The present aimed to assess the utility of serum transferrin receptor (sTfR) and sTfR -ferritin index in diagnosing iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in children. Ninety children≤ 12years of age with anemia (6-59 months; Hb<11g/dl and5-12years Hb<11.5g/dl) were recruited. Serum iron, total iron binding capacity, percent transferrin saturation (%TS) and serum ferritin were measured in all patients. Sixty-two children with IDA (SF<15µg/l and/or %TS<16) were included in the study. Thirty-five controls were also studied (non anemic children without ID). sTfR was measured (ELISA) in patients and controls and ROC curve made. sTfR was significantly (p<0.001) higher in patients (6.0 ± 2.9 µg/ml) as compared to controls (1.2 ± 0.6 µg/ml). sTfR-F index showed a similar trend. The area under the ROC curve for sTfR was 0.985 indicating good diagnostic ability. The sensitivity and specificity of sTfR ≥ 2.25 µg/ml for diagnosis of IDA was 90.3% and 94.1% respectively. sTfR and sTfR-ferritin index are useful tests for the diagnosis of IDA.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). It is a serious disorder of the immune system in which the body’s normal defenses against infection break down, leaving it vulnerable to a host of life-threatening infections. Human immunodeficiency and Treponema pallidum causative organism of syphilis share mode of transmission and risk factors. The study was conducted to assess the extent of seropositivity of syphilis among HIV positive patients at tertiary care hospital in Rajkot from JUNE 2016 to MAY 2017 and evaluate the need of routine screening for this infection among such patients. The samples were tested for HIV as per Strategy III of National AIDS control organization by using different system of testing to establish diagnosis of HIV. Samples were tested for antibodies to Treponema Pallidum by qualitative Rapid Plasma Reagine (RPR); reactive samples were retested with quantitative RPR (to rule out biological false positive samples) and by qualitative Treponema Pallidum heamagglutination test (TPHA) for confirmation of positive samples. Out of total 300 HIV positive patients, 69.67% were male and 30.00% were female. Only one was transgender. Out of 300 samples tested, 7(2.33%) samples were positive for syphilis with 5(2.39%) of male and 2(2.22%) of female patients. Higher prevalence was observed in age group of 21-30yrs 3(4.62%) and in male patients. We believe our data could help health professionals to deal better with HIV infected patients. We also believe our data reinforces the need of prevention programs on HIV transmission, which also lead to reduction in prevalence of Syphilis.

Pap smear is a screening procedure to detect precancerous lesions to prevent subsequent invasive cervical cancer. Manual Liquid Based Cytology (MLBC) has been developed as an alternative to Conventional Pap Smear (CPS) as it is said to increase the rate of detection of precancerous lesions as it reduces the screening time, the artefacts, giving a clean background on the smear. In this study, cervical screening was performed in all married women of reproductive age group who visited Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology over a period of one year from February 2017 to January 2018. Out of which 350 cases were randomly selected for comparison between CPS and MLBC. Slides were examined for cytomorphological parameters. CPS showed higher percentage of inflammatory lesion 80% as compared to MLBC with 46.1%, Unsatisfactory smear in CPS was 10% and in MLBC was 49%, Normal smear was reported in 07% cases in CPS and 3.15% in MLBC. Most common cause of unsatisfactory smear in CPS is obscuration by blood and inflammation whereas that in MLBC was scant cellularity. The cellular features are better in MLBC as compared to CPS and also background is more clear in MLBC as there was no obscuration by RBCs or inflammatory cells while in CPS, the background is dirty due to the presence of RBCs, necrosis and inflammation

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common bacterial infections encountered in clinical practice, which cause morbidity in both hospitalized and out patients. Increasing antimicrobial resistance among bacterial uro-pathogens is a significant health concern. Approximately 1 in 3 women will require antimicrobial treatment for a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) before age 24, and 40% to 50% of women will have a UTI during their lifetime. UTIs in male patients are considered complicated. Escherichia coli are the most common cause of UTIs. To determine spectrum of microorganisms responsible for UTIs and their antimicrobial sensitive pattern. Clean-Catch midstream urine of the patients was collected. Urine samples received in microbiology laboratory for culture from 881 patients clinically suspected of having urinary tract infection during the study period were processed according to standard protocol. Isolates were identified by conventional phenotypic methods and antibiotic sensitivity determined by standard Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method and follow Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. In this study 191 (21.68 %) patients out of 881 were shown to be urine culture positive out of them 122 (63.87%) females and 69 (36.13%) males. The most isolated bacterium was E. coli with frequency rate of 126 (65.97%). The other bacteria were Klebsiella spp. 35(18.32%), Pseudomonas spp. 18 (9.43%), and Acinetobacter spp. 12 (6.28%). It is concluded that Gram-negative bacilli were responsible for UTI infections in our patients. The most common isolated bacteria from urinary tract infections were E. coli followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae. The most effective antimicrobial agent was Imipenam and the least effective one was cephalexin.

