An updated checklist of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) from Chandigarh, India and its surrounding area.

Background & objectives: The affirmation about the prevalence of mosquito species at a particular place and time is very significant, not only to predict the danger of diseases or future outbreaks but also to control the vectors in time. Despite mosquitoes being medically important, the information about its faunal diversity is very scanty as far as Chandigarh in India and its nearby areas are concerned. So, this study was carried out to survey the mosquito fauna from areas in and around Chandigarh in northern India. Methods: Detailed mosquito surveys were carried out to explore the mosquito fauna from various habitats of developed urban areas, gardens, slums and surrounding villages of Chandigarh from June 2017-November 2019 using hand nets and oral aspirators. Results: A total of 34 mosquito species belonging to 8 genera viz; Anopheles, Aedes, Armigeres, Culex, Coquillet-tidia, Mansonia, Mimomyia and Verrallina were recorded, identified and preserved along with detailed collection data, of which eight are new records from Chandigarh. Interpretation & conclusion: The present checklist of mosquito fauna comprising 34 species provides information on the occurrence of mosquito vectors in Chandigarh and its adjoining areas which will be beneficial for the health authorities to adopt appropriate measures in time for the control of these vectors.

Exploring microbial diversity responses in agricultural fields: a comparative analysis under pesticide stress and non-stress conditions.

Exposure to pesticides changes the microbial community structure in contaminated agricultural fields. To analyze the changes in the native microbial composition qRT-PCR, a metagenomic study was conducted. The qRT-PCR results exhibited that the uncontaminated soil has a higher copy number of 16S rDNA relative to the soil contaminated with pesticide. Metagenome analysis interprets that uncontaminated soil is enriched with proteobacteria in comparison with pesticide-contaminated soil. However, the presence of Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroides was found to be dominant in the pesticide-spiked soil. Additionally, the presence of new phyla such as Chloroflexi, Planctomycetes, and Verrucomicrobia was noted in the pesticide-spiked soil, while Acidobacteria and Crenarchaeota were observed to be extinct. These findings highlight that exposure to pesticides on soil significantly impacts the biological composition of the soil. The abundance of microbial composition under pesticide stress could be of better use for the treatment of biodegradation and bioremediation of pesticides in contaminated environments.

Is there any role for rapid tests for Chlamydia trachomatis?

The main aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of a recently introduced rapid diagnostic test, the QuickVue chlamydia test against polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for endocervical samples. Due to concerns surrounding the low specificity of rapid tests for a low prevalence population we assessed its performance for both high and low prevalence populations. The sensitivity and specificity of the QuickVue test compared to PCR were 65% (95% confidence interval [CI] 42-87%) and 100% respectively for the high prevalence population and 25% (95% CI: 5-70%) and 100% respectively for the low prevalence population. The positive predictive value (PPV) was 100% for both high and low prevalence population. The sensitivity of the QuickVue test for a high prevalence population was comparable to laboratory-based immunoassay techniques. However, for a low prevalence population, this test did not identify one in 4 cases due to its low sensitivity and its use cannot be recommended. Although the high specificity and PPV of this test indicate that for positive results no confirmatory test would be needed, because of the small number of cases included in this pilot study, this finding needs to be explored through a larger study.