Indian journal of medical microbiology
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Indian J Med Microbiol · Oct 2021
Relevance of immune response and vaccination strategies of SARS-CoV-2 in the phase of viral red queen dynamics.
Following a relatively mild first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in India, a deadly second wave of the pandemic overwhelmed the healthcare system due to the emergence of fast-transmitting SARS-CoV-2 genetic variants. The emergence and spread of the B.1.617.2/Delta variant considered to be driving the devastating second wave of COVID-19 in India. Currently, the Delta variant has rapidly overtaken the previously circulating variants to become the dominant strain. Critical mutations in the spike/RBD region of these variants have raised serious concerns about the virus's increased transmissibility and decreased vaccine effectiveness. As a result, significant scientific and public concern has been expressed about the impact of virus variants on COVID-19 vaccines. ⋯ Phylogenetic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 isolates circulating in India suggests the emergence and spread of B.1.617 variant. The immunogenicity of currently approved vaccines indicates that the majority of vaccines elicit an antibody response and some level of protection. According to current data, vaccines in the pre-fusion configuration (2p substitution) have an advantage in terms of nAb titer, but the duration of vaccine-induced immunity, as well as the role of T cells and memory B cells in protection, remain unknown. Since vaccine efficacy on virus variants is one of the major factors to be considered for achieving herd immunity, existing vaccines need to be improved or effective next-generation vaccines should be developed to cover the new variants of the virus.
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Indian J Med Microbiol · Jul 2021
Evaluating the efficiency of specimen (sample) pooling for real-time PCR based diagnosis of COVID-19.
This study is aims at evaluating the efficacy and sensitivity of specimen pooling for testing of SARS-CoV-2 virus to determine the accuracy, resource savings, and identification of borderline positive cases without impacting the accuracy of the testing. ⋯ Pooled sample RT- PCR analysis strategies can save substantial resources and time for COVID-19 mass testing in comparison with individual testing without compromising the quality of outcome of the test. In particular, the pooled sample approach can facilitate mass screening in the early asymptomatic stages of COVID-19 infections.
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Indian J Med Microbiol · Nov 2020
Retraction Of PublicationWITHDRAWN: Can quantitative RT-PCR for SARS-coV-2 help in better management of patients and control of coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
This article has been withdrawn at the request of the author(s) and/or editor. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal.
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Indian J Med Microbiol · Jul 2020
Prevalence of COVID-19 antibodies in healthcare workers at the peak of the pandemic in Mumbai, India: A preliminary study.
Healthcare worker (HCW) infections due to COVID-19 are of serious consequence. Testing for antibodies against COVID-19 in HCWs has been previously recommended. ⋯ The prevalence of infection in asymptomatic HCWs was 4.3% and in previously symptomatic untested HCWs was 70%. We recommend that HCWs with a previous history of COVID symptoms who were not tested/tested negative by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction should be tested for antibodies at least 2 weeks after onset of symptoms.
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Although children with novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) typically present with fever and respiratory symptoms, some children have reported gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms including vomiting and diarrhoea during the course of the disease. The continuous positive detection of the viral RNA from faeces in children even after nasopharyngeal swabs turned negative suggests that the GI tract may shed virus and a tentative faecal-oral transmission. ⋯ COVID-19 has implications for the management of children with chronic luminal diseases. There is increasing concern regarding the risk that children with inflammatory bowel disease being infected with SARS-CoV-2.