Background
The immune response after SARS-CoV-2 is complex and may be affected by severity of the disease, race, etc. The present study was conducted to assess the serial antibody response among the COVID-19 patients admitted in the hospital.
Methods
The study was conducted between July and October 2020 in a dedicated COVID-19 hospital. All consented patients underwent serial testing of antibodies using a rapid chromatographic immunoassay-based qualitative IgG/IgM kit every third day until their discharge or death. The data about age, sex, severity of disease, length of stay, onset of symptoms, date of molecular testing were also collected. Appropriate statistical tests were used.
Results
The mean age of 1000 COVID-19 patients was 47.5 ± 17.9 years. Out of the total, 687 (68.7%) were males. With respect to severity, 682 (68.2%) were asymptomatic/mild, 200 (20%) were moderate and 118 (11.8%) were severe cases. The seroconversion percentage increased from 12.8% to 97.9% and 16.3% to 80.9% for IgG and IgM respectively in 21 days. The median time for seroconversion was 10 days (IQR:6–12 days) for IgG and eight days (IQR: 6–11 days) for IgM. At the time of discharge (median nine days), detectable IgG and IgM antibodies were present in 502 (52.46%) and 414 (43.26%) participants respectively. Seroconversion was associated with days after the symptoms, increasing severity of the disease and the presence of co-morbidity.
Conclusion
Seroconversion increased during the period of observation. The severe/moderate cases of COVID-19 tend to have an early seroconversion as compared to the asymptomatic/mild cases. Only half of the patients were seroconverted at discharge.
Background
The first dose of the ChAdOx1 nCoV- 19 Corona Virus Vaccine (Covishield) was administered to the eligible beneficiaries of tertiary care institute of Western Maharashtra on 16 Jan 21 and in the past three months almost 97% of the staff has been vaccinated. The present study analyses the incidence of COVID cases in the unvaccinated and vaccinated population of the institute.
Methods
All Covid 19 infections (RT-PCR positive) from 01 February 21 to 25 April 21 were included in the study and analyzed as per their vaccination status. To assess the COVID 19 transmission in contacts, Secondary Attack Rates (SAR) of the pre-vaccination period (Jun–Oct 20) was compared with the present SAR.
Results
A total of 113 cases occurred in the study period (01 Feb to 25 Apr 21). Lower number of infections were observed among the fully vaccinated as compared to partially vaccinated and non-vaccinated. The overall vaccine effectiveness was found to be 88.6% (81.55–92.37) and 44.1% (4.55–67.3) in completely and partially vaccinated individuals respectively. Hazard Ratios for getting infected dropped significantly after 28 days of the second dose. The SAR in high risk contacts (HRCs) was found to be 4.25%, which was lower than SAR (20.6%) of pre-vaccination period.
Conclusion
This is one of the earliest studies in India to report the impact of COVID-19 vaccination. The results indicate that the vaccine provides effective protection against COVID-19 infection. However, given the complex dynamics of vaccination, the role of NPIs and implementation of COVID appropriate behavior cannot be undermined.
SummaryResults are described of an experiment involving various pearl millet–cow pea or green gram planting and interplanting systems under four levels of nitrogen and two levels of phosphorus. Planting of pearl millet in paired rows of 30 and 70 cm gave as much yield as normal planting in uniform rows of 50 cm. The productivity per unit area was increased considerably when pearl millet was interplanted with one row of cow pea or green gram. Cow pea gave higher yield than green gram. Nitrogen fertilizer increased pearl millet as well as intercrops yield significantly. Pearl millet responded up to 60 kg N/ha and intercrops up to 30 kg N/ha. Phosphorus fertilizer did not produce marked improvement in either growth or yield of pearl millet. Application of 40 kg P2O5/ha increased grain yield of intercrops significantly
Background
After nine months of responding to the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, the scientific fraternity is yet to unravel the mystery of those who are at most risk from mortality. Despite resistance to wear masks, the global public health response has beaten the grimmer projections of millions of deaths. The present study seeks to analyze the survival of COVID-19 patients at a tertiary care hospital and identify the risk factors of mortality.
Methods
Medical records of 1233 RT PCR confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted in a tertiary care hospital between 01 April and 30 September 2020 were retrospectively analyzed for calculating overall survival and to investigate the independent predictors of survival of COVID-19 patients.
Results
There were 72 (5.8%) deaths; which occurred in 24.9% of the elderly (age > 60yrs) people (P < 0.001), 76.0% in people with multiple comorbidities (having more than one comorbidity) (P < 0.001), 75.6% in people with diabetes (P < 0.001), and 75.5% in people with hypertension (P < 0.001). A significantly higher risk of mortality was observed in elderly patients, patients with comorbidities, and patients requiring oxygen while admitted in the hospital.
Conclusion
Survival reflects the cure rates and is used by health professionals and policymakers to plan and implement disease control measures. The insights provided by the study would help facilitate the identification of patients at risk and timely provision of specialized care for the prevention of adverse outcomes in the hospital setting.
Late blight of potato is the major biotic constraint responsible for reduction in yield and quality of the pota-to crop. Globally, late blight is managed through application of multiple fungicidal chemical sprays affecting both human health and environment. Now a days, methods of biological control are gaining importance as these are non-toxic and also environment friendly. However, Phytophthora infestans multiplies very fast; therefore, biological con-trol method alone is not a viable option to manage late blight. Hence, integration of both methods is essential. Eleven treatments consisting of biocontrol agents and fungicides were evaluated against the late bight in three consecu-tive seasons (2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14) at ICAR-CPRIC, Modipuram. Meerut. The results revealed that the treat-ments ( T1 to T10) are effective for managing the disease up to certain level; however, lowest average disease se-verity (27.89%) was recorded in treatment when Bacillus subtilis (B5-0.25%) + Trichoderma viride (TV-0.7%) was applied before disease appearance followed by cymoxanil8+mancozeb 64%WP (0.3%) at onset of late blight and one more spray of B5+ TV after seven days. The next best treatment was application of B5+ TV before appearance of disease followed by metalaxyl 8+mancozeb 64%WP (0.25%) at onset of late blight and one more spray of B5+ TV against control (average disease severity 91.94%) with higher yield also except the treatment of three spray of mancozeb 75% WP (0.2%). These treatments could be integrated in farmer practices.
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