A preliminary study on contact tracing & transmission chain in a cluster of 17 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in Basti, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Background & objectives: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has spread rapidly, causing unprecedented case fatalities across the world. The first laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 and also the first death associated with the disease in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh (UP) was reported from Basti on March 31, 2020. The present study describes a cluster of 17 cases including one death of confirmed COVID-19 in Basti, UP, India. Methods: A 25 year old male from Basti, UP, India, who died of respiratory failure was diagnosed post-mortem as SARS-CoV-2 positive. Contact tracing carried out by the district administration found 16 cases positive among tested contacts. A detailed retrospective investigation in the form of one-to-one interview was carried out with 16 recovered individuals to understand the transmission dynamics and clinical characteristics. Results: The findings showed that the cluster transmission occurred at three levels: first was direct contact with the index case which resulted in two secondary cases. Second, at a household level where four of the seven susceptible contacts got infected, and the third was an event (funeral) where 50 individuals participated and this resulted in seven SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals in whom infection could be directly linked to a funeral gathering. The index case had associated comorbidities and succumbed to death. Most of the cases were asymptomatic except two individuals, who developed mild symptoms. The mean duration of quarantine facility was 21.6±7.3 days, and the average time taken for the first negative test after testing positive to COVID-19 was 12±4.1 days. Interpretation & conclusions: The funeral acted as a super-spreader event for the transmission of infection among family members, relatives and others. Active contact tracing and confirmation of infection among the contacts led to the isolation of 16 SARS-CoV-2 positive cases and hence the limited spread of the disease. Asymptomatic carriers and super-spreader events are among the major challenges in the control and prevention of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Early testing, quarantine and social distancing may play key role in breaking the chain of transmission.

Clinical Profile and Outcomes of Nephrotic Syndrome With Acute Kidney Injury in Adults: A Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is characterized by various clinicopathological conditions like proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, and anasarca. Patients with NS are prone to experience associated problems like acute kidney injury (AKI). The present study aimed to investigate the clinical profile and outcomes of NS with AKI in adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective, observational study was conducted over a period of one year. Adult patients with NS diagnosed with AKI were enrolled in the study. Data were collected at baseline and patients were followed up for at least three months. RESULTS: A total of 60 patients were enrolled. The majority of the patients (78.3%) were aged between 18 and 30 years. Anemia was observed among 96.7% of the patients. A significant improvement was observed in the mean levels of proteinuria (5.80 vs. 1.70 gm/dL; P < 0.001), total cholesterol (270.00 mg/dL vs. 160.00 mg/dL), serum creatinine (2.18 mg/dL vs. 1.68 mg/dL; P < 0.001), and serum albumin (1.86 gm/dL vs. 3.29 gm/dL; P < 0.001) at baseline to three months. Pre-renal AKI was diagnosed in 95% of patients. According to histological classification, 19 patients had minimal change disease, whereas focal segmental glomerulosclerosis was observed in 23 patients. It was observed that 96.7% of the patients did not necessitate the need for renal replacement therapy. CONCLUSION: The present study successfully examined the clinical profile and outcomes of adults with NS and AKI. The findings provide valuable insights into the characteristics and prognosis of this patient population, contributing to a better understanding of NS with AKI in adults.

Molecular detection of spotted fever group of Rickettsiae in acute encephalitis syndrome cases from eastern Uttar Pradesh region of India.

