Clinical Spectrum of Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia in Children : A study of 74 cases

Objectives: The aim of the study was to explore the spectrum of hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) in children in Oman. Methods: This retrospective study was carried out between January 1994 and August 2011 on children with delayed development, gait disorders and motor handicaps, with signs of symmetrical pyramidal tract involvement. A detailed perinatal and family history, including the age of onset of symptoms, was recorded. The children were labelled as having either the pure or complicated form of HSP based on the established diagnostic criteria. In families with more than one affected child, parents and all other siblings were also examined. Results: Within the study, 74 children from 31 families were diagnosed with HSP. Parental consanguinity was seen in 91% of cases, with 44 children (59.4%) experiencing onset of the disease under one year of age. Complicated HSP was the most common type, seen in 81.1%. Speech involvement, mental retardation, and epilepsy were the most common associated abnormalities. Nonspecific white matter changes and corpus callosum abnormalities were noted in 24.3% of cases on magnetic resonance imaging. Conclusion: The study described clinical features of 74 children with HSP. Autosomal recessive complicated HSP was seen in 81.1% of cases.

Comparative effectiveness of solar disinfection using small-scale batch reactors with reflective, absorptive and transmissive rear surfaces

This study investigated the enhancement of solar disinfection using custom-made batch reactors with reflective (foil-backed) or absorptive (black-backed) rear surfaces, under a range of weather conditions in India. Plate counts of Escherichia coli ATCC11775 were made under aerobic conditions and under conditions where reactive oxygen species (ROS) were neutralised, i.e. in growth medium supplemented with 0.05% w/v sodium pyruvate plus incubation under anaerobic conditions. While the addition of either an absorptive or a reflective backing enhanced reactor performance under strong sunlight, the reflective reactor was the only system to show consistent enhancement under low sunlight, where the process was slowest. Counts performed under ROS-neutralised conditions were slightly higher than those in air, indicating that a fraction of the cells become sub-lethally injured during exposure to sunlight to the extent that they were unable to grow aerobically. However, the influence of this phenomenon on the dynamics of inactivation was relatively small

Solar disinfection of drinking water for households in rural India

Describes research on the use of sunlight to disinfect drinking water in rural India

Toxoplasma gondii bradyzoites and tachyzoites isolation from vitreous of atypical necrotizing retinitis

Abstract Background Detection of Toxoplasma gondii cysts in vitreous of immunocompetent patient with necrotizing retinitis is extremely rare. We herein report the isolation of Toxoplasma bradyzoites and tachyzoites from the vitreous of healthy person. Results A 19-year-old immunocompetent female presented with sudden loss of vision in left eye since 1 week. The BCVA was 6/6 and HM in right and left eye. The left eye finding was suggestive of diffuse necrotizing retinitis with retinal detachment. The IgM and IgG for TORCH infection were negative and HIV, HCV and HBsAg tests were also non reactive. The patient underwent diagnostic and therapeutic vitrectomy with silicon oil installation. The vitreous toxoplasma IgG titre was found to be significantly raised to 1:16. Bradyzoites of toxoplasma were identified in H&E staining and tachyzoites of Toxoplasma were identified in Giemsa staining of vitreous sample. She received oral clindamycin and oral corticosteroid but the vision could not be restored in left eye. Conclusion Hence, atypical toxoplasmosis with necrotizing retinitis is a fulminant condition with the diagnostic and therapeutic challenge

Impact of the 2017 ACC/AHA guidelines on the prevalence of hypertension among Indian adults: Results from a cross-sectional survey

© 2020 The Authors Background: The impact of the 2017 American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for diagnosis and management of hypertension on the prevalence of hypertension in India is unknown. Methods: We analyzed data from the Cardiac Prevent 2015 survey to estimate the change in the prevalence of hypertension. The JNC8 guidelines defined hypertension as a systolic blood pressure of ≥140 ​mmHg or diastolic blood pressure of ≥90 ​mmHg. The 2017 ACC/AHA guidelines define hypertension as a systolic blood pressure of ≥130 ​mmHg or diastolic blood pressure of ≥80 ​mmHg. We standardized the prevalence as per the 2011 census population of India. We also calculated the prevalence as per the World Health Organization (WHO) World Standard Population (2000–2025). Results: Among 180,335 participants (33.2% women), the mean age was 40.6 ​± ​14.9 years (41.1 ​± ​15.0 and 39.7 ​± ​14.7 years in men and women, respectively). Among them, 8,898 (4.9%), 99,791 (55.3%), 35,694 (11.9%), 23,084 (12.8%), 9,989 (5.5%) and 2,878 (1.6%) participants belonged to age group 18–19, 20–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65–74 and ​≥ ​75 years respectively. The prevalence of hypertension according to the JNC8 and 2017 ACC/AHA guidelines was 29.7% and 63.8%, respectively- an increase of 115%. With the 2011 census population of India, this suggests that currently, 486 million Indian adults have hypertension according to the 2017 ACC/AHA guidelines, an addition of 260 million as compared to the JNC8 guidelines. Conclusion: According to the 2017 ACC/AHA guidelines, 3 in every 5 Indian adults have hypertension

Implementing an intensive care registry in India: preliminary results of the case-mix program and an opportunity for quality improvement and research

Background: The epidemiology of critical illness in India is distinct from high-income countries. However, limited data exist on resource availability, staffing patterns, case-mix and outcomes from critical illness. Critical care registries, by enabling a continual evaluation of service provision, epidemiology, resource availability and quality, can bridge these gaps in information. In January 2019, we established the Indian Registry of IntenSive care to map capacity and describe case-mix and outcomes. In this report, we describe the implementation process, preliminary results, opportunities for improvement, challenges and future directions. Methods: All adult and paediatric ICUs in India were eligible to join if they committed to entering data for ICU admissions. Data are collected by a designated representative through the electronic data collection platform of the registry. IRIS hosts data on a secure cloud-based server and access to the data is restricted to designated personnel and is protected with standard firewall and a valid secure socket layer (SSL) certificate. Each participating ICU owns and has access to its own data. All participating units have access to de-identified network-wide aggregate data which enables benchmarking and comparison. Results: The registry currently includes 14 adult and 1 paediatric ICU in the network (232 adult ICU beds and 9 paediatric ICU beds). There have been 8721 patient encounters with a mean age of 56.9 (SD 18.9); 61.4% of patients were male and admissions to participating ICUs were predominantly unplanned (87.5%). At admission, most patients (61.5%) received antibiotics, 17.3% needed vasopressors, and 23.7% were mechanically ventilated. Mortality for the entire cohort was 9%. Data availability for demographics, clinical parameters, and indicators of admission severity was greater than 95%. Conclusions: IRIS represents a successful model for the continual evaluation of critical illness epidemiology in India and provides a framework for the deployment of multi-centre quality improvement and context-relevant clinical research