Status of seroprevalence of Hepatitis B in pregnant females: a hospital-based study

Background: India has more than 37 million of HBV carriers and contributes a large proportion of the global burden. The perinatal route is the major route of the transmission. This study was conducted to estimate the seroprevalence rate of Hepatits B infection in female of reproductive age group. Since sexual route and perinatal transmission of HBV are major targets to prevent the transmission of the infection, the study focused on pregnant females attending antenatal care (ANC) clinic of the hospital.Methods: This was a retrospective observational study. The cohort enrolled for the study was pregnant females who attended the antenatal care clinic of a tertiary care hospital situated in Delhi. The blood sample was collected as a part of routine screening for HBV infection and the samples were tested for HBsAg by qualitative indirect ELISA. The study period was March to Sept 2019.Results: 7163 pregnant females were enrolled in the study and 113 were sero-positive for HBsAg. The seroprevalence of HBsAg was 1.6% (113/ 7163). The highest prevalence was found in the age group of 31-35 year (2.7%).Conclusions: As observed in the present study, the sero-prevalence rate of HBV infection in pregnant females is 1.6%, this rate amounts to nearly 4 million HBV infected women in the reproductive age and yearly putting 4 lakhs babies at risk of acquiring HBV infections by vertical transmission. The successful implementation of the National Viral Hepatitis Control Program is the need of the hour to protect every child from acquiring HBV infection

Prosthetic Joint Infection due to Burkholderia cenocepacia: An Opportunistic Pathogen Microbiology Section with an Expanding Spectrum of Disease

Burkholderia cenocepacia is an opportunistic pathogen widespread in moist environments. It has been associated with lung infections, blood, skin and genitourinary tract infections. We report here the first case of Prosthetic Joint Infection (PJI) caused by B. cenocepacia isolated from the periprosthetic tissue samples and prosthesis sonicate fluid identified by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). A good clinical outcome was obtained by twostage exchange arthroplasty and administration of co-trimoxazole and ciprofloxacin. In addition to the expanding spectrum of this opportunistic pathogen, this case also shows the reliability of newer diagnostic tools to rapidly identify the Burkholderia Cepacia Complex (BCC) to the species level

Seropositivity Pattern of Human Cystic Echinococcosis at a Tertiary Care Hospital of India

Cystic echinococcosis (CE), even after several control measures, causes significant morbidity throughout the world. Besides imaging investigation technology, the serological tests are essential for both diagnosis and management of this slowly progressive disease. The present study was a hospital-based retrospective study that examined the seropositivity rate for Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato antibody in patients suspected of CE at our tertiary health care center over 8 years from 2013 to 2020. Records of new visits to hospital/clinics and associated hospital discharge constituted the denominator of calculation. All samples were tested using commercially available indirect immunoglobulin G enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. A total of 925 suspected patients with a clinical diagnosis of CE were screened. The age group that commonly tested positive for CE was 20 to 39 years, and liver was the predominant organ found to be affected. The seropositive rate was 41.2%. On further year-wise analysis, it was observed that the seropositivity rate had significantly declined from 61.4% in 2013 to 33.8% in 2020. This study clearly showed that there is a by 27.6% decline of CE seropositivity rate in 8 years. This declining rate may be attributed to improved socioeconomic status and better implementation of health programs

Molecular Characterization and Subtyping of <i>Blastocystis</i> Species in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients from North India

<div><p><i>Blastocystis</i> species has been extensively studied in recent few years to establish its pathogenecity. Present study was designed to identify and examine the association of <i>Blastocystis</i> sp. and its subtypes with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).<i>Blastocystis</i> sp. detected using wet-mount microscopy, trichrome staining, <i>in-vitro</i> culture and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay in a cohort of IBS patients (n = 150) and healthy controls (n = 100). Isolates of <i>Blastocystis</i> sp.were subtyped using Sequence Tagged Site and representative samples were sequenced at SSUrRNA locus.A total of sixty five isolates of <i>Blastocystis</i> sp. were identified [IBS (n = 50); Controls (n = 15)] of which 91% belonged to ST3 and 9% belonged to ST1. No other subtypes could be identified. Statistically significant association was observed between <i>Blastocystis</i> sp. and IBS patients; however no particular subtype could be ascertained to any particular clinical type of IBS.The frequency of occurrence of <i>Blastocystis</i> sp. was more in IBS patients as compared to the controls and ST3 being the most prevalent subtype. The genetic polymorphism of SSU-rRNA gene amongst the different <i>Blastocystis</i> sp.isolates found in this study reinforces the fact that these organisms are genetically highly divergent.</p></div