The Eastern Uttar Pradesh region of India is known for its endemicity of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES). Decades of research have established that Orientia tsutsugamushi, a causative of scrub typhus, is a substantial contributor (>60%) for the AES cases besides other aetiology, but additional factors in the remaining proportion are still unidentified. Rickettsial infections are challenging to diagnose in clinical settings due to overlapping clinical symptoms, the absence of definitive indicators, a low index of suspicion, and the lack of low-cost, rapid diagnostic tools. Hence, the present study was designed to determine the load of rickettsial infections among AES cases. Furthermore, we aim to find out the prevalent rickettsial species in AES cases as well as in the vector population at this location. The study included the whole blood/cerebrospinal fluid of AES patients and arthropod specimens from rodents. The molecular identification was performed using the 23S-5S intergenic spacer region and ompB gene with genomic DNA obtained from studied specimens. We detected 5.34% (62/1160) of rickettsial infection in AES cases. Among these, phylogenetic analysis confirmed the presence of 54.8% Rickettsia conorii (n = 34) and 16.1% of Rickettsia felis (n = 10), while the rest proportion of the isolates was unidentified at the species level. Furthermore, R. felis was identified in one CSF sample from AES patients and three flea samples from Xenopsylla cheopis. Rickettsia spp. was also confirmed in one Ornithonyssus bacoti mite sample. The results of this investigation concluded the presence of spotted fever group Rickettsia spp. among AES identified cases as well as in the mite and flea vectors that infest rodents.

Unmet need for treatment-seeking from public health facilities in India: An analysis of sociodemographic, regional and disease-wise variations.

Treatment-seeking behaviour is closely associated with the health status of individuals and countries. About 800 million people have no access to health services in the developing world. Though the situation has been improving, the inequalities across geographical regions, socioeconomic status, and disease types continued to persist. The available literature suggests research gaps in examining the unmet need for treatment-seeking from public health facilities across sociodemographic characteristics, regions, and specific diseases. Data for this study comes from the three rounds of National Sample Survey (NSS) (2004, 2014, 2018). We applied descriptive, bivariate, and multivariable analysis to investigate the unmet need for treatment-seeking for public health facilities across sociodemographic characteristics, regions, and specific diseases between 2004 and 2018. The unmet need for treatment-seeking from public health facilities remained high at 60% in 2004 to 62% in 2018. However, the proportion of respondents who did not seek treatment has reduced 12% to 3% from 2004 to 2018. In states like Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, the unmet need for treatment-seeking from public health facilities was more than 60% in 2018. For 2018, the quality of services at public health facilities was the main reason for showing a higher unmet need for treatment-seeking in the richer MPCE quintiles. On the other hand, the ailment not considered serious as the main reason for the unmet need for treatment-seeking from any sources has got nearly doubled from 36% in 2004 to 71% in 2018. This study concludes that improving the availability of various kinds of services at public health facilities should be a priority under India's universal health coverage program. Education plays a vital role in treatment-seeking. Thus, there is an urgent need for increasing awareness among people for treatment-seeking. Ensuring a minimum quality of health care services and reducing long waiting timing would reduce the apathy to receive services from the public health facilities.

Extent of disability among paediatric Japanese encephalitis survivors and predictors of poor outcome: a retrospective cohort study in North India.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the Japanese encephalitis (JE)-associated long-term functional and neurological outcomes, the extent of reduced social participation and predictors of poor outcomes among paediatric JE survivors. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Laboratory-confirmed JE-positive paediatric cases (<16 years of age) hospitalised at the paediatric ward of Baba Raghav Das Medical College, Gorakhpur, India, between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2017, were followed up after 6-12 months of hospital discharge. PARTICIPANTS: 126 patients were included in the study; median age was 7.5 years (range: 1.5-15 years), and 74 (58.73%) were male. OUTCOME MEASURES: Functional outcome defined by Liverpool Outcome Score (LOS) dichotomised into poor (LOS=1-2) and good (LOS=3-5) outcome groups compared for demographic, clinical and biochemical parameters for prognostic factors of poor outcomes. Social participation of patients scaled on Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation score 2-5. RESULTS: About 94 of 126 (74.6%) children developed neurological sequelae at different levels of severity. Age-expected social participation was compromised in 90 out of 118 children. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, a combination of parameters, JE unvaccinated status (OR: 61.03, 95% CI (14.10 to 264); p<0.001), low Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) at admission (≤8) (OR: 8.6, 95% CI (1.3 to 57.1); p=0.026), malnutrition (OR: 13.56, 95% CI (2.77 to 66.46); p=0.001) and requirement of endotracheal intubation (OR: 5.43, 95% CI (1.20 to 24.44); p=0.027) statistically significantly predicted the poor outcome with 77.8% sensitivity and 94.6% specificity. The goodness-of-fit test showed that the model fit well (Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test) (χ 2=3.13, p=0.988), and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.950. CONCLUSION: This study estimates the burden of JE-presenting post-discharge deaths (15.4%) and disability (63.08%). Those who did not receive JE vaccine, were suffering from malnutrition, had GCS ≤8 at admission and required endotracheal intubation had poorer outcomes.

