A Comparative Study of Energy Contents in Mosquito Vectors of Malaria and Dengue Prevailing in Jodhpur City (Thar Desert) of Rajasthan State, India

Background: Transmission of malaria and dengue in the desert part of India is mainly caused by Anopheles ste­phensi and Aedes aegypti respectively. The maintenance and transmission of the pathogens that cause malaria and dengue are dependent on the physiology of the mosquito vectors. We aimed to measure the energy contents in the mosquitoes transmitting malaria and dengue in the desert part of the country. Methods: Immature stages of mosquitoes were collected from six different larval habitats situated in Jodhpur City of Rajasthan state, India. The immature stages of both the mosquitoes were collected once in fortnightly from each loca­tion. Quantitative estimations of the lipid, glucose, and glycogen of the laboratory-reared and field collected An. stephensi and Ae. aegypti were made by spectrophotometric method. The energy contents of the larvae, pupae, fe­males, and males were estimated in triplicates on six different occasions. Results: The lipid content of laboratory-reared larvae, pupae and female mosquitoes of An. stephensi and Ae. aegypti was found to be lower than their conspecific field-collected specimens. Whereas, the glycogen content in the la­boratory-reared larvae, pupae and female mosquitoes of An. stephensi and Ae. aegypti was higher than that of their conspecific field-collected specimens. The glucose content in all the stages of the laboratory-reared An. stephensi was lower than their conspecific field-collected specimens except in few cases. Conclusion: The higher amount of lipid in field-collected mosquitoes may be because of the availability of food in the natural habitat and adaptation of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes living in desert climate are physiologically better equipped to survive in the desert environment

Prevalence and factors associated with tuberculosis infection in India

Background: The risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease is higher in individuals with TB infection. In a TB endemic country like India, it is essential to understand the current burden of TB infection at the population level. The objective of the present analysis is to estimate the prevalence of TB infection in India and to explore the factors associated with TB infection. Methods: Individuals aged > 15 years in the recently completed National TB prevalence survey in India who were tested for TB infection by QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus) assay were considered for this sub- analysis. TB infection was defined as positive by QFT-Plus (value > 0.35 IU/ml). The estimates for prevalence, prevalence ratio (PR) and adjusted risk ratio (aRR) estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Results: Of the 16864 individuals analysed, the prevalence of TB infection was 22.6% (95% CI:19.4 −25.8). Factors more likely to be associated with TB infection include age > 30 years (aRR:1.49;95% CI:1.29–1.73), being male (aRR:1.26; 95%CI: 1.18–1.34), residing in urban location (aRR:1.58; 95%CI: 1.03–2.43) and past history of TB (aRR:1.49; 95%CI: 1.26–1.76). Conclusion: About one fourth (22.6%) of the individuals were infected with TB in India. Individuals aged > 30 years, males, residing in urban location, and those with past history of TB were more likely to have TB infection. Targeted interventions for prevention of TB and close monitoring are essential to reduce the burden of TB in India

Model rural health research unit's NS1-based serosurveillance recommends for vector control in rural villages of Jaipur district, Rajasthan, India

Background: Infectious diseases are important public health issues in India. Rajasthan state reported 20,749 numbers of dengue fever (DF) cases in 2021, which was 10.73% of the country's total dengue cases. Aims and objectives: The aim of the study was to diagnose fever cases in the nearby villages of Model Rural Health Research Unit (MRHRU) through the use of its diagnostic facility and to mitigate the diseases using appropriate control methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a community health center (CHC)-based serosurveillance study. The study subjects were the patients who reported at the Outpatient Department of the CHCs Bhanpur Kalan and Jamwa Ramgarh of Jaipur district in Rajasthan with clinical suspicion of DF. The study was conducted for 6 months from July to December. The serum samples received from CHC Bhanpur Kalan and Jamwa Ramgarh were tested for the detection of dengue antibodies against NS1 antigen at MRHRU. Results: A total of 148 blood samples were received from CHC and were diagnosed with dengue NS1 at MRHRU. Out of 148 serum samples, 79 were male and 69 were female. Among the 148 samples subjected to the NS1 dengue enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test, 33.1% were found to be positive for dengue, 63.5% were negative, and 3.37% were equivocal. Out of the 113 samples of Jamwa Ramgarh, 31.8% were found to be NS1 positive and 2.65% were equivocal, wherein 35 serum samples of Amber block were tested for diagnosis of NS1 test, and out of them, 37.14% were NS1 positive and 5.71% were equivocal. Conclusion: The number of dengue cases was observed to be higher, and control measure was taken to stop the spreading of the disease. Early and proper diagnosis of dengue cases is helpful in the treatment and control of disease. MRHRU facility was found to be effective in the containment of the disease

Implementation research on diabetes in India: A systematic review

Background: There is a wide range of effective interventions for the prevention of diabetes, but few of these approaches have been extensively utilized in real-world settings. The objective of this systematic review was to assess and collate existing evidence in implementation research (IR) on prevention, control and treatment of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in India. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses - Protocol (PRISMA-P) guidelines were used to create the protocol for the systematic review. Articles published in the previous 20 years (2001–2020) and published in English language were included in the study. Electronic databases such as MEDLINE (through PubMed gateway), EMBASE, and Science Direct; search engines like Google scholar and ProQuest were systematically searched using separate search protocols for each database. Retrieved articles were screened for titles and abstracts and assessed by two independent reviewers. Using standard checklists, the articles also underwent a risk of bias assessment, and a narrative summary was written using SWiM guidelines. Results: Sixteen studies were included in the review, which included three implementation studies related to screening of diabetes, three studies on the management of diabetes, three studies related to lifestyle interventions, one on behavioral intervention, two on electronic support system-based interventions, and the remaining four studies explored IR in other areas of diabetes. The key attributes of implementation research such as acceptability, feasibility, adoption, economic evaluation measures like cost-effectiveness, operational issues like barriers, and facilitating factors were addressed by most of the studies, in varying extents. Conclusion: Implementation research on diabetes mellitus in India is very limited which underscores the importance of creating awareness about the need of IR and building capacity and skills for conducting IR among various stakeholders

Recurrence of pulmonary tuberculosis in India: Findings from the 2019-2021 nationwide community-based TB prevalence survey.

Recurrent Tuberculosis patients contribute to a significant proportion of TB burden in India. A nationwide survey was conducted during 2019-2021 across India among adults to estimate the prevalence of TB. A total of 322480 individuals were screened and 1402 were having TB. Of this, 381 (27.1%) had recurrent TB. The crude prevalence (95% CI) of recurrent TB was 118 (107-131) per 100,000 population. The median duration between episodes of TB was 24 months. The proportion of drug resistant TB was 11.3% and 3.6% in the recurrent group and new TB patients respectively. Higher prevalence of recurrent TB was observed in elderly, males, malnourished, known diabetics, smokers, and alcohol users. (p<0.001). To prevent TB recurrence, all treated tuberculosis patients must be followed at least for 24 months, with screening for Chest X-ray, liquid culture every 6 months, smoking cessation, alcohol cessation, nutritional interventions and good diabetic management