Purpose: We investigated the persistence of the vaccine-induced immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among healthcare workers (HCWs) in Odisha who received a complete dose of either Covaxin or Covishield vaccine.Methods: This 24-week longitudinal cohort study was conducted from January to July 2021 with participants from 6 healthcare and research facilities of Odisha to understand the dynamicity of the vaccine-induced IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 after the complete dose of vaccines.Results: Serum samples were collected from 614 participants during each follow-up and were tested in two chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CLIA)-based platforms to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies both qualitatively and quantitatively. Among these participants, 308 (50.2%) participants were Covishield recipients and the rest 306 (49.8%) participants took Covaxin. A total of 81 breakthrough cases were recorded and the rest 533 HCWs without any history of postvaccination infection showed significant antibody waning either from T3 (Covaxin recipient) or T4 (Covishield recipient). The production of vaccine-induced IgG antibodies is significantly higher (p < 0.001) in Covishield compared with Covaxin. Covishield recipients produced higher median anti-S IgG titer than Covaxin. No statistically significant differences in antibody titers were observed based on age, gender, comorbidities, and blood groups.Conclusion: This 6-month follow-up study documents a 2-fold and 4-fold decrease in spike antibody titer among Covishield and Covaxin recipients, respectively. The clinical implications of antibody waning after vaccination are not well understood. It also highlights the need for further data to understand the long-term persistence of vaccine-induced antibody and threshold antibody titer required for protection against reinfection.

Background: Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is a relatively common condition occurring due to the morphological and physiological changes in the genitourinary tract during pregnancy. If left untreated, it may lead to acute pyelonephritis and adverse fetal and maternal outcomes. The objective was to determine prevalence, risk factors and etiological agents with susceptibility for ASB among pregnant women attending an antenatal clinic at a tertiary care hospital, Odisha, India.Methods: A prospective study with 200 pregnant women was conducted, over a period of 4 months, starting from 1st April 2017 to 31st July 2017. The mid- stream clean catch urine specimen was collected and processed in all the cases and other data were collected from the questionnaire given to them. The isolates from all the cases of ASB were identified and antimicrobial susceptibility was tested by Kirby- Bauer disc diffusion method and interpreted.Results: Prevalence of ASB in our study was 25.3%, with maximum prevalence among age group 21-30 yrs, during 3rd trimester, among multigravidae. Previous history of urinary tract infection (UTI), anaemia and diabetes have significant association with ASB. Klebsiella spp. was the predominant isolate in this study followed by Escherichia coli. Nitrofurantoin and Cefixime are safe and effective antibiotics against urinary pathogens in pregnancy.Conclusions: Undiagnosed and untreated asymptomatic bacteriuria is associated with complications during pregnancy. Hence routine screening of antenatal women for ASB during all trimesters must be considered for preventing the adverse maternal and foetal outcomes particularly with known risk factors like increasing age, multiparity and previous history of UTI.

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Introduction: Colistin is considered to be the last resort for the management of infections caused by multidrug resistant (MDR) gram-negative bacilli (GNB). However, in the recent past, there has been a rise in colistin resistance among MDR isolates in clinical settings with no profound data on the incidences and causes. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of colistin-resistance (CLR) in MDR isolates collected from different intensive care units (ICUs) and to determine the clinical outcomes of the patients.Materials and methods: A prospective study was conducted in the ICU of a tertiary care hospital in Eastern Odisha, India from March 2019 to February 2020. MDR GNB isolates from different clinical samples of ICU patients, not intrinsically resistant to colistin, were included in this study. Samples collected for culture and sensitivity testing were processed as per standard guidelines in the microbiology laboratory. MDR organisms were examined for colistin susceptibility by the broth dilution method. Clinical data was collected from hospital electronic medical records and presented as percentage, number (N), and median (range).Results: The prevalence of colistin resistance MDR GNB was found to be 19.6% in the present study. Colistin resistance among the MDR isolates was found to be the highest (9.2% for Klebsiella pneumonia followed by 5% for Escherichia coli). CLR drug-resistant isolates were commonly (28.8%) isolated from samples of respiratory tract infections and the majority (54.1%) were from neurology ICU. In this study, co-morbidity was not found among 57.9% of the ICU patients and recovery was maximum i.e., 74.2%.Conclusion: This study found the prevalence of colistin resistance to be high (19.6%) among all MDR GNB isolates from samples of ICU patients, Klebsiella pneumonia and Escherichia coli commonly acquire colistin resistance. Patients in the neurology ICU were frequently infected with CLR MDR strains. Most of the patients who recovered were without any underlying comorbidities. Prolonged hospital stay and direct antibiotic pressure in the hospital can lead to the development of CLR variants.

