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Background Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) has emerged as an important differential diagnosis of febrile illness for physicians caring for patients in the Western Ghats of South India over the last decade. Aim This study seeks to familiarize physicians with the clinical presentation and the clinical, laboratory and imaging findings of the various complications of KFD. It also seeks to review the literature on the complications of KFD described. Material and methods This was a records-based retrospective study of the patients with KFD referred for tertiary care management to Government Medical College Kozhikode, Kerala over 11 years, from January 2013 to December 2023. Results A total of 12 case records were obtained and analysed. All the patients in this case series belonged to tribal ethnic groups enhancing its social significance. The complications of KFD (as calculated in the 11 patients for whom all the records were available) were altered sensorium (nine, 82%), persistent shock (seven, 64%), Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)/pneumonitis (six, 55%), encephalitis (six, 55%), myocarditis (six, 55%), bleeding manifestations (six, 55%), hepatitis (six, 55%), acute kidney injury (four, 36%), rhabdomyolysis (three. 27%), hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) (two, 18%), stress hyperglycaemia (two, 18%), pancreatitis (one, 9%), peritonitis (one, 9%). The case fatality rate in this series was 42%( n=5/12). An autopsy was done on one patient which showed congested and oedematous lungs with subpleural haemorrhage. Petechial haemorrhages were noted in the liver, spleen and kidney. The total leucocyte count was lower than 2500 c/mm3 in 10 (90%) patients. Out of the four patients in whom serum ferritin was tested, it was elevated (above 500 ng/ml) in all patients; and was above 1000 ng/ml in three patients. Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis was diagnosed in two patients. This is a unique finding of our series. Both of these patients succumbed to the illness. A cerebrospinal fluid study was done in six patients and revealed normal values except in one patient. Troponin assays were done in seven patients and were positive in five patients indicating that myocarditis is a major contributor to shock, which is one of the commonest complications in KFD. Serum creatinine phosphokinase ranged from 656 to 23,000 U/L. Conclusions Altered sensorium was the most common alarming symptom that warrants referral to a higher centre. The major organ involvements that dominated the clinical presentation and course of illness were neurological complications, hypotension, significantly contributed by myocarditis and acute respiratory distress syndrome/pneumonitis. Encephalitis, myocarditis, ARDS and HLH were the major complications that caused mortality in our series. The elevated serum ferritin and the mortality associated with HLH described need further research to investigate the role of the macrophage system in the pathogenesis of severe KFD.
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Background Kyasanur forest disease (KFD), also known as monkey fever, was first recognized in the Shimoga district of Karnataka, India, in 1957. This study was conceived to address the paucity of medical literature on KFD, to describe the clinical and laboratory features of real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) confirmed cases of KFD, and to detect any change in the clinical picture and presentation of the disease over the last 30 years. Aim The study sought to document the clinical and laboratory features of Kyasanur forest disease (KFD), a tick-borne arboviral disease, now emerging in many parts of southern India. Material and methods This was a retrospective study using secondary data of patients with real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR)-confirmed KFD in a secondary care hospital in Wayanad, Kerala, India. Results Sixty rRT-PCR-proven KFD patients were included in the study. Commonly noted clinical symptoms were fever (98%), headache (80%), body ache (86%), vomiting (61%), and prostration (83%). Relative bradycardia, hypotension (45%), and oral lesions (23%) were the frequent physical signs. The median total leukocyte count and median platelet count at admission were 2600 per µL and 1.62 per µL, respectively. The median erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 10 mm/hr. Urinary sediments and albuminuria were seen in 66% and 60% respectively. The major complications observed were neurological complications (23%), bleeding manifestations (20%), and persistent shock (20%). The common neurological complications were seizures, altered sensorium, aseptic meningitis, and focal neurological deficits. The case fatality rate in the study was 6.7%. Conclusions The clinical picture of a prostrating viral syndrome in an epidemiological setting of KFD with marked leucopenia, moderate thrombocytopenia, low erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), albuminuria, urinary sediments, and moderately elevated transaminases help in making an early diagnosis of KFD. Neurological complications in the initial two weeks are associated with poor outcomes.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapidly spread from a city in China to almost every country in the world, affecting millions of individuals. The rapid increase in the COVID-19 cases in the state of Kerala in India has necessitated the understanding of SARS-CoV-2 genetic epidemiology. We sequenced 200 samples from patients in Kerala using COVIDSeq protocol amplicon-based sequencing. The analysis identified 166 high-quality single-nucleotide variants encompassing four novel variants and 89 new variants in the Indian isolated SARS-CoV-2. Phylogenetic and haplotype analysis revealed that the virus was dominated by three distinct introductions followed by local spread suggesting recent outbreaks and that it belongs to the A2a clade. Further analysis of the functional variants revealed that two variants in the S gene associated with increased infectivity and five variants mapped in primer binding sites affect the efficacy of RT-PCR. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first and most comprehensive report of SARS-CoV-2 genetic epidemiology from Kerala.