Search

Background We assessed the humoral immune response of both ChAdOx1-nCOV (CovishieldTM) and BBV-152 (CovaxinTM) vaccines in Indian health care workers (HCW). Methods A Pan-India, Cross-sectional, Coronavirus Vaccine-induced Antibody Titre (COVAT) study was conducted that measured SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike binding antibody quantitatively, 21 days or more after the first and second dose of two vaccines in both severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) naive and recovered HCW. Primary aim was to analyze antibody response (seropositivity rate, Geometric Mean Titre [GMT] and 95% Confidence Interval [CI]) following each dose of both vaccines and its correlation to age, sex, blood group, body mass index (BMI) and comorbidities. Here we report the results of anti-spike antibody response after first and two completed doses. Results Among the 515 HCW (305 Male, 210 Female) who took two doses of both vaccines, 95.0% showed seropositivity to anti-spike antibody. However, both seropositivity rate and GMT (95% CI) of anti-spike antibody was significantly higher in Covishield vs. Covaxin recipients (98.1 vs. 80.0%; 129.3 vs. 48.3 AU/mL; both p 60-years, males, people with any comorbidities, and history of hypertension (HTN) had a significantly less anti-spike antibody GMT compared to age ≤ 60 years, females, no comorbidities and no HTN respectively, after the completion of two doses of either vaccine. Gender, presence of comorbidities, and vaccine type were independent predictors of antibody seropositivity rate and anti-spike antibody titre levels in multiple logistic and log transformed linear regression analysis. Both vaccine recipients had similar solicited mild to moderate adverse events and none had severe or unsolicited side effects. Conclusions Both vaccines elicited good immune response after two doses, although seropositivity rates and GMT of anti-spike antibody titre was significantly higher in Covishield compared to Covaxin recipients.

This post-authorization safety study (PASS) was conducted to evaluate the long-term safety and effectiveness of insulin degludec in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) requiring insulin therapy in routine clinical practice in India.Data on glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and adverse events (AEs) were collected up to 12 months after insulin degludec initiation.A total of 1057 adult patients with DM were enrolled, including 60.07% males with the mean duration of 22.2 ± 21.90 years with type 1 DM and 10.1 ± 7.37 years with type 2 DM and the mean HbA1c of 9.6 ± 1.9%. Insulin degludec was prescribed to improve HbA1c and fasting plasma glucose (FPG). Insulin degludec daily dose was increased from 14.8 ± 8.0 U to 18.0 ± 9.46 U over 12 months resulting in a significant decrease of HbA1c by 1.8 ± 1.68% compared with baseline. There were 84 events of confirmed hypoglycemia in 51 patients during the 12-month follow-up period, and 44 AEs were reported in 2.6% of patients, of which 2 AEs were serious and unrelated to the drug.Insulin degludec is well tolerated in patients with DM. It improves glycemic control with reduced HbA1c, FPG, and postprandial glucose, with a low risk of hypoglycemia.

Background and aims Mucormycosis is an invasive fungal infection and carries a significant morbidity and mortality. A number of cases of mucormycosis have been reported in association with COVID-19. In this study, a consortium of clinicians from various parts of India studied clinical profile of COVID-19 associated mucormycosis (CAM) and this analysis is presented here. Methods Investigators from multiple sites in India were involved in this study. Clinical details included the treatment and severity of COVID-19, associated morbidities, as well as the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of mucormycosis. These data were collected using google spreadsheet at one centre. Descriptive analysis was done. Results There were 115 patients with CAM. Importantly, all patients had received corticosteroids. Diabetes was present in 85.2% of patients and 13.9% of patients had newly detected diabetes. The most common site of involvement was rhino-orbital. Mortality occurred in 25 (21.7%) patients. On logistic regression analysis, CT scan-based score for severity of lung involvement was associated with mortality. Conclusion Universal administration of corticosteroids in our patients is notable. A large majority of patients had diabetes, while mortality was seen in ∼1/5th of patients, lower as compared to recently published data.