A descriptive study of cranio-cerebral injuries admitted in tertiary care center of coastal Andhra Pradesh

Introduction: Demographic and clinical profile of traumatic brain injury (TBI) of a particular place is very crucial for strengthening the guidelines. The details of same are scant from a tertiary institute, Nellore district. The present study aims to explore the demographic, injury and clinical aspects of cerebro-cranial injury patients from an institute setup. Methods: The study consists of two years retrospective data and one year prospective data. The study was approved by institute ethical committee. The patient data was entered on pre designed proforma that includes the desired variables. The data analysis was done using StatsDirect software. Both prospective and retrospective data was merged for analysis. Percentages for categorical data and mean values for continuous data were calculated. Results: There were total of 336 patients. Patients in age group of 21 to 50 years constituted 67% and males were four times higher than females. Nearly one fourth of patients were influenced by alcohol. Three fourth of accidents were due to road traffic accidents (RTAs) followed by falls (17%) and assault (6%). About one tenth of patients were pedestrians. One fourth of patients had associated injuries other than head and brain. On CT findings majority of patients had cerebral contusion (46%) followed by skull fracture (40%), SDH (28%) and EDH (23%). Twenty two patients died in the study period. Conclusion: Knowledge of injury and its later consequences to public is very important. Strict rules to consider safety precautions and compulsory family insurances should be encouraged. Rules to prevent paediatric drive

Second round statewide sentinel-based population survey for estimation of the burden of active infection and anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in the general population of Karnataka, India, during January-February 2021

Objective Demonstrate the feasibility of using the existing sentinel surveillance infrastructure to conduct the second round of the serial cross-sectional sentinel-based population survey. Assess active infection, seroprevalence, and their evolution in the general population across Karnataka. Identify local variations for locally appropriate actions. Additionally, assess the clinical sensitivity of the testing kit used on account of variability of antibody levels in the population. Methods The cross-sectional study of 41,228 participants across 290 healthcare facilities in all 30 districts of Karnataka was done among three groups of participants (low, moderate, and high-risk). The geographical spread was sufficient to capture local variations. Consenting participants were subjected to real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing, and antibody (IgG) testing. Clinical sensitivity was assessed by conducting a longitudinal study among participants identified as COVID-19 positive in the first survey round. Results Overall weighted adjusted seroprevalence of IgG was 15.6% (95% CI: 14.9–16.3), crude IgG prevalence was 15.0% and crude active infection was 0.5%. Statewide infection fatality rate (IFR) was estimated as 0.11%, and COVID-19 burden estimated between 26.1 to 37.7% (at 90% confidence). Further, Cases-to-infections ratio (CIR) varied 3-35 across units and IFR varied 0.04–0.50% across units. Clinical sensitivity of the IgG ELISA test kit was estimated as ≥38.9%. Conclusion We demonstrated the feasibility and simplicity of sentinel-based population survey in measuring variations in subnational and local data, useful for locally appropriate actions in different locations. The sentinel-based population survey thus helped identify districts that needed better testing, reporting, and clinical management. The state was far from attaining natural immunity during the survey and hence must step up vaccination coverage and enforce public health measures to prevent the spread of COVD-19.The Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) of the Indian Institute of Public Health - Bengaluru campus reviewed and approved the study (vide. IIPHHB/TRCIEC/174/2020) and the subsequent change of protocol to perform the longitudinal study (vide PHFI/IIPH-BLR/076/2020-21). We informed the participants of the purpose of the surveys, how the samples would be taken and requested them to respond to the screening questions. After obtaining informed consent, we noted basic demographic details, exposure history, symptoms observed in the previous month, and clinical history. Participants' test results were shared with them by the concerned healthcare facility.Scopu

Pig-to-Baboon Liver Xenoperfusion Utilizing GalTKO.hCD46 Pigs and Glycoprotein Ib Blockade

status: publishe

Assessing the burden of COVID-19 among children aged 6-14 years in Karnataka, India: A cross-sectional survey

Background: India experienced three coronavirus disease (COVID-19) waves, with the third attributed to the highly contagious Omicron variant. Before the national vaccination rollout for children above 6, understanding severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) immunoglobulin G (IgG) positivity in the pediatric population was essential. This study aims to assess the burden of Covid-19 infection and to estimate the seroprevalence in children aged 6 to 14 years in the state of Karnataka. Material and Methods: We surveyed 5,358 children aged 6-14 across Karnataka using 232 health facilities, from June 6 to 14, 2022. We determined the sample size using the PPS (Population Proportional to Size) technique and employed cluster sampling. We tested all participants for SARS-CoV-2 IgG with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit and SARS-CoV-2 RNA with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We sequenced samples with a cycle threshold (CT) value below 25 using whole genomic sequencing (WGS). Result: We found an adjusted seroprevalence of IgG at 75.38% statewide, and we found 0.04% of children RT-PCR positive for COVID-19. We determined a case-to-infection ratio of 1:37 and identified the SARS-CoV-2 strains as Omicron, BA.5, and BA.2.10. Conclusion: The study showed a high seroprevalence of IgG among children with low active infection. Omicron, BA. 5, and BA. 2.10 variants were detected through WGS

Corrigendum to "Second round statewide sentinel-based population survey for estimation of the burden of active infection and anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in the general population of Karnataka, India, during January-February 2021" [IJID Regions Vol 1(2021) pages 107-116]

The authors regret the affiliation correction of Dr. Giridhara R. Babu. The correct affiliation should be amended to read as follows: Giridhara R Babu, Department of Population Medicine, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.Scopu

The burden of active infection and anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in the general population: Results from a statewide sentinel-based population survey in Karnataka, India

Objective: To estimate the burden of active infection and anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in Karnataka, India, and to assess variation across geographical regions and risk groups. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 16,416 people covering three risk groups was conducted between 3–16 September 2020 using the state of Karnataka’s infrastructure of 290 healthcare facilities across all 30 districts. Participants were further classified into risk subgroups and sampled using stratified sampling. All participants were subjected to simultaneous detection of SARS-CoV-2 IgG using a commercial ELISA kit, SARS-CoV-2 antigen using a rapid antigen detection test (RAT) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for RNA detection. Maximum-likelihood estimation was used for joint estimation of the adjusted IgG, active and total prevalence (either IgG or active or both), while multinomial regression identified predictors. Results: The overall adjusted total prevalence of COVID-19 in Karnataka was 27.7% (95% CI 26.1–29.3), IgG 16.8% (15.5–18.1) and active infection fraction 12.6% (11.5–13.8). The case-to-infection ratio was 1:40 and the infection fatality rate was 0.05%. Influenza-like symptoms or contact with a COVID-19-positive patient were good predictors of active infection. RAT kits had higher sensitivity (68%) in symptomatic people compared with 47% in asymptomatic people. Conclusion: This sentinel-based population survey was the first comprehensive survey in India to provide accurate estimates of the COVID-19 burden. The findings provide a reasonable approximation of the population immunity threshold levels. Using existing surveillance platforms coupled with a syndromic approach and sampling framework enabled this model to be replicable