MyMedR

Nipah virus (NiV) is one of the priority pathogens with pandemic potential. Though the spread is far slower than SARS-CoV-2, case fatality is the biggest concern. Fruit bats belonging to genus Pteropus are identified to be the main reservoir of the virus causing sporadic cases and outbreaks in Malaysia, Bangladesh and India. The sudden emergence of Nipah in Kerala, India during 2018-2019 has been astonishing with respect to its introduction in the unaffected areas. With this, active Nipah virus surveillance was conducted among bat populations in Southern part of India viz., Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Puducherry and Odisha during January-November 2019. Throat swabs/rectal swabs (n = 573) collected from Pteropus medius and Rousettus leschenaultii bat species and sera of Pteropus medius bats (n = 255) were screened to detect the presence of Nipah viral RNA and anti-Nipah IgG antibodies respectively. Of 255 P. medius bats sera samples, 51 bats (20%) captured from Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry demonstrated presence of anti-Nipah IgG antibodies. However, the presence of virus couldn't be detected in any of the bat specimens. The recent emergence of Nipah virus in Kerala in September 2021 warrants further surveillance of Nipah virus among bat populations from the affected and remaining states of India.

Matched MeSH terms: India/epidemiology

Fulltext Japanese encephalitis virus in India: An update on virus genotypes

Rajaiah P, Kumar A

Indian J Med Res, 2022;156(4&5):588-597.

PMID: 36926775 DOI: 10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_2606_19

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a leading cause of viral encephalitis in Southeast Asia. It is a serious public health issue in India, and cases have been emerging in newer areas of the country. Although vaccination efforts have already been initiated in the country since 2006 and later through the Universal Immunization Programme in 2011, still a significant reduction in the number of cases has to be achieved since an escalating trend of JE incidence has been reported in certain States such as Assam, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Moreover, fresh cases of JE have been reported from certain pockets in Odisha as well. Despite the mass JE vaccination programme implemented in prioritized endemic zones in the country in 2011, a shift in the age group of JE virus (JEV) infection was noticed affecting the adult population in West Bengal. The recent detection of the circulation of genotype I (GI) in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh and the co-circulation of GI and genotype III (GIII) in West Bengal are probably a warning signal for the public health personnel to strengthen the surveillance system in all endemic hotspots in the country. The abrupt emergence of JEV genotype V (GV) in China and Korea in 2009, after its first detection in Malaya in 1952, endemic countries have been cautioned to strengthen their surveillance, because GV has been suspected of getting dispersed efficiently in other parts of Asia. Moreover, the reduced protection efficiency of the JEV GIII-based vaccine against the JEV genotype V further warrants careful evaluation of the ongoing vaccination strategies in the endemic countries, anticipating the possible incursion of GV and its impact on future control strategies. In view of the above facts, the present communication reviews the current knowledge on the molecular epidemiology of JEV in India vis-a-vis the global scenario and discusses the future priorities in JEV research in India for effectively designing control strategies.

Matched MeSH terms: India/epidemiology

Fulltext Low SARS-CoV-2 viral load among vaccinated individuals infected with Delta B.1.617.2 and Omicron BA.1.1.529 but not with Omicron BA.1.1 and BA.2 variants

Selvavinayagam ST, Yong YK, Joseph N, Hemashree K, Tan HY, Zhang Y, et al.

Front Public Health, 2022;10:1018399.

PMID: 36211690 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1018399

The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants in the global population is indicative of the development of selective advantages in emerging virus strains. Here, we performed a case-control investigation of the clinical and demographic characteristics, clinical history, and virological markers to predict disease progression in hospitalized adults for COVID-19 between December 2021 and January 2022 in Chennai, India. COVID-19 diagnosis was made by a commercial TaqPath COVID-19 RT-PCR, and WGS was performed with the Ion Torrent Next Generation Sequencing System. High-quality (<5% of N) complete sequences of 73 Omicron B.1.1.529 variants were randomly selected for phylogenetic analysis. SARS-CoV-2 viral load, number of comorbidities, and severe disease presentation were independently associated with a shorter time-to-death. Strikingly, this was observed among individuals infected with Omicron BA.2 but not among those with the BA.1.1.529, BA.1.1, or the Delta B.1.617.2 variants. Phylogenetic analysis revealed severe cases predominantly clustering under the BA.2 lineage. Sequence analyses showed 30 mutation sites in BA.1.1.529 and 33 in BA.1.1. The mutations unique to BA.2 were T19I, L24S, P25del, P26del, A27S, V213G, T376A, D405N and R408S. Low SARS-CoV-2 viral load among vaccinated individuals infected with Delta B.1.617.2 and the Omicron BA.1.1.529 variant but not with Omicron BA.1.1 or BA.2 suggests that the newer strains are largely immune escape variants. The number of vaccine doses received was independently associated with increased odds of developing asymptomatic disease or recovery. We propose that the novel mutations reported herein could likely bear a significant impact on the clinical characteristics, disease progression, and epidemiological aspects of COVID-19. Surging rates of mutations and the emergence of eclectic variants of SARS-CoV-2 appear to impact disease dynamics.

Matched MeSH terms: India/epidemiology

Prevalence of peripheral arterial disease among individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus in India - A systematic review and meta-analysis

Arora E, Regan R, Surendra VU, Arumugam A

Diabetes Metab Syndr, 2024 Sep;18(9):103124.

PMID: 39326343 DOI: 10.1016/j.dsx.2024.103124

BACKGROUND: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a prevalent complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). As India ranks second in the population afflicted by T2DM, and the objective of this systematic review was to estimate the pooled prevalence of PAD in individuals living with T2DM in India.

METHODS: Five databases (Cochrane (CENTRAL), MEDLINE (via PubMed), CINAHL (via EBSCO), PEDro, and Scopus) were searched using database-specific search terms from inception to August 2023. Inclusion criteria included studies reporting the prevalence of PAD in Indian adults diagnosed with T2DM of either or both sexes, employing ankle brachial index measurements with a Doppler test or sphygmomanometer. The risk of bias was evaluated using the JBI checklist, and the certainty of evidence was determined via the GRADE approach.

RESULTS: Twenty-three articles met the inclusion criteria which comprised of 196,883 individuals with T2DM aged between 30 and 70 years from nine states and one union territory. Utilizing a random effects model, the meta-analysis revealed that the pooled prevalence of PAD among individuals with T2DM in India was 18 % (95 % confidence interval: 10-28 %), with statistically significant heterogeneity observed between studies (I2 = 100 %, P India is 18 %, indicating a significant portion of the Indian population has been affected. Epidemiological studies utilizing precise assessment tools can enhance the early detection and prevention of PAD in T2DM and improve the certainty of findings.

Matched MeSH terms: India/epidemiology

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