The purpose of any blood/ blood product, when needs to be transfused to any patient, must be a safe one. For that reason, mandatory screening for diseases like HIV, HBV, HCV, Malaria & syphilis are done in all the authentic blood banks in Odisha. Conventionally screening tests for these diseases are usually done by rapid tests/ ELISA tests. During last few years to lessen the window period of these diseases, more advanced test modality like NAT (Nucleic Acid Testing) has been introduced in some transfusion centers in India. The present study has been done to find out the benefit & limitation of the NAT test over ELISA test. The study has been carried out over a period of two years in VIMSAR, NAT center of Odisha where all ELISA negative samples are subjected for testing. Some seronegative cases in ELISA when subjected to NAT testing showed positive results. The percentage of positive samples in NAT which have showed negative in ELISA test was found out to be 0.08% in HI, 0.27% in HBV &0.01% in HCV. NAT Screening may be beneficial in the population where sero-prevalence of Transfusion transmitted infection is high. Although NAT has got an added advantage of reducing the window period, all the blood centers of India cannot afford for the cost of NAT test, so proper donor deferral should be adopted during selection of eligible donors.

Staphylococcus Aureus is responsible for two main clinical presentations in humans: suppurative infections and toxigenic syndromes. In this work, we report a case of a young patient with necrotizing pneumonia caused by staphylococcus aureus producer Leukocidin of Panton and Valentine which presents a special entity in staphylococcal toxigenic syndromes, owing to the fact that it affects healthy immunocompetent subjects, and that its escalation is extremely fast in time and in the diverse territories of the world.

Dengue is one of the most serious mosquito-borne viral infections affecting tropical and subtropical countries in the world. Since there is no immune prophylactic or specific antiviral therapy available, timely and rapid diagnosis plays a vital role in patient management and implementation of control measures. The present study was planned to diagnose the dengue infection by detecting dengue NS-1 antigen & to study the seroprevalence of dengue NS-1 antigen. Dengue NS-1 antigen testing done by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed during July-2017 to September-2018 and the data were analyzed retrospectively. A total 3397 serum samples received from Guru Gobindsingh Hospital (O.P.D. & Indoor) for the detection of Dengue NS-1 Ag. Out of 3397 samples, total 841 (24.48%) were Positive for Dengue NS1 Ag among this, 548 (65.16%) male and 293 (34.84%) female. And 307 (36.50%) were 0-20 years of age, 448 (53.27%) were 21-40 years of age and 86 (10.23%) were >40 years of age. Present study shows that dengue fever is seen more in 21-40 years of age group and more common in male compare to female. Effective implementation of vector control measures through efforts toward vector breeding source reduction and with the use of personal prophylactic measures against mosquito bites will help in reducing the dengue prevalence in the community.

Red cell distribution width (RDW) is a measure of degree of variation in the red blood cell size. RDW is recorded as a part of the standard complete blood cell count. The objective of this prospective research study is to find out the independent association of RDW with morbidity in various clinical conditions. This was a fourteen months prospective study done on 450 patients who attended OPD in tertiary care hospital, out of which 306 patients were diagnosed with various clinical conditions, out of which 270 patients showed raised RDW values. In multivariable analysis, RDW remained significantly associated with patient morbidity. In patients, RDW is an independent predictor of morbidity. Considering the fact that RDW is routinely measured in complete blood count without added expenses, this can play role as an "priceless prognostic indicator" in patients.