Background: Young teachers can skill for better teaching-learning ways can be acquired through structured and cheaper faculty training techniques. Microteaching can be adopted as one such measure to improvise teaching-learning skills among young teachers. Aims and Objectives: This study was conducted also to knew the impact of knowledge and perception regarding microteaching among postgraduate medical students and improvise on them. Also to knew the improvement in teaching skills after training and established the usefulness of this modality of microteaching by looking into its effectiveness. Materials and Methods: The participants were 29 1st year postgraduate students of Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. One day microteaching workshop was arranged for them in the Medical Education Unit of KIMS. The participants were surveyed through questionnaires (A, B, C, D, and E). McNemar’s Chi-square test did this by comparing between pretesting and post-testing scores of Questionnaire A and D (Kirkpatrick level 1, 2, and 3) as well as B and C (Kirkpatrick level 4) by use of the STATA software. A three-point Likert scale (0 = Not useful, 1 = Doubtful, 2 = Useful) was used to assess the participants’ responses based on the qualitative analysis method from questionnaire E. Results: Pre-post testing revealed improvement in knowledge and perception about microteaching among the majority (P < 0.05). They improved skills-wise too (P < 0.05). All the participants believed that microteaching is useful with a score of 2 on a three-point Likert scale. Conclusion: The microteaching among postgraduate medical students before proper lecture is very much useful. This type of workshop and training should be done in regular interval.

ABSTRACT:Trichosporon asahii is a basidiomycetous yeast which causes white piedra and onychomycosis in immunocompetent hosts. In immunocompromised hosts this species may cause a number of localized and disseminated infections. Urinary tract infection by Trichosporon asahii is a rare occurrence .Few cases have been reported from India. We present a microbiologically confirmed urinary tract infection with T. asahii in a 52 year old diabetic, female patient who had undergone hysterectomy for dysfunctional uterine bleeding. Her urine sample was subjected to culture and sensitivity for postoperative rigor. Gram stain examination of the centrifuged urine revealed septate hyphae with arthroconidia and pus cells. Yeast like fungus was isolated in pure culture in three consecutive samples which was confirmed as Trichosporon asahii by standard tests. The response to antifungal therapy was dramatic.

Background: Due to lack of consensus of teaching learning methods during undergraduate period, intern doctors face many challenges in clinical settings. Knowledge gaps related to clinical application of laboratory medicine leads to poor case management. Active learner centered training with real clinical cases is a need to help the interns to link their basic science knowledge into a practical context. Aims and Objectives: The present study was done to evaluate the effect of case based learning (CBL) on the interns’ knowledge and clinical decision-making skill of interpretation of laboratory investigation reports and to assess perception of participants about CBL. Materials and Methods: CBL method was used to train the interns in clinical application microbiology reports. This is a pre- and post-test type study, carried out for 2 months with 43 Medical interns, willing to participate. The process included evaluation of CBL by pre-validated questionnaires by multiple choice questions, clinical case scenarios before, immediately after and 10 days after the intervention and perception toward CBL was assessed. Statistical analysis was done using Student’s t-test and SPSS 17 software. The value of P < 0.05 was considered as significant. Results: A significant improvement in the interns’ knowledge and problem solving following CBL sessions had been observed in present study. The post-test scores of all the CBL sessions were significantly higher than pre-test scores (P < 0.05). The perception of interns toward CBL was assessed and it was responded positively. It helped in strengthening the critical skills of interns such as problem solving, critical thinking, and teamwork. Conclusion: The present study proved that interns during internship require to be trained in laboratory medicine. CBL is an effective teaching method to train interns in enhancing their problem solving skill with correct use of laboratory test results and strengthening critical thinking, teamwork, and time management skills.

AIM:This study was undertaken to evaluate the prevalence of perinatal bacterial infection in southern part of Odisha. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pregnant women presenting with premature rupture of membrane (PROM), preterm labour, fever, vaginal discharge (VD), urinary tract infections and previous bad obstetric history were included in the study groups. Besides newborns < 7 days old admitted to Paediatrics Department were also included. High vaginal swab and blood sample were collected from mother whereas from neonate cord blood and umbilical swab were taken. METHODS: Microscopy, culture for aerobic bacteria and serology for C. trachomatis were done. RESULT: Total number of cases proven to have microbiological infections based upon laboratory results. Maximum percentage of PNI cases were primigravida belonging to the age group of 20-30years and most common bacterial infections were caused by S.