinoma. The virus is mainly transmitted through blood and blood products. Hence, in order to provide safe blood supply testing of each blood unit for markers of HCV has been made mandatory. The infection is detected by the presence of anti-HCV antibody in the patient’s serum. The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies among indoor patients and blood donors.Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional study was done from January to June 2016. A total of 1991 subjects comprising of 1649 indoor patients and 342 blood donors were included in the study whose blood samples were screened for presence of anti-Hepatitis C antibody using rapid HCV TRI-DOT and HCV Microlisa.Results: Out of 1649 indoor patients tested, 39 were found to be reactive, and out of 342 blood donors tested, 4 were found to be reactive, hence, the prevalence of anti-HCV antibody was found to be 2.4% among indoor patients and 1.2% among blood donors. The seroprevalence of anti-HCV antibody was found to be more among replacement donors (1.2%) as compared to voluntary donors (1.1%).Conclusions: As blood transfusion is an important mode of transmission of HCV, hence, prevention in the form of proper screening of every unit of blood prior to transfusion is mandatory. As voluntary donors are relatively safe, this should be encouraged by organizing frequent blood donation camps.

Nanohybrid and microfilled composite resin in Class II restoration of permanent molar teeth

The aim of this study was to compare the clinical performance of nanohybrid composite resin in Class II restorations placed with a one-step self-etch adhesive with that of microfilled composite resin of permanent posterior molar teeth. A total of 100 participants who received Class II restorations either with nanohybrid composite resin bonded with a single step self-etch adhesive or conventional microfilled composite bonded with a single step self-etch adhesive. All restorations were evaluated by using slightly modified USPHS criteria at baseline and after 3, 6 and 12 months. The results revealed that nanohybrid composite resin showed better clinical outcome than that of the conventional microfilled composite resin restorations in respect to retention and marginal adaptation at 12 months observation period. It can be concluded that nanohybrid is superior to conventional microfilled composite resin in respect to retention, and marginal adaptation of Class II restorations of permanent molar teeth

Comparative evaluation of slide agglutination and Widal tube agglutination test in detecting enteric fever among patients attending a tertiary care hospital in North India

Background: Enteric fever is a major public health problem with significant morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Although, isolation of causative organism from blood is the standard laboratory method, but due to frequent use of self-medication by patients, and its long turnaround time, it is seldom used, and enteric fever is usually diagnosed by using serological methods. Widal tube agglutination test is the standard serological test used, which is now a days replaced by slide agglutination test due to its convenience and rapidity. The present study was done to comparatively evaluate the slide agglutination and Widal tube agglutination test in detecting enteric fever.Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional study was done from January to June 2016. A total of 117 patients with clinical presentation suggestive of enteric fever were included in the study whose venous blood was collected and serum was tested by both slide agglutination and Widal tube agglutination test.Results: Out of 117 patients, slide agglutination test showed positive results in 39 (33.3%) samples, whereas, Widal tube agglutination test showed positive results in 23 (19.7%) samples only. The slide test had a sensitivity of 91.3%, specificity of 80.9%, positive predictive value of 53.8% and negative predictive value of 97.4% as compared to Widal tube agglutination test.Conclusions: Due to high false positivity shown by slide test, it is suggested that serological diagnosis should not be made solely on the basis of slide test rather its results should be confirmed by using Widal tube agglutination test

Nanohybrid and microfilled composite resin in Class II restoration of permanent molar teeth

The aim of this study was to compare the clinical performance of nanohybrid composite resin in Class II restorations placed with a one-step self-etch adhesive with that of microfilled composite resin of permanent posterior molar teeth. A total of 100 participants who received Class II restorations either with nanohybrid composite resin bonded with a single step self-etch adhesive or conventional microfilled composite bonded with a single step self-etch adhesive. All restorations were evaluated by using slightly modified USPHS criteria at baseline and after 3, 6 and 12 months. The results revealed that nanohybrid composite resin showed better clinical outcome than that of the conventional microfilled composite resin restorations in respect to retention and marginal adaptation at 12 months observation period. It can be concluded that nanohybrid is superior to conventional microfilled composite resin in respect to retention, and marginal adaptation of Class II restorations of permanent molar teeth

Using hidden Markov model to monitor possible loan defaults in banks

Purpose: Banking business faces a major challenge with defaults. This may not be practical, as there is no control over the borrower’s financial situation or their intents to repay. However, if the banks get to know the possible defaults ahead of some actionable time frame, with a certain degree of accuracy in such prediction, Banks may apply any a possible risk mitigation strategy to remediate possible defaults. Willingness to repay the debt and the capability to repay the debt are two primary reasons for the loan default. The subject of this paper is to closely monitor the Facebook activities and check if we can predict if the borrower may become a defaulter any soon, by applying the sentiment analysis on Facebook data and use Hidden Markov model to compute the probabilities of the possible default. Approach/Methodology/Design: The loan dataset was used for the borrower details and the Facebook data for all those borrowers were gathered. The data from Facebook posts, likes and shares on a borrower were subjected to sentiment analysis, considering income-related information of spend related information on neutral. Hidden Markov model was applied to the polarized data based on the sequence of the sentiment analysis. Findings: Hidden Markov Model gives the transition probability of state, default or regular, for the observed polarized sentiments from Facebook data for borrowers. Practical Implications: This mechanism can be integrated into the bank's credit risk management system and could help predict the possibility of a borrower becoming a defaulter. This is very much useful where the tenure of the loan is longer. This research paper fills the gap of active monitoring of the credit risk for long term loans, where the financial status of the borrower could change but the lender doesn’t get to know until the borrower stops the repayment.peer-reviewe

Seroprevalence of syphilis among pregnant females attending antenatal clinic at a tertiary care hospital in North India

Background: Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by bacteria named Treponema palladium, subsp. pallidum. Nearly 1.36 million pregnant women are known to be affected by syphilis in the developing countries. When left untreated syphilis during pregnancy can result in adverse fetal outcomes such as spontaneous abortion and stillbirth. Objective of the study was to evaluate the seroprevalence of syphilis among pregnant females attending Antenatal Clinic (ANC).Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional study was done over a period of six months from January to June 2019. A total of 132 pregnant females were included in the study who attended Antenatal Clinic for routine checkup whose blood samples were sent to Microbiology Laboratory for screening for syphilis by Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) test.Results: Out of 132 samples of pregnant females screened for syphilis, none of the sample was found reactive for syphilis by RPR test. Maximum patients (57.6%) belonged to age group 20-25 years followed by (27.3%) of 26-30 years. 30.3% patients belonged to urban areas and 69.7% patients belonged to rural areas. Majority of patients (80.3%) belonged to first trimester, followed by (18.9%) patients to second trimester and (0.8%) patients to third trimester. 78.8% patients were from lower socio-economic class followed by 12.9% patients from middle class and 8.3% patients from upper class.Conclusions: Although zero percent syphilis prevalence was observed in this study, it is recommended that free screening for syphilis should be offered to all pregnant females visiting Antenatal Clinic