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Fulltext Ertapenem for multiple β-lactamases producing Gram-negative bacteria causing urinary tract infections in HIV patients

Kumar MRR, Arunagirinathan N, Vignesh R, Balakrishnan P, Solomon S, Sunil SS

J Res Med Sci, 2017;22:69.
PMID: 28616056 DOI: 10.4103/jrms.JRMS_884_16
Fulltext Performance of urinalysis tests in screening for significant bacteriuria among human immunodeficiency virus-infected subjects in South India

Vignesh R, Swathirajan CR, Solomon SS, Solomon S, Balakrishnan P

J Res Med Sci, 2017;22:77.
PMID: 28717374 DOI: 10.4103/jrms.JRMS_567_16
Breeding performance and embryogenic development of three strains of Heterobranchus longifilis in Nigeria

Alih RA, Solomon SG, Olufeagba SO, Cheikyula JO, Abol-Munafi AB, Okomoda VT

Zygote, 2022 Feb;30(1):125-131.
PMID: 34176523 DOI: 10.1017/S0967199421000411

The study sought to investigate the chronology of events and timing of embryogenesis, as well as breeding performances of three strains of Heterobranchus longifilis from Nigeria. Fish samples were collected from Benue River in Makurdi, Niger River in Onitsha, and Rima River in Sokoto for this study. Induced spawning of the strains was carried out so that egg development could be tracked from fertilization to hatching using a simple microscope. The microphotographs obtained showed that the embryogenesis of the strains followed a similar pattern to those of other members of the family Clariidae, however with changes occurring in the specific timing of the sequences of events (i.e. interstrain and interspecies differences). When the different strains were compared, the study noted similarities (P > 0.05) in the overall breeding performance (except for fertilization rate), survival at different stages of development, timing of embryogenesis, and larvae characteristics. The outcomes of this study, therefore, provide baseline information on what genetic improvement of the species through strain crossing can be attempted in future studies.
Fulltext Occurrence of enteric parasitic infections among HIV-infected individuals and its relation to CD4 T-cell counts with a special emphasis on coccidian parasites at a tertiary care centre in South India

Swathirajan CR, Vignesh R, Pradeep A, Solomon SS, Solomon S, Balakrishnan P

Indian J Med Microbiol, 2017 Jan-Mar;35(1):37-40.
PMID: 28303816 DOI: 10.4103/ijmm.IJMM_16_164

CONTEXT: Diarrhoea is one of the major complications occurring in over 90% of HIV-infected individuals in developing countries. Coccidian group of parasites, being opportunistic pathogens, have been implicated as the most common causative agents of diarrhoea among HIV-infected population.

AIMS: The aim was to study the magnitude of parasitic diarrhoea with special context to coccidian parasitic infections in HIV-infected individuals and their association with the patient's immunological status measured by CD4 T-cell counts.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This investigation was performed between January 2002 and December 2014 at a tertiary HIV care centre in Chennai, South India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Stool samples were collected and microscopically observed for parasites using direct, formal-ether-concentrated wet mounts and modified acid-fast staining for coccidian parasites. CD4 T-cell counts were done by FACScount.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: All statistical analyses were performed using GraphPad Prism software, version 5.0, andP < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS: Coccidian parasitic infection accounted for about 23.4% of parasitic infections, and of these, Cystoisospora belli was observed to be the most common cause of diarrhoea (88.8%), followed by Cryptosporidium spp. (9.9%) and Cyclospora spp. (1.3%). Trend analysis of coccidian aetiology during the study period revealed a significant rise in the positivity of C. belli and Cryptosporidium spp. (P = 0.001). Among the HIV patients with CD4+ T-cell counts <200 cells/μL, Cryptosporidium infection was most common (90%), followed by infection with C. belli(61.4%).

CONCLUSIONS: Coccidian parasites continue to be the most common aetiological agent of diarrhoea among patients with HIV. The increasing trend of positivity of both cystoisosporiasis and cryptosporidiosis over the study period and the high positivity of cryptosporidiosis in patients with lower CD4+ T-cell counts are issues of serious concern. The findings call for the need for the early diagnosis of coccidian parasites and appropriate intervention among HIV-infected patients.
Dissemination of Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Drug Resistance Genes Associated with Class 1 and Class 2 Integrons Among Gram-Negative Bacteria from HIV Patients in South India

Ramesh Kumar MR, Arunagirinathan N, Srivani S, Dhanasezhian A, Vijaykanth N, Manikandan N, et al.

