Three rare human G12 strains were detected from diarrheic clinical samples of children (<8 months of age) in Calcutta during a routine surveillance study of rotaviral diarrhea in India. The VP7 genes of G12 strains and their products showed maximum homology (97 to 99% at the nucleotide level and 98% at the amino acid level, respectively) with those of two recently reported G12 strains (from the United States and Thailand) but lesser homology with those of prototype G12 strain L26.Rotaviruses are the major cause of acute gastroenteritis in infants and young of a wide variety of mammalian and avian species (11). In developing countries, approximately 130 million infants are infected with rotaviruses and there are 800,000 annual deaths (5, 12). In group A rotaviruses, 15 VP7 G serotypes and 21 VP4 P genotypes have been reported for humans, animals, and birds (17). Though 10 G types and 10 P types from humans have been reported (15), clinically and epidemiologically the most important strains belong to the G1 to G4 serotypes with P[8] and P[4] genotypes (6,14). On the other hand, some unusual types (G5, G8, and G9) and rare combinations of G and P types from different countries have also been reported (1,2,3,4,13,16,20). The human rotavirus G12 strains (L26 and L27) were first detected from Philippines in 1990 (19). After more than a decade, in 2002, human G12 strains Se585 (9) and T152 (15) from the United States and Thailand, respectively, were reported. In this study, we report the detection of three rare G12 strains of human rotaviruses in India.As part of a routine surveillance study for diarrheal diseases, stool samples were collected from children below 4 years of age from B. C. Roy Children's Hospital and also from patients of all age groups admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Calcutta, India, in 2001. Stool samples were also collected from children with diarrhea from Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh, Assam, India; Capital Hospital and Municipality Hospital, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, eastern India; and Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, northern India. A total of 454 samples were screened for rotaviruses by RNA electrophoresis as described earlier by Herring et al. (10). The fecal specimens were processed for extraction of rotavirus double-stranded RNA suitable for reverse transcription and amplification of the VP4 and VP7 genes as described previously (4). G and P typing of positive samples was carried out by nested and multiplex PCR with consensus and type-specific primers as described previously (4,7,8,18,21). The amplified products were purified with either the QIAquick gel extraction kit or the PCR purification kit (Qiagen, GmBH) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Direct sequencing was carried out by using ABI PRISM BigDye terminator cycle sequencing kits (Applied Biosystems) with an automated DNA sequencer, the ABI PRISM 310 genetic analyzer (Applied Biosystems). The sequencing of the VP7 genes of all three isolates was repeated three times to...

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Background: Intestinal parasitic infestations cause a variety of clinical conditions, ranging from asymptomatic infestations to life-threatening situations. This study will highlight the importance of screening for intestinal parasites in immunosuppressed patients and increasing awareness of occurrence of intestinal parasites in this population. Objective: To understand the prevalence and demonstration of intestinal parasitic infestations among the immunosuppressed patients and determine the association of intestinal parasite and clinical presentation among these patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 149 immunosuppressed patients were included in the study. The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections was diagnosed by microscopic examination of stool specimens. Smears were stained by Kinyoun's modified acid-fast stain. Stool samples were also examined after Sheather's sugar floatation and formol-ether concentration techniques. Result: Of the 149 patients included in the study, parasitic infestation was present in 53.02%. The highest prevalence of parasitic infestation was found in patients with cancers 80% (12 of 15). Overall, 106 (71.1%) patients showed gastrointestinal symptoms, of which 63(59.4%) patients were positive for intestinal parasites. The most common parasite isolated was Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar. The parasite prevalence with use of routine method was found to be 37% and with Sheather's sucrose floatation and formal-ether sedimentation method was found to be 43% and 52.3%, respectively. Conclusion: This study thus highlights the importance of testing for intestinal parasites in immunosuppressed patients and emphasizes the necessity awareness among clinicians regarding the occurrence of these parasites in this population and health education of the population for food hygiene.

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Sporadic cases of acute diarrhoea with high morbidity occur commonly in rural areas of northeast India, throughout the year. At times they take epidemic form and one such outbreak occurred with attack and case fatality rates of 11.6% and 0.8%, respectively, in October 2002, in a remote locality of Assam. Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor Ogawa was isolated in 63% of hospitalized acute diarrhoea patients. Ineffective antibacterial treatment, poor hygiene practices and bad peridomestic sanitation were the factors associated with the persistence and spread of the pathogen, leading to the outbreak of cholera, resistant to commonly-used antimicrobials.