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Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was a recent global pandemic of the era which posed a great challenge for the health care in terms of preventive, diagnostic and treatment dimensions. The seroprevalence rate of COVID IgG antibodies is very crucial in estimating the susceptibility of a particular area to the viral disease. In our study, we estimated the seroprevalence of COVID-19 in a rural area. Aims and Objectives: We aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of COVID-19 in a rural district of Tamil Nadu, 6 months after the index case. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 509 adults aged more than 18 years. From all the seven Taluks, two gram panchayats (administrative cluster of 8–10 villages) were randomly selected followed by one village through convenience. The participants were invited for the study to the community-based study kiosk set up in all the eight villages through village health committees. We collected sociodemographic characteristics and symptoms using a mobile application-based questionnaire, and we tested samples for the presence of IgG antibodies for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 using an electro chemiluminescent immunoassay. We calculated age-gender adjusted and test performance adjusted seroprevalence. Results: The age-and gender-adjusted seroprevalence was 8.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 6.9–10.8%). The unadjusted seroprevalence among participants with hypertension and diabetes was 16.3% (95% CI: 9.2–25.8) and 10.7% (95% CI: 5.5–18.3), respectively. When we adjusted for the test performance, the seroprevalence was 6.1% (95% CI 4.02–8.17). The study estimated 7 (95% CI 1:4.5–1:9) undetected infected individuals for every reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction confirmed case. Infection fatality rate (IFR) was calculated as 12.38/10,000 infections as on October 22, 2020. History of self-reported symptoms and education were significantly associated with positive status (P

Background: Long-term exposure to silica dust makes people prone for silicosis which raises the risk of the individual in developing pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Silicosis is a progressive lung disease characterize with shortness of breath, cough, fever, and bluish skin, caused due to inhalation of crystalline silica dust found in abundance in sand, rock, and quartz. Aims and Objectives: The disease is known to effect the functioning of macrophages making it unable to defend mycobacterium species, thus allowing the bacterium to invade and develop tuberculosis. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study is carried out to estimate the prevalence of PTB in newly diagnosed silicosis patients at Madurai Medical College, Madurai, Tamil Nadu. All the patients who got registered in Occupational Lung Diseases Registry from January 2016 to December 2021 are included in the study. Silicosis patients tested positive on sputum CBNAAT are considered as silicotubercular patients, whose prevalence is calculated. Results: Our study included a total of 54 subjects (90.8% males and 8.2% female) with mean SD age of 38±6.7 years ranging from 26 to 53 years. Of which 22 patients, 40.7% tested positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) on sputum CBNAAT. The prevalence of MTB in among silicosis patients was found to be 40.7%. Conclusions: Association of TB and silicosis is very strong with the prevalence of TB among silicosis patients as 40.7%. Our study also observed the male sex and elder age as elevated risk of developing silicotuberculosis. All the people getting exposed to silica dust need to be educated in the usage and usefulness of protective equipment.

Background: Typhoid fever continues to be endemic and a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the developing countries. Many times, it presents a diagnostic challenge to treating physicians due to overlapping clinical features with other common causes of acute fever. A rapid and reliable laboratory test would be of great help to clinicians for early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of typhoid fever. Aims and Objectives: The present study was conducted to assess the reliability of Typhidot-M in diagnosis of typhoid fever. Materials and Methods: A total of 203 children with clinical features consistent with typhoid fever were enrolled in the study. Blood culture, Typhidot-M, and Widal test were performed. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated for Typhidot-M and Widal test in comparison with blood culture as reference standard. Results: Out of 203 patients, 30 (14.8%) were blood culture positive. One hundred and six patients were Typhidot-M positive and 97 were negative. Typhidot-M had a sensitivity of 93.3%, specificity of 54.9%, and PPV and NPV of 26.4% and 97.9%, respectively. Conclusion: Typhidot-M is a sensitive test for early diagnosis of typhoid fever. However due to low specificity, positive results should be correlated with clinical picture and other possible diagnoses.