Indian J Med Res
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The elimination goal for leprosy as a public health problem at the national level was achieved in 2005 in India. However, the number of new cases reporting annually remained nearly the same during the last 10-15 years. Moreover, a substantial number of these new cases reported disabilities for the first time. Therefore, besides multidrug therapy (MDT), newer strategies with focus on effectively decreasing the number of new cases, optimizing the treatment of detected cases, averting disabilities and arresting the transmission of the disease are required. So the objective of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of Mycobacterium indicus pranii (MIP) vaccine implementation in National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP) for newly diagnosed leprosy patients as well as their contacts to arrest/decrease the transmission and occurrence of new cases. ⋯ Introduction of MIP vaccination in the NLEP appears to be a cost-effective strategy for India. Significant health gains were reduction in the number of new leprosy cases, decreased incidence and severity of reactions during treatment, and after release from treatment, prevention of disabilities, thus reducing the cost as well as stigma of the disease.
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Since the bacterium, Acinetobacter baumannii (AB) has acquired resistance to almost all commercially available antibiotics, the search for alternative treatment options continues to be need of the hour. Bacteriophage therapy seems to be the most promising amongst various proposed alternatives (e.g. antimicrobial peptides, bacteriocin, probiotics, etc.). The present study, therefore, aimed to evaluate the effect of different dosages of specific phages in immunocompromised rodents in a septicaemia model caused by AB mimicking real clinical situations. ⋯ As per the results of this study, it may be concluded that even if patients with acute infections report late to the hospital, a relatively low dose of the phage cocktail may be therapeutically beneficial.
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The biological spectrum of leptospirosis ranges from acute undifferentiated febrile illness to severe fatal syndrome or a combination of syndromes. Diagnosis on clinical grounds alone is difficult and depends on laboratory support. However, no confirmatory tests are available, which is rapid and can be performed with minimum facilities available. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the diagnostic utility, accuracy and reproducibility of a rapid real time-PCR based method (TruenatTM) for early diagnosis of leptospirosis, and its usage in low resource settings. ⋯ Our results showed that the test would be a useful tool for early diagnosis of leptospirosis in settings with minimal facilities and the test results could be obtained within an hour. This indicates that a specific therapy can be instituted during the early phase of the disease even at peripheral healthcare facilities as well during the outbreaks.
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Linezolid (LZD) is increasingly being used in tuberculosis (TB) treatment. However, LZD resistance has already been reported, which is highly alarming, given its critical therapeutic role. This study was aimed to phenotypically and genotypically assess LZD resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates at a laboratory in a tertiary care centre in Mumbai, India. ⋯ LZD resistance poses an important risk to the success of treatment regimens, especially those designed for resistant isolates; such regimens are extensively used in India. As LZD-containing regimens increase in prominence, it is important to support clinical decision-making with an improved understanding of the common mutations conferring LZD resistance and their frequency in different settings.