Although C. auris infection has been observed across India, the number of cases is higher in public-sector hospitals in the north of the country. Longer stay in ICU, underlying respiratory illness, vascular surgery, medical intervention and antifungal exposure are the major risk factors for acquiring C. auris infection even among patients showing lower levels of morbidity.

Aims: To study the prevalence of tuberculosis infection among children in household contact with adults having pulmonary tuberculosis, and identify the possible risk factors. Methods: Children under the age of 5 years who were in household contact with 200 consecutive adults with pulmonary tuberculosis underwent tuberculin skin testing. Transverse induration of greater than 10 mm was defined as positive tuberculin test suggestive of tubercular infection. Infected children underwent chest radiography and analysis of gastric lavage fluid or induced sputum for detection of acid fast bacilli. Results: Tuberculin test was positive in 95 of 281 contacts (33.8%), of which 65 were contacts of sputum positive patients, while 30 were contacts of sputum negative patients. Nine of these children were diagnosed as having tuberculosis based on clinical features and/or recovery of acid fast bacilli; seven were in contact with sputum positive adults. The important risk factors for transmission of infection were younger age, severe malnutrition, absence of BCG vaccination, contact with an adult who was sputum positive, and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Conclusion: The prevalence of tuberculosis infection and clinical disease among children in household contact with adult patients is higher than in the general population, and risk is significantly increased by contact with sputum positive adults.

Purpose This study was performed to determine the occurrence of ocular surface manifestations in patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Methods A systematic search of electronic databases i.e. PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, OVID and Google scholar was performed using a comprehensive search strategy. The searches were current through 31st May 2020. Pooled data from cross-sectional studies was used for meta-analysis and a narrative synthesis was conducted for studies where a meta-analysis was not feasible. Results A total of 16 studies reporting 2347 confirmed COVID-19 cases were included. Pooled data showed that 11.64% of COVID-19 patients had ocular surface manifestations. Ocular pain (31.2%), discharge (19.2%), redness (10.8%), and follicular conjunctivitis (7.7%) were the main features. 6.9% patients with ocular manifestations had severe pneumonia. Viral RNA was detected from the ocular specimens in 3.5% patients. Conclusion The most common reported ocular presentations of COVID-19 included ocular pain, redness, discharge, and follicular conjunctivitis. A small proportion of patients had viral RNA in their conjunctival/tear samples. The available studies show significant publication bias and heterogeneity. Prospective studies with methodical collection and data reporting are needed for evaluation of ocular involvement in COVID-19.

Globally, both obesity and underweight are severe health risks for various diseases. The current study systematically examined the emerging evidence to identify an association between body mass index (BMI) and COVID-19 disease outcome. Online literature databases (e.g., Google Scholar, PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, Medrixv and BioRixv) were screened following standard search strategy having the appropriate keyword such as “Obesity”, “Underweight”, “BMI”, “Body Mass Index”, “2019-nCov”, “COVID-19, “novel coronavirus”, “coronavirus disease”. Studies published till 20 th April 2020 were included without language restriction. These studies include case reports, case series, cohort, and any other which reported BMI, overweight/obesity or underweight, and its complication with COVID-19 disease. This study observed COVID-19 infection among BMI < 25 kg/m 2 with prevalence of 0.60 (95%CI: 0.34–0.86, I 2 = − 76.77) as compared to the 0.34 (95%CI: 0.23–0.44, I 2 = 53.45% heterogeneity) having BMI > 25 kg/m 2 . The results of the current study show that BMI plays a significant role in COVID-19 severity in all age groups, especially the older individuals. A panel of doctors and nursing staff should review COVID-19 patients with higher BMI with other co-morbidities (diabetes and hypertension), and they should be given increased vigilance, priority in testing, and treatment to control the associated co-morbidities. Further, the COVID-19 patients whose illness entered 7–10 days, age > 50 years, and elevated CRP levels should be given additional medical considerations. Our finding showed that the population and patients with high BMI have moderate to high risk of medical complications with COVID-19, and hence, their health status should be monitored more frequently including monitoring of blood pressure and blood glucose.

A scoring system for prediction of neonatal sepsis was evolved after determining the interdependence of perinatal risk factors for infection. Records of 100 babies with a history of one or more perinatal risk factors were analysed for incidence of infection within 4 hours of birth and followed for 1 week thereafter for appearance of any clinical or laboratory signs of infection. The incidence of sepsis was compared amongst various risk factors. Since majority of perinatal risk factors occur in combinations interdependence of factors was determined using actuarial analysis and score assignment was done whether the factor was dependent or independent. No definite infection was seen in the control group of 100 babies having no history of high risk factors. The scoring system thus elucidated is recommended as a screening procedure for selecting of neonates for laboratory evaluation.

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Rapid lung MRI was found to be comparable to MDCT for detecting thoracic abnormalities in pediatric patients with clinically suspected pulmonary infections. It has a great potential as the first line cross-sectional imaging modality of choice in this patient population. However, further studies will be helpful for confirmation of our findings.

The aetiology of psoriasis remains elusive. Among multiple factors hypothesised, association of Malassezia spp. is supported by response to topical antifungals. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of Malassezia spp. with psoriatic lesion. The subjects included 50 consecutive patients with psoriasis, and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Samples were collected using scotch tape over one square inch area from the lesional and non-lesional sites. The isolated Malassezia spp. were identified by phenotypic methods and confirmed by ITS2 PCR-RFLP and sequencing of D1/D2 region of 26S rDNA. Psoriatic lesions were seen commonly on scalp (28%, 14), chest (22%, 11) and arms (16%, 8). Majority of cases presented with chronic plaque form (76%, 38; P < 0.05). From psoriatic lesions, most frequently isolated Malassezia species was M. furfur (70.6%, 24), followed by M. japonica (11.8%, 4) and M. globosa (8.8%, 3). From healthy individuals M. furfur, M. sympodialis, mixture of M. furfur and M. globosa was isolated in 73.3%, 10% and 16.7% (22, 3 and 5) of cases respectively. The average number of colonies isolated from scalp lesions of the patients was significantly higher (P = 0.03) than healthy areas. Although no strong association of Malassezia species was formed with psoriatic lesion in general, the fungi may play a role in exacerbation of scalp psoriasis.