Semiochemical based integrated livestock pest control.

The role of arthropods as livestock pests has been well established. Besides their biting habits causing nuisance in animals; they are important vectors for transmission of economically important livestock diseases worldwide. Various pests and vector control managemental programs that also make use of chemicals have variable success rates. Consequently, insecticide/acaricide resistance has been reported against most of the commonly used chemicals along with increased concern for environment and demand for clean and green, residue-free animal products. This calls for an urgent need to develop novel, alternate, effective strategies/technologies. This lays the foundation for the use of semiochemicals as alternatives along with other biological control agents. Current knowledge on semiochemical use in livestock is refined and limited; however, it has been widely exploited in the agricultural sector to control plant and food crop pests, surveillance, and monitoring. Semiochemicals have an added advantage of being natural and safe; however, knowledge of extraction and quantification by using assays needs to be explicit. Expertise is required in behavioral and electrophysiological studies of arthropods and their interactions with the host and environment targeting specific semiochemicals for promising results. A thorough prior understanding on aspects such as mechanism of action, the stimulus for the release, the effecter/target species, response produced, application methods, dose and concentration is required to develop any successful pest/vector control program. The current review provides essential and frontline information on semiochemicals and their potential applications in the livestock sector along with future challenges and interventions.

Study of dry eye disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus and its association with diabetic retinopathy in Western India.

Purpose: The study was conducted to evaluate occurrence of dry eye disease (DED) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and its association with diabetic retinopathy (DR) in the affected patients in western India. Methods: One hundred and five type 2 diabetic patients referred to a tertiary eye care center were consecutively selected. A detailed systemic history was evaluated. DED was assessed by Ocular Surface Disease Index questionnaire, Schirmer's test, tear breakup time (TBUT), and fluorescein staining of cornea and conjunctiva, graded according to the National Eye Institute workshop grading. All patients underwent detailed fundus evaluation and DR, if present, was graded according to Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy (ETDRS) criteria. Results: Prevalence of DED in type 2 diabetics was 43.81% (92/210 eyes). The prevalence and severity of DED was found to be more in patients having higher glycosylated hemoglobin levels (P < 0.0001). Prevalence of DED was found to be high in those not taking any treatment (P < 0.0001). A statistically significant association was found between duration of DM and presence of DED (P = 0.02). Among the patients with DED, a majority had proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR; 57/92 eyes, 61.96%). Conclusion: The study highlights a significant correlation between DED and DM, and hence, examination for DED with fundus examination should be an integral part of the assessment of type 2 diabetics.

Reticular corneal epithelial edema with topical netarsudil.

Rho-associated protein kinase inhibitor (ROCK) therapy for corneal endothelial dysfunction or damage other than glaucoma has been reported with few ocular side effects. We report reticular epithelial edema (REE) with netarsudil (0.02%) therapy in four cases with different clinical scenarios (three cases with corneal transplant and one case postcataract extraction). REE developed in all cases variably and cleared on cessation of netarsudil in three cases. One case was continued on netarsudil due to REE sparing the visual axis with no active ocular complaints. Partial clearance of stromal edema observed in all cases was correlated clinically to visual acuity considering existing comorbidities in an individual case.

Acute graft rejection in a high-risk corneal transplant following COVID-19 vaccination: A case report.

As COVID-19 vaccination is being undertaken all over the world, its side effects are materializing slowly. One such emerging side effect is acute graft rejection in corneal transplant (CT) cases post COVID-19 vaccination. We report a case of left eye (LE) repeat penetrating keratoplasty presenting with diminished vision in LE within 2 days of COVID-19 vaccination (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Corona Virus Vaccine Recombinant, COVISHIELD™). The patient was diagnosed with acute graft rejection post vaccination and was treated with topical and systemic immunosuppression therapy with successful outcome in terms improvement of visual acuity and corneal graft clarity. Timely presentation, diagnosis, and management may help to survive acute rejection episodes post vaccination.

