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In rapidly growing urban slums in India, with little structured urban planning and limited infrastructural facilities, the number of people living without access to basic water and sanitation services is increasing. Tragically in India, a growing slum population and lack of adequate sanitation makes over 50 million men and women to defecate in the open every day. This research paper sought to measure attitudes and behaviour towards toilet construction and its utilization by the poor people in urban areas in India. The survey collected primary data through questionnaire and analysed by cross tabulation, decision tree using chi-Square automatic interaction detector, multiple classification analysis, and logistic regression. Findings guided the design of a mass media communication campaign to impact toilet construction, its increased uptake, universal and consistent use of safe sanitation among poor urban communities, to reduce open defecation in urban areas. Results of the study demonstrate, principally, that while both women, and men, use toilets more during the rainy season, the drop-outs among men in the summer is greater than for women. The paper also documents new evidence on the pathways to decision-making regarding toilet use providing key insights for Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) campaign architects. It also presents evidence on how non-users behave with regard to their usage of community toilets and construction of toilets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease and sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) are two distinct entities that share common clinical and histopathological features; however, it remains unknown whether they have a common genetic susceptibility. Several studies have shown an association of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR4 with VKH disease in patients of different ethnic backgrounds. We present in this paper the HLA-DRB1 genotyping analysis of a large cohort of VKH patients from southern India and compare these patients to patients with SO and to healthy individuals from the same geographic area., Methods: VKH patients were diagnosed according to the revised criteria of the International Committee on VKH disease. Patients with granulomatous uveitis after ocular trauma or multiple eye surgeries were diagnosed as having SO. Genomic DNA was extracted from all patients and controls. Samples were analyzed for HLA-DRB1 alleles by reverse polymerase chain reaction (PCR) sequence-specific oligonucleotide (SSO) hybridization on microbeads, using the Luminex technology, and by PCR sequence-specific primers (SSP) typing for DRB1*04 allele determination. Strength of associations was estimated by odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) and frequencies were compared using the Fisher's exact test., Results: HLA-DRB1 alleles were determined in 94 VKH patients, 39 SO patients, and 112 healthy controls. HLA-DRB1*04 frequency was higher in VKH patients (20.2% versus 10.3% in controls; OR=2.2, p=0.005, pc=0.067). This association was lower than the association of HLA-DRB1*04 frequency in cohorts of patients from different origins. No significant DR4 association with SO was detected. HLA-DRB1*0405 and HLA-DRB1*0410 alleles were significantly increased in VKH patients (8.5% versus 0.9% in controls; OR=10.3, 95% CI=2.34-45.5, p<0.001). These two alleles share the epitope S57-LLEQRRAA (67-74) in the third hypervariable region of the HLA-DR molecule. None of the DRB1 alleles was significantly associated with SO., Conclusions: Based on the association of HLA-DRB1*0405 and HLA-DRB1*0410 alleles with VKH disease, we propose that the epitope S57-LLEQRRAA (67-74) in the third hypervariable region of the HLA-DRbeta1 molecule is the relevant susceptibility epitope. This genetic component seems specific to VKH disease since no correlation could be identified in SO patients. The weaker association with HLA-DR4 in this VKH patient cohort compared to VKH patients from northern India is probably related to the lower frequency of HLA-DRB1*0405 in our study group. The HLA-DRB1 association with susceptibility to VKH syndrome seems weaker in Indian patients compared to Japanese or Hispanic patients, suggesting a different non-HLA immunogenetic background in Indian VKH patients.

Antimicrobial resistance is an important concern for the public health authorities at global level. However, in developing countries like India, recent hospital and some community based data showed increase in burden of antimicrobial resistance. Research related to antimicrobial use, determinants and development of antimicrobial resistance, regional variation and interventional strategies according to the existing health care situation in each country is a big challenge. This paper discusses the situational analysis of antimicrobial resistance with respect to its problem, determinants and challenges ahead with strategies required in future to reduce the burden in India. Recent data from Google search, Medline and other sources were collected which was reviewed and analyzed by the authors. Hospital based studies showed higher and varied spectrum of resistance in different regions while there are limited number of community based studies at country level. There exists lacunae in the structure and functioning of public health care delivery system with regard to quantification of the problem and various determining factors related to antimicrobial resistance. There is an urgent need to develop and strengthen antimicrobial policy, standard treatment guidelines, national plan for containment of AMR and research related to public health aspects of AMR at community and hospital level in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Podaxis was first described from India by Linnaeus in 1771, but several revisions of the genus have left the taxonomy unclear. Forty-four Podaxis species names and nine intraspecific varieties are currently accepted, but most fungarium specimens are labelled Podaxis pistillaris. Recent molecular analyses based on barcoding genes suggest that the genus comprises several species, but their status is largely unresolved. Here we obtained basidiospores and photographs from 166 fungarium specimens from around the world and generated a phylogeny based on rDNA internal transcribed spacer ITS1, 5.8S and ITS2 (ITS), and a phylogenomic analysis of 3 839 BUSCO genes from low-coverage genomes for a subset of the specimens. Combining phylogenetics, phylogenomics, morphology, ecology, and geographical distribution, spanning 250 years of collections, we propose that the genus includes at least 16 unambiguous species. Based on 10 type specimens (holotype, paratype, and syntype), four recorded species were confirmed, P. carcinomalis, P. deflersii, P. emerici, and P. farlowii. Comparing phylogenetic analysis with described species, including morphology, ecology, and distribution, we resurrected P. termitophilus and designated neotypes, epitypes, or lectotypes for five previously described species, P. aegyptiacus, P. africana, P. beringamensis, P. calyptratus, and P. perraldieri. Lastly, based on phylogenies and morphology of type material, we synonymized three reported species, P. algericus, P. arabicus, and P. rugospora with P. pistillaris, and described five new species that we named P. desolatus, P. inyoensis, P. mareebaensis, P. namaquensis, and P. namibensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The recent emergence of COVID-19 has caused an immense global public health crisis. The etiological agent of COVID-19 is the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. More research in the field of developing effective vaccines against this emergent viral disease is indeed a need of the hour. