Epidemiological and clinical profile of snakebite patients: a retrospective analysis at a tertiary care teaching hospital of southern Rajasthan, India

Background: Snakebite - a global public health problem can be a traumatic experience for patients. They may develop local pain and swelling at the site with or without systemic involvement (haematological and neurological) and at times complications depending upon nature of snake. The present study was planned to determine the epidemiological and clinical profile of snakebite patients at a tertiary care teaching hospital of southern Rajasthan, India.Methods: This retrospective observational study was carried out at a tertiary care teaching hospital only after approval from institutional ethics committee. The data of patients aged between 18-80 years of either gender that had presented with a history of snakebite and admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) in past 3 years were included. Data related to epidemiological, clinical and investigational parameters was collected and analysed. Data was presented as number (percentage) or mean ± standard deviation.Results: Total 80 patients were analyzed. Male:female ratio was 1.67:1 and mean age of study population was 33.91±14.34 years. Maximum 71 (89%) patients belonged to rural region. Only 16 (20%) patients complained of local pain. Bleeding was noted in 5 (6.25%) patients whereas 36 (45%) patients had ptosis. Prolonged coagulation markers were reported in 35 (44%) patients. Only 2 (2.5%) patients had acute kidney injury. Altered liver and renal function tests were noted in 71 (89%) and 63 (79%) patients respectively. Mechanical ventilation was required in 27 (34%) patients.Conclusions: Young adult males and rural population were prone to snakebites. Local and systemic manifestations were noted in relatively lesser patients compared to the published data. Only fewer patients in I.C.U. required mechanical ventilation

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

NPHP1‐Related ciliopathies: A new case and major review of the ophthalmic manifestations of 147 reported cases

Key Clinical Message Our case report and review contribute to the understanding of ocular manifestations in NPHP1 ciliopathies by reinforcing the relationship between pathogenic genetic variants and a wide array of ophthalmic abnormalities