Cognitive Assessment in Asymptomatic COVID-19 Subjects

Background Neurological features of COVID-19 have been reported in addition to the respiratory manifestations, but cognitive dysfunction has been scarcely described. And cognitive assessment has not been studied in asymptomatic subjects. Method We compared the cognitive assessment scores between asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected subjects with that of controls to detect mild cognitive impairment by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test. Result Asymptomatic COVID-19 subjects secured lower scores in certain domains of the MoCA in comparison with the controls. The domains were visuoperception (2.4±0.7 vs2.8±0.7, p=0.032), naming (3.6±0.5 vs3.9±0.2, p=0.016) and fluency (0.9±0.6 vs1.6±0.7, p=<0.001). Also, older aged COVID-19 positive subjects scored lower in the MoCA when compared to the younger people. Conclusion Our study shows that even otherwise asymptomatic COVID-19 subjects have cognitive deficits in certain subdomains and suggests the need for a detailed psychometric assessment especially in the elderly population

Perception towards newborn screening

Background: Newborn screening (NBS) to identify various disorders has been running successfully across the world. But the public in many developing countries do not have access to this program. Aims: To assess the awareness of NBS in patients and clinicians. Patients and Methods: We assessed the awareness of NBS by oral questionnaire. Results: We found that, in the community the awareness regarding NBS was low [47.2%] and the knowledge of the availability of the test was less both in the community [65%] and amongst clinicians [11/28]. But all the subjects opined that the tests will have a high rate of acceptance if they are offered free of cost. Conclusions: The awareness regarding NBS is low but has potential for acceptance

Antiviral therapy for herpes simplex virus encephalitis: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials

Background: Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection of the brain is treated with antiviral drugs such as acyclovir. A summary of randomized control trials (RCTs) of antiviral drugs against HSV encephalitis has not been put forward yet. We aimed to determine the effect of antiviral agents in treating HSV encephalitis on mortality and neurological sequelae at approximately 2 years. The secondary objective was to assess the adverse effect of antiviral agents on the patients. Materials and Methods: RCTs were identified by searching PUBMED, European Medicines Agency ( EMA ), USFDA, US Clinical trials, Elsevier database, and Cochrane website and the reference lists of published trials. Randomized controlled trials of antiviral therapy in biologically proven HSV infection were included in the study. Results: A total of 5 studies met the criteria. The first study was published in 1980 and the latest was in 2015. All the studies used acyclovir/valacyclovir or vidarabine. Three studies compared acyclovir and vidarabine, one study was placebo-controlled vidarabine trial and another one was a placebo-controlled trial of long-term valacyclovir therapy. Acyclovir improved mortality and lowered the incidence of neurological sequelae. There was no significant reduction in the risk of mortality with vidarabine therapy. Conclusion: Trial evidence suggests that acyclovir decreases mortality and morbidity in acute HSV encephalitis