Background and aim Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection poses a major public health challenge in Indian settings due to its huge population and easy transmissibility of HCV among individuals who inject drugs (PWID, which is increasing in India). The National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), India has started the Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) centers to improve the health status of opioid dependent PWID and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among them. We conducted a cross-sectional study to find out the HCV sero-positive status and associated determinants in patients attending the OST centre in the ICMR-RMRIMS, Patna. Materials and methods We utilized the routinely collected (as a part of the National AIDS Control Program) and de-identified data from the OST center from 2014 to 2022 (N = 268). We abstracted the information for exposure variables (such as socio-demographic features and drug history) and outcome variable (HCV serostatus). The association of exposure variables with HCV serostatus was examined using robust Poisson regression. Results All the enrolled participants were male and the prevalence of HCV seropositivity was 28% [95% confidence interval (CI): 22.7% - 33.8%)]. There was a rising prevalence of HCV seropositivity with number of years of injection use (p-trend <0.001) and age (p-trend 0.025). Approximately, 6.3% participants were injecting drugs for >10 years and reported the maximum prevalence of HCV seropositivity (47.1%, 95% CI: 23.3%-70.8%). In adjusted analyses, being employed compared to unemployed patients [adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) = 0.59; 95% CI: 0.38–0.89]; graduated patients compared to illiterate patients [aPR = 0.11; 95% CI: 0.02–0.78]; and patients with education up to higher secondary compared to illiterate patients [aPR = 0.64; 95% CI: 0.43–0.94] had significantly lesser HCV seropositivity. A-one year increase in injection use [aPR = 1.07; 95% CI: 1.04–1.10] was associated with 7% higher prevalence of HCV seropositivity. Conclusions In this OST center-based study of 268 PWIDs residing in Patna, ~28% of patients were HCV seropositive, which was positively associated with years of injection use, unemployment, and illiteracy. Our findings suggest that OST centers offer an opportunity to reach a high-risk difficult to reach group for HCV infection and thus support the notion of integrating HCV care into the OST or de-addiction centres.

Campylobacter spp. bacteria are one of the leading causes of food borne illness worldwide and has the ability to form biofilms. These biofilms have been reported to confer resistance against antibiotics. In this study, the effect of five different antibiotics has been compared on the planktonic and biofilm forms of Campylobacter isolates by determining their minimum inhibitory concentration (MICs). A total of 55 isolates (11 Campylobacter jejuni and 41 Campylobacter coli) were subjected to flaA typing and cluster analysis. On the basis of flaA typing, 23 isolates, comprising 17 C. coli and 6 C. jejuni representing each cluster were chosen and analyzed for their biofilm forming potential at two different temperatures (37 degrees C and 42 degrees C) under both aerobic and microaerobic conditions. The biofilm production was higher at 37 degrees C in comparison to 42 degrees C, and it was enhanced under aerobic conditions compared to microaerobic conditions at both temperatures. MICs of gentamicin, kanamycin, tetracycline, erythromycin and carbenicillin were determined for both planktonic and biofilm forms of campylobacter bacteria grown in 96 well microtitre plates containing Muller Hinton (MH) broth. All the isolates in the planktonic form showed absolute resistance against carbenicillin. The MIC values of gentamicin, kanamycin, tetracycline and erythromycin for planktonic form were found to be 0.032 mu g/ml, 2 mu g/ml, 0.1 mu g/ml and 0.0125 mu g/ml, respectively; while, for biofilm forms the same were found to be 1.025 mu g/ml, 8 mu g/ml, 0.8 mu g/ml and 0.2 mu g/ml, respectively. The findings revealed 32, 16, 8 and 4 fold higher resistance by biofilm associated campylobacter bacteria against gentamicin, erythromycin, tetracycline and kanamycin, respectively.

Aim: The aim was to determine the prevalence and evaluation of antibiotic resistance pattern and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of Campylobacter species isolated from foods of animal origin. Materials and Methods: A total of 280 samples (comprising 150 chicken meat, 50 chevon and 80 milk) were collected from retail meat markets, slaughter houses and dairy farms and analyzed for isolation of Campylobacter species. A total of 29 isolates comprising 23 Campylobacter jejuni and 6 Campylobacter coli were recovered, characterized biochemically and confirmed by polymerase chain reaction. These isolates were then tested for antibiotic resistance pattern through disc diffusion method, and MIC was assessed by MIC strips. The antibiotic resistance assessment was performed against 8 antibiotics viz. ampicillin, co-trimoxazole, erythromycin, levofloxacin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, and norfloxacin. Results: The prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in chicken meat, chevon and milk samples were observed 17.33%, 6% and 0%, respectively. All the isolates were resistant to co-trimoxazole but sensitive to erythromycin. All the isolates showed different resistance pattern for the rest of the antibiotics. MIC results revealed that all the isolates were within prescribed concentrations for sensitivity for the antibiotics tested. Conclusions: The foods of animal origin are source of Campylobacter infections to human beings. Thus, the development of antibiotic-resistant strains emphasizes the requirement of better surveillance and monitoring of the foods of animal origin and the use of antimicrobials in veterinary and human medicine require careful regulation.

PCR amplification and sequencing of Omp31 gene of 19 Indian field isolates of Brucella melitensis was performed. The sequence analysis revealed that all 19 isolated had 100% nucleotide sequence identity confirming the fact that the Omp31 gene of B. melitensis is highly conserved and stable. The amino acid sequences also revealed 100% sequence homology with published sequences. The protein structure predicted using the amino acid sequences confirms that this porin protein consists of 8. barrels and 3 surface exposed loop portions.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:Salmonella is an important zoonotic pathogen and its prevalence in the animals acts as a continuous threat to man. The present study was carried out to report the isolation along with the serotypes, phage types and antibiogram pattern of Salmonella among man, livestock and poultry in the northeastern India.METHODS:A total of 654 samples from diarrhoeic livestock and humans were processed for the isolation of Salmonella. All the isolates were subjected to antibiogram studies against 15 antimicrobials. Representative isolates of S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis were phage typed.RESULTS:Ninety five isolates of Salmonella enterica belonging to 5 serotypes- S. Typhimurium, S. Enteritidis, S. Gallinarum, S. Paratyphi B and S. Bareilly were obtained with an overall prevalence rate of 14.40 per cent. S. Typhimurium isolates were distributed among four phages- DT003, DT004, DT096 and DT193 and all the S. Enteritidis isolates belonged to a single phage type, PT13a/7. Interspecies sharing of the phages was observed. Norfloxacin, enrofloxacin, gentamycin and ciprofloxacin were most effective, whereas, doxycycline, ampicillin, amoxycillin and tetracycline were relatively less effective.INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION:Our findings showed that three of the five serovars as well as some of the phage types of these serovars were shared by animals and humans indicating the zoonotic potential of the organism. Thus, it is imperative that salmonellosis control measures adopted for humans should give adequate importance to its control in the animals particularly their products.