Prevalence, Associated Factors, and Health Expenditures of Noncommunicable Disease Multimorbidity-Findings From Gorakhpur Health and Demographic Surveillance System.

Background: Noncommunicable disease (NCD) multimorbidity throws a unique challenge to healthcare systems globally in terms of not only management of disease, but also familial, social, and economic implications associated with it. Objective: To assess the prevalence of NCD multimorbidity and its associated risk factors along with health expenditures among adults (≥18 years) living in a rural area. Methods: A secondary data analysis of the first-round survey done as part of the Gorakhpur Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (GHDSS) was done. Information related to self-reported morbidity and other variables related to sociodemographics and out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) was captured using a pretested questionnaire. Multivariable cluster adjusted binomial regression analysis was done to identify factors associated with multimorbidity. Results: The overall prevalence of NCD multimorbidity was found to be 1.8% (95% CI: 1.7-1.9%). The prevalence of NCD multimorbidity was highest among elderly (≥60 years) [6.0% (95% CI: 5.5-6.5%)] and among women [2.4% (95% CI: 2.3-2.6%)]. Sociodemographic factors, such as age, gender, occupation, education, marital status, religion, caste, and household wealth, were all found to be independently associated with NCD multimorbidity. The median annual OOPE was found to be significantly higher among those with NCD multimorbidity (INR 20,000) compared with those with no NCD (INR 5,000) or having only one NCD (INR 8,000). Conclusion: Among the adults in GHDSS, about 13 in every 100 were suffering from at least one NCD and around two in 100 were having NCD multimorbidity. Those with NCD multimorbidity spent almost four times higher annual OOPE compared with those without NCDs.

Health Seeking Behaviour and Healthcare Utilization in a Rural Cohort of North India.

BACKGROUND: The healthcare infrastructure of a country determines the health-seeking behaviour of the population. In developing countries such as India, there is a great disparity in the distribution of healthcare institutions across urban and rural areas with disadvantages for people living in rural areas. OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were to study the health-seeking behavior and factors associated with the use of formal healthcare among the Gorakhpur Health and Demographic Surveillance System (GHDSS) cohort of North India. METHODS: The study was conducted in 28 villages from two rural blocks in the Gorakhpur district of eastern Uttar Pradesh, North India. Structured questionnaires were used to collect the data with regard to demographics, health-seeking behaviour and healthcare utilization. An adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was used to report the factors associated with the utilization of healthcare. RESULTS: Out of 120,306 individuals surveyed, 19,240 (16%) individuals reported having any health problem in the last 15 days. Of them, 90% sought healthcare for their health needs. The formal healthcare utilization was 79%. The use of public health facilities was very low (37%) with most of the people seeking treatment from private healthcare (63%). Females, people with a higher level of education (graduate and above), and those belonging to rich and middle tercile were more likely to use formal healthcare services. Among different ailments, respiratory problems, gastrointestinal problems, and musculoskeletal problems were associated with decreased use of formal healthcare. CONCLUSION: About four in five individuals surveyed who had health problems sought treatments from formal healthcare with three in five preferring private institutions to public healthcare facilities due to a perceived higher level of treatment quality and nearby availability. There is an urgent need to re-establish community trust among public healthcare facilities with a focus on delivering on-site health care and enhancing the quality of services offered by public healthcare institutions.