An intrafamilial outbreak in West Bengal, India, involving 5 deaths and person-to-person transmission was attributed to Nipah virus. Full-genome sequence of Nipah virus (18,252 nt) amplified from lung tissue showed 99.2% nt and 99.8% aa identity with the Bangladesh-2004 isolate, suggesting a common source of the virus.

Pathogenic Klebsiella pneumoniae, resistant to beta-lactam and quinolone drugs, is widely recognized as important bacteria causing array of diseases. The resistance property is obtained by acquisition of plasmid encoded bla-TEM , bla SHV , bla CTX-M , QNRA, QNRB and QNRS genes. The aim of this study was to document the prevalence and association of these resistant genes in K. pneumoniae infecting patients in India. Approximately 97 and 76.7 % of the 73 K. pneumoniae isolates showed resistance towards betalactam and quinolone drugs respectively. Bla genes were detected in 74 % of K. pneumoniae isolates; with prevalence in the following order: bla TEM [ bla SHV [ bla CTXM . QNR genes were detected in 67 % samples. Chi-square analysis revealed significant association between presence of bla and qnr genes in our study (P value = 0.000125). Sequence analysis of some bla TEM , bla SHV , bla CTX-M and QNRB PCR products revealed presence of bla TEM1 (GenBank accession: JN193522), bla TEM116 (JN193523 and JN193524), bla SHV11 , bla CTXM72 variants (JF523199) and QNRB1 (JN193526 and JN193527) in our samples.

Background:Seborrheic dermatitis (SD) is an inflammatory skin disorder in which colonies of Malassezia furfur have been found in affected areas.Aim:The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of itraconazole in the treatment of severe SD.Materials and Methods:Itraconazole was given to 30 patients of SD in a dose of 100 mg twice daily for 1 week followed by 200 mg/day for first 2 days of the following 2 months. The response was noted on day 15, 30, 60, and 90. The clinical response was graded as markedly effective, effective, or ineffective.Results:Clinical improvement (evaluated as markedly effective or effective) was observed in 83.3% cases.Conclusion:The anti-inflammatory activity of oral itraconazole suggests that it should be the first-line therapy in severe SD.

Background:Plantar ulcers commonly occur in leprosy patients, which usually recur and cause morbidity in such cases.Aims:The aim of the study is to find out the bacteriological profile of these ulcers and to find out the antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates so that appropriate drugs may be chosen for treatment and for prevention of recurrence.Materials and Methods:Fifty-six samples from recurrent plantar ulcers of paucibacillary leprosy patients (attending the outpatient department of Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine) were studied for the purpose. Proper sample collection, gram staining, inoculation on culture media, and final identification by biochemical methods were undertaken. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was done for appropriate choice of drugs.Results:Mixed growth of bacteria was seen in 20 (36%) cases while single organism was isolated from the rest. Staphylococcus aureus is the predominant single isolate followed by E. coil, Proteus sp. and Pseudomonas sp. Chloramphenicol and gentamycin are the two drugs that have shown efficacy to the extent of 75 to 100% and 25 to 100% respectively in vitro studies.Conclusion:Bacteriological study of plantar ulcers of leprosy patients has revealed Staphylococcus aureus as the main pathogen. Treatment with chloramphenicol and gentamycin holds good prospect as per our study.

Context: Leptospirosis is a zoonotic infection with worldwide significance. It is caused by a spirochete Leptospira interrogans, which has many serogroups and a large number of serovars. Leptospirosis is an emerging public health problem in India. Aims: Leptospirosis is an emerging public health problem and keeping this in mind 216 clinically suspected cases of leptospirosis have been considered for serological study. Failure to recognize these cases leads to serious morbidity and mortality. Hence, the present study was undertaken to identify these cases by simple laboratory techniques so that timely management could be undertaken. Settings and Design: Hospital-based cross-sectional case control study. Subjects and Methods: Patients with unexplained fever for more than seven days with or without jaundice or renal failure were taken up for this study. IgM ELISA tests were performed with the serum samples of the patients. Statistical Analysis Used: Simple statistical methods applying Epi info. Results: Total 77 patients were found to be reactive for IgM ELISA. Total 100% of seropositive patients had fever and 40% had jaundice. Peak incidence of the disease was found in the period from July to November (monsoon and post-monsoon period). Male preponderance was seen and mainly urban population was found to be seropositive in our study. Conclusions: Seroprevalence of leptospirosis was found to be remarkable in our study; 35% of the clinically suspected patients showed positive IgM ELISA tests.

The emerging threat of widespread vancomycin resistance pose a serious public health concern. The objective of this study was to find the existence of vancomycin intermediateresistant Staphylococcus spp (VIS) colonization in hands of health care workers. METHODS: 1284 isolates of Staphylococcus spp, from the fingers of 528 health care workers (HCW) of two tertiary level Government hospitals, were studied to identify the reduced susceptibility of vancomycin by minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) determination. RESULTS: The result indicated that 1058(82.39%) isolates have MICs of ≤4µg/ml and 226 (17.56%) isolates have MICs ≥4 µg/ml (but <32µg/ml), which is intermediate range between sensitive and resistance. CONCLUSION: This data revealed the significant presence of vancomycin intermediate-resistant staphylococci (VIS) in nonclinical isolates in Kolkata in the defined period of study.

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BACKGROUND Low occurrence of mutant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with multi-drug resistant genes in cavitary pulmonary tuberculosis and dramatic reduction of metabolic activity of tubercle bacilli in chronically infected animals reveal that apart from drug resistant genes, long generation time could be an additional explanation of drug resistance. We wanted to analyze the drug resistance pattern of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from new sputum smear positive patients and previously treated patients on failing regimen in the light of generation time. METHODS 20 new sputum smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients and 20 previously treated patients on failing regimen were placed in the study. Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates were obtained in pure culture by decontaminating, liquefying & concentrating sputum sample & anti-tubercular susceptibility tests were performed. From these, 10 all-drug (Rifampicin and Isoniazid) sensitive isolates, 10 resistant to at least one drug (Rifampicin/Isoniazid) were chosen. Single mycobacterial cell suspension was prepared from each. After proper standardization, they were inoculated in Middlebrook 7H9 broth and incubated at 37 0 C in 10% CO2. Subculture was done at intervals of 0, 18, 36, 54, 72 hours, using 10μl of each culture suspension in Middlebrook 7H11 agar plate to measure CFU/ml. Generation time was evaluated from steep portion of the growth curve using standard formula. RESULTS It was found that, mean generation time of MDR isolates of previously treated patients on failing regimen (35.27+2.44 hrs.) were significantly greater (p= 0.04, i.e. <0.05) in comparison to the drug sensitive isolates (21.42+1.6 hrs.). CONCLUSIONS Thus, mutant strains of tubercle bacilli, which are slow multipliers, as suggested by their long generation time could hardly be killed by the regimens containing drugs targeting bacterial multiplication. Hence, apart from genes, long generation time is a potential, additional explanation for drug resistance.