Prevalence and transmission of leaf crinkle disease infecting urdbean in Tamil Nadu

Urdbean leaf crinkle disease (ULCD) caused by an ungrouped virus is a destructive and serious disease of urdbean(Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper). Urdbean is commonly infected by leaf crinkle disease and is distinguished by the symptoms of extreme crinkling, curling, puckering, rugosity of leaves, stunting of plants and malformation of floral organs. An intensive survey was conductedduring the year of2018-2019 in major blackgram growing districts of Tamil Nadu viz., Pudukkottai, Tiruchirappalli,Villupuram, Tenkasiand Coimbatore. The highest disease incidence was recorded in Pudukkottai (24.95%) and lowest incidence was recorded in Coimbatore (17.89%).The transmission of ULCD by seed sprout abrasion and sap inoculation methods was 70.59% and 63.30% respectively. The transmission of ULCD by infected seeds was ranging from 71.89 to 83.62%.</jats:p

Effectiveness of Influenza Vaccine for Preventing Laboratory-Confirmed Influenza Hospitalizations in Immunocompromised Adults

ABSTRACTBackgroundYearly influenza immunization is recommended for immunocompromised (IC) individuals, although immune responses are lower than that for the non-immunocompromised and the data on vaccine effectiveness (VE) in the IC is scarce. We evaluated VE against influenza-associated hospitalization among IC adults.MethodsWe analyzed data from adults ≥ 18 years hospitalized with acute respiratory illness (ARI) during the 2017-2018 influenza season at 10 hospitals in the United States. IC adults were identified using pre-specified case-definitions, utilizing electronic medical record data. VE was evaluated with a test-negative case-control design using multivariate logistic regression with PCR-confirmed influenza as the outcome and vaccination status as the exposure, adjusting for age, enrolling site, illness onset date, race, days from onset to specimen collection, self-reported health, and self-reported hospitalizations.ResultsOf 3,524 adults hospitalized with ARI, 1,210 (34.3%) had an immunocompromising condition. IC adults were more likely to be vaccinated than non-IC (69.5% vs 65.2%), and less likely to have influenza (22% vs 27.8%). The mean age did not differ among IC and non-IC (61.4 vs 60.8 years old). The overall VE against influenza hospitalization, including immunocompetent adults, was 33% (95% CI, 21% to 44%). VE among IC vs non-IC adults was lower at 5% (−29% to 31%) vs. 41% (27% to 52%) (p&lt;0.05 for interaction term).ConclusionsVE in one influenza season was very low among IC individuals. Future efforts should include evaluation of VE among the different immunocompromising conditions and whether enhanced vaccines improve the suboptimal effectiveness among the immunocompromised.</jats:sec