Foldscope: A smartphone based diagnostic tool for fungal keratitis.

PURPOSE: Smartphone-based microscopy tool like foldscope (FS) may serve the purpose of a low-cost diagnostic alternative to the compound light microscope especially in areas with limited resources. The purpose of this study was to detect fungal pathogens causing keratitis on direct smear by smartphone-mounted FS and to evaluate the efficacy of FS against routine compound light microscope (CLM). METHODS: The prospective study was conducted at a tertiary eye care center from September 2019 to March 2020. The study included 60 smear examinations (Gram stain [GM] n = 30, Lactophenol Cotton Blue [LCB] n = 30) to detect fungal pathogens from corneal scraping material of clinically suspected fungal keratitis (FK) cases. The diagnostic utility of FS was compared with CLM for both GM and LCB wet mount. Data collected were used to quantify the agreement using Cohen's kappa between CLM and FS imaging. RESULTS: Forty-six samples out of 60 were positive for fungi using CLM. GM stain and LCB showed 22/30 (73.33%) and 24/30 (80%) positive results with CLM, respectively. Moderate agreement (0.49) was observed between CLM and FS with the smartphone method. LCB mount showed high specificity of 1.00 over 0.87 of GM stain for FS with the smartphone. CONCLUSION: Direct smear can be an early and sensitive measure to diagnose FK other than clinical suspicion. The smartphone-mounted FS has limited sensitivity as an alternative to CLM, but excellent specificity in the present study for FK. The FS as a smartphone-based diagnostic tool is simple, portable, and inexpensive in resource-constrained rural or remote clinical and public health settings in the absence of CLM and other higher diagnostic modalities.

Amniotic membrane transplant in acute ocular surface burns in Western India: A tertiary eye care center study.

Purpose: To evaluate the outcomes of early amniotic membrane transplant (AMT) in acute ocular surface burns using Dua's classification. Methods: In this retrospective analysis conducted at a tertiary eye care center in Western India. We included 27 eyes of 24 patients from May 2014 to May 2019 who underwent AMT within 2 weeks post insult along with medical treatment for acute ocular surface burns using Dua's classification for grading on presentation. Post-operative assessment for ocular surface epithelization, corneal vascularization, symblepharon formation, and visual outcome at the time of complete epithelization was done. Results: Eight, seven, three, and nine eyes with grade III, IV, V, and VI, respectively, were included in the study. The mean duration of the presentation was 5.5 ± 3.6 days, with the mean follow-up of 4.83 ± 2.2 months. Alkali burn (62.96%, 17/27 eyes) was the commonest. The mean epithelization time was 5.80 ± 2.92 weeks. Corneal vascularization for >6 clock hours was seen in 52.38% (11/21 eyes with vascularization). Symblepharon was seen in 55.55% (15/27 eyes). Vision improvement and corneal vascularization to a lesser extent (<6 clock hours) was observed in Group A (grades III and IV) as compared to group B (grades V and VI) and found to be significant (P-value = 0.031, P value = 0.007, respectively). Conclusion: Amniotic membrane grafting is a useful aid in moderate grades of acute ocular surface burns with an important adjunct role in severe cases.

Recommendations for an expert team investigating a case of cluster endophthalmitis.

Occurrence of postoperative cluster endophthalmitis is a nightmare for the operating surgeon, the involved hospital, and the patients. Due to its multifactorial etiology, surveillance of such an event is extremely important to identify the causative factor and to prevent recurrences in future. For surveillance, a team of ophthalmologists and microbiologists is often appointed by the local health department, and it is imperative that this team investigates thoroughly, reports appropriately safeguarding the interests of all, and also suggests remedial measures for future. Much literature is available on postoperative endophthalmitis and sterilization and disinfection protocols, but to the best of our knowledge, there is none to guide the surveillance team regarding the conduct of the entire process of investigation in the case of such unfortunate incidents. Through this article, we have made an attempt to formulate recommendations for expert teams investigating cases of postoperative cluster endophthalmitis.