Microb Drug Resist, 2017 Jul;23(5):602-608.
PMID: 27854149 DOI: 10.1089/mdr.2016.0034

The antibiotic, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX), is generally used for prophylaxis in HIV individuals to protect them from Pneumocystis jiroveci infection. Long-term use of TMP-SMX develops drug resistance among bacteria in HIV patients. The study was aimed to detect the TMP-SMX resistance genes among gram-negative bacteria from HIV patients. TMP-SMX-resistant isolates were detected by the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. While TMP resistance genes such as dfrA1, dfrA5, dfrA7, and dfrA17 and SMX resistance genes such as sul1 and sul2 were detected by multiplex PCR, class 1 and class 2 integrons were detected by standard monoplex PCR. Of the 151 TMP-SMX-resistant bacterial isolates, 3 were positive for sul1 alone, 48 for sul2 alone, 11 for dfrA7 alone, 21 for sul1 and sul2, 1 for sul1 and dfrA7, 23 for sul2 and dfrA7, 2 for sul2 and dfrA5, 41 for sul1, sul2, and dfrA7, and 1 for sul2, dfrA5, and dfrA7. Of 60 TMP-SMX-resistant isolates positive for integrons, 44 had class 1 and 16 had class 2 integrons. It was found that the prevalence of sul genes (n = 202; p
Deriving the optimal limit of detection for an HCV point-of-care test for viraemic infection: analysis of a global dataset

Morgan Freiman J, Wang J, Easterbrook PJ, Robert Horsburgh C, Marinucci F, White LF, et al.

J Hepatol, 2019 Feb 20.
PMID: 30797050 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhep.2019.02.011

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Affordable point-of-care (POC) tests for hepatitis C (HCV) viraemia are needed to improve access to treatment in low and middle income countries (LMICs). Our aims were to determine the target limit of detection (LOD) necessary to diagnose the majority of persons with HCV eligible for treatment, and identify characteristics associated with low-level viraemia (LLV) (defined as the lowest 3% of the distribution of HCV RNA) to understand those at risk of being mis-diagnosed.
METHODS: We established a multi-country cross-sectional dataset of first available quantitative HCV RNA linked to demographic and clinical data. We excluded individuals on HCV treatment. We analyzed the distribution of HCV RNA and determined critical thresholds for detection of HCV viraemia. We then performed logistic regression to evaluate factors associated with LLV, and derived relative sensitivities for significant covariates.
RESULTS: The dataset included 66,640 individuals with HCV viraemia from Georgia (44.4%), Canada (40.9%), India (8.1%), Cambodia (2.6%), Egypt (1.6%), Pakistan (1.3%), Cameroon (0.4%), Indonesia (0.2%), Thailand (0.2%), Vietnam (0.1%), Malaysia (0.05%), and Mozambique (0.02%). The 97% LOD was 1,318 IU/mL (95% CI 1298.4, 1322.3). Factors associated with LLV were younger age 18-30 vs. 51-64 years (OR 2.56 95% CI 2.19, 2.99), female vs. male sex (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.18, 1.49), and advanced fibrosis stage F4 vs. F0-1 (OR 1.44, 95%CI 1.21, 1.69). Only the younger age group had a decreased relative sensitivity below 95% at 93.3%.
CONCLUSIONS: In this global dataset, a test with an LOD of 1,318 IU/mL would identify 97% of viraemic HCV infections among almost all populations. This LOD will help guide manufacturers in the development of affordable POC diagnostics to expand HCV testing and linkage to care in LMICs.
LAY SUMMARY: We created and analyzed a dataset from 12 countries with 66,640 participants with chronic hepatitis C virus infection. We determined that about 97% of those with viraemic infection had 1300 International Units/mL or more of circulating virus at the time of diagnosis. While current diagnostic tests can detect as little as 12 International Units/mL of virus, our findings suggest that increasing the level of detection closer to 1300 would maintain good test accuracy and will likely allow for more affordable portable tests to be developed for use in low and middle income countries.
Evidence for the Higgs Boson Decay to a Z Boson and a Photon at the LHC

Aad G, Abbott B, Abeling K, Abicht NJ, Abidi SH, Aboulhorma A, et al.

Phys Rev Lett, 2024 Jan 12;132(2):021803.
PMID: 38277607 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.021803

The first evidence for the Higgs boson decay to a Z boson and a photon is presented, with a statistical significance of 3.4 standard deviations. The result is derived from a combined analysis of the searches performed by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations with proton-proton collision datasets collected at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) from 2015 to 2018. These correspond to integrated luminosities of around 140 fb^{-1} for each experiment, at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The measured signal yield is 2.2±0.7 times the standard model prediction, and agrees with the theoretical expectation within 1.9 standard deviations.