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify effective vaccine candidates that can offer a new milestone in the battle against COVID-19. Methods: We used a reverse vaccinology approach to explore the SARS-CoV-2 genome among strains prominent in India. Epitopes were predicted and then molecular docking and simulation were used to verify the molecular interaction of the candidate antigenic peptide with corresponding amino acid residues of the host protein. Results: A promising antigenic peptide, GVYFASTEK, from the surface glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 (protein accession number QIA98583.1) was predicted to interact with the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A*11-01 allele, showing up to 90% conservancy and a high antigenicity value. After vigorous analysis, this peptide was predicted to be a suitable epitope capable of inducing a strong cell-mediated immune response against SARS-CoV-2. Conclusions: These results could facilitate selecting SARS-CoV-2 epitopes for vaccine production pipelines in the immediate future. This novel research will certainly pave the way for a fast, reliable, and effective platform to provide a timely countermeasure against this dangerous virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the relationship between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I alleles and cervical cancer among Indian women. Seventy-five cervical cancer cases were compared with 175 noncancer controls. Cervical biopsy tissue specimen from cancer cases and cervical swab specimen from controls were collected for HPV detection and typing. Blood was taken for HLA typing by PCR-SSOP method. The impact of HLA class I alleles on cervical cancer risk was evaluated using StatCalc program (Epi Info version 6.0.4. CDC Atlanta, GA, USA), and confirmed with Bonferroni correction. Results revealed HLA-B*37, HLA-B*58 were associated significantly with increased risk while HLA-B*40 with decreased risk for cervical cancer. At high-resolution analysis after Bonferroni correction, HLA-B*37:01 allele was associated with increased risk, whereas HLA-B*40:06 was with decreased risk for cervical cancer. HLA-B*37:01 and HLA-B*40:06 belong to the same superfamily of HLA-B44. In silico analysis revealed different binding affinities of HLA-B*37:01 and HLA-B*40:06 for the epitopes predicted for E6 and L1 proteins of HPV16. The higher binding affinity of epitopes to B*40:06, as revealed by docking studies, supports the hypothesis that this allele is able to present the antigenic peptides more efficiently than B*37:01 and thereby can protect the carriers from the risk of cervical cancer. Thus, there is a clear indication that HLA plays an important role in the development of cervical cancer in HPV-infected women. Identification of these factors in high-risk HPV-infected women may help in reducing the cervical cancer burden in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was aimed to assess the prevalence of naturally acquired humoral immune responses and their association with reduced susceptibility to malaria in children and adults with differential clinical conditions from an Indian zone where malaria is endemic. The study was undertaken in an eastern province of India (Keonjhar, Orissa) in a group of 341 children (both younger and older) and 98 adults living in two different areas, Town area and Forest area. They were studied for their parasitological and immunological profiles. Sera from different age-matched groups were screened by ELISA to measure IgG reactivities for characterizing humoral immune responses to the B-cell epitopes of Plasmodium falciparum MSP1, AMA1, RAP1 and EBA175 peptides and P. falciparum-infected erythrocyte lysate. In Town area, overall P. falciparum cases were 5.5%, whereas those in Forest area were 26.7%. We observed an age-wise increasing trend of immunity in these two populations. It was also noticed that the frequency of responders to stage-specific antigens was higher in individuals from the Town area where the frequency of malaria was lower. The naturally acquired humoral immune responses to different stage-specific antigens of P. falciparum reflect the reduced risk of malaria in the study groups. The higher frequency of seroresponders showed correlation with lower risk of developing malaria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The C-terminal region of merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP-1) is one of the leading candidates for vaccination against the erythrocytic stages of malaria. However, a major concern in the development of MSP-1 based malaria vaccine is the polymorphism observed in different geographical Plasmodium falciparum isolates. To explore whether the sequence heterogeneity of PfMSP-1 leads to variation in naturally acquired anti-MSP-119 antibodies, the present study was undertaken to study PfMSP-119 sequence polymorphism in malaria-endemic villages in eastern India and also carried out a competition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using three PfMSP-119 variant forms. Methods: The sequence variations in the C-terminal region of PfMSP-119 were determined in a malaria endemic region. Three PfMSP-119 variants were produced in Escherichia coli (PfMSP119QKNG-L, PfMSP119EKNG-L and PfMSP119ETSR-F) and an immunodepletion assay was carried out using the corresponding patients' sera. Results: Results revealed predominance of PfMAD20 allele among Indian field isolates. Seven PfMSP-119 variant forms were isolated in a singe geographical location. Three of PfMSP-119 variant forms when expressed in E. coli showed presence of cross-reaction as well as variant specific antibodies in malaria infected patient sera. Conclusion: The present study demonstrates the existence of allele specific antibodies in P. falciparum-infected patient sera, however their role in protection requires further investigation. These results thereby, suggest the importance of a multi-allelic PfMSP-119 based vaccine for an effective malaria control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]