Plasma lipid can be affected by variety of ways in patient‘s of liver disease. Liver cirrhosis is associated with reduction in plasma TG and TC levels due to reduction in lipoprotein biosynthetic capacity. To study the lipid profile in patients of liver cirrhosis. One hundred and fifty subjects were studied after dividing them in to Case Group (n=75, patients with liver disease) and Control (n=75, age and sex matched apparently healthy subjects). Child Pugh Score (CPS) was used to assess the liver cirrhosis. MELD score was also estimated. Lipid profile was measured for all the subjects and correlated with different parameters. Mean age of cases and control group was 43.47±14.12 and 43.21±14.47 years respectively (p=0.914). Majority of the Cases and control were male (74.66%) and 77.30% respectively. TC and HDL level was low in subjects belong to CPS class C in comparison to subjects belong to CPS class B (p=0.03). Level of LDL, TG and VLDL were observed low in Cases which belongs to CPS class C in comparison to cases belong to CPS class B (p>0.05). Total serum protein and serum albumin was significantly low in Cases compared to Control (p=0.001) whereas serum globulin was significantly higher in Cases as compared to control cohort (p=0.001). Decrease in lipid level was noted in liver cirrhosis patients and severity of liver cirrhosis has lead to even more lower level of lipid in CPS class C compared to class B.

Plasmid-mediated resistance gene MCR-1 presence in MDR E. coli represents a paradigm shift in colistin resistance and poses serious threats in colistin use as last resort drug treatment in animal and human health. Following the first MCR- 1 description, researchers around the world published multiple reports about its presence in Enterobacteriaceae. In Morocco, among 560 APEC isolates from septicemic broilers thoroughly scrutinized by the disc diffusion method as an initial screening followed by MIC reference technic, 12 strains were suspected as potential carriers of MCR-1 gene. PCR and Sanger sequencing permitted confirmation of MCR- 1 presence in three strains giving sequence genes with 100 % homology to MCR-1 gene. Results were concordant with multiple reports about chicken suspicions as a potential reservoir for MCR-1 carrying E. coli. Therefore, the use of colistin in animal health must be more controlled and urgent establishment of a national program for antimicrobial resistance surveillance become crucial.

This study was conducted on 200 antenatal cases reporting to the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of MMIMS&R Mullana, having haemoglobin levels less than 11gm/dl. Study was aimed at the assessment of serum ferritin levels and haematological parameters in anemic pregnant women and to evaluate the degree of severity of anemia including it’s morphological types on the basis of peripheral blood film. A panel of haematological investigations was performed that included Hb estimation, RBC count, MCH, MCHC, MCV, PCV, peripheral blood film and biochemical test of serum ferritin estimation respectively. Majority of the antenatal cases (55%), showed microcytic hypochromic blood picture on PBF examination. Serum ferritin levels of <15µg/l were seen in maximum no of cases (92.5%), which was suggestive of iron deficiency. Conclusively, individual haematological parameters have their limitations, so a combination of different parameters certainly improves their usefulness in antenatal care. These parameters should be combined with other tests like serum ferritin levels estimation, to know the exact iron status in pregnancy, as it is an accurate measure of iron stores. It also distinguishes iron deficiency anemia from anemia of chronic disorders.

Beta-thalassemia major (BTM) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality due to iron overload resulting from ineffective erythropoiesis and repeated blood transfusions. The level of hepcidin, a regulator of iron homeostasis, is influenced by anemia and iron overload, both of which are present in children with BTM and have an opposing effect on hepcidin expression. This study aimed to assess the influence of iron overload and enhanced erythropoiesis on the levels of serum hepcidin in multitransfused patients with BTM. Complete blood counts, serum iron (SI), total iron binding capacity (TIBC), percent transferrin saturation (%TS), serum ferritin (SF), serum transferrin receptors (sTfR) and serum hepcidin were measured in 52 patients with BTM and 35 controls. SF and sTfR were significantly (p<0.001) elevated in patients with BTM as compared to controls. Serum hepcidin was significantly (p<0.001) higher in patients (28.3±3.2 ng/ml) as compared to controls (8.3±4.6 ng/ml). A negative correlation was seen between serum hepcidin and SI, TIBC and %TS. No correlation was observed between serum hepcidin and SF as also sTfR. The mean serum hepcidin/ferritin ratio was significantly (p<0.001) lower in patients as compared to controls. The lack of correlation between hepcidin and SF as also sTfR, suggests that in BTM iron stores and erythropoietic activity do not play a role in hepcidin expression. The hepcidin/ferritin ratio was <1 in patients indicating a suppression of hepcidin relative to the degree of iron overload.