Browsing by Author "Vishwa Deepak Tiwari"

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Etiology of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in Adults in a Tertiary Care Center in Eastern Uttar Pradesh
(American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2025) Tulika Kumari Rai; Jaya Chakravarty; Shubham Kashyap; Sumeet Chatterjee; Vishwa Deepak Tiwari; Urvashi Geeta Rai; Mayank Gangwar; Santhanam Sundar; Gopal Nath
Seasonal outbreaks of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) with high case fatality rates have been commonly reported among adults in India. With an increase in Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) vaccination, the etiology of AES is also changing. However, most studies on AES in India have focused only on children and on JEV. This study was conducted in the Department of Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University between 2020 and 2022 to determine the etiology of AES in adults. Blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were collected from patients 18 years or older with fever and altered sensorium for #15 days. We did IgM ELISA for dengue, chikungunya, West Nile virus, scrub typhus, leptospirosis from serum, CSF-IgM for JEV, and CSF–polymerase chain reaction for herpes simplex virus 1 and 2, varicella-zoster virus, enterovirus, and cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification test (CBNAAT) for tuberculous meningitis (TBM). The most common cause of AES identified in our study was TBM (16.7%), followed by leptospirosis (15.1%) and scrub typhus (11.9%). The high occurrence of TBM in our study highlights the importance of CSF-CBNAAT for all AES patients. As leptospirosis and scrub typhus are easily treatable, early detection and treatment of these infections should be recommended. © © 2025 American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Monitoring of Leishmania transmission in the postelimination phase: The potential of serological surveys
(Elsevier B.V., 2024) Kristien Cloots; Om Prakash Singh; Abhishek Kumar Singh; Tulika Kumari Rai; Vishwa Deepak Tiwari; Aziza Neyaz; Sundaram Pandey; Vivek Kumar Scholar; Paritosh Malaviya; Epco Hasker; Shyam Sundar
Objectives: Monitoring of Leishmania transmission is considered a strategic priority for sustaining elimination of visceral leishmaniasis as a public health problem in the Indian subcontinent. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether serological surveys can distinguish between communities with and without Leishmania transmission, and to assess which serological marker performs best. Methods: Seven villages were selected from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh state, India, and categorized as either currently endemic (CE), previously endemic (PE) or nonendemic (NE). Blood samples were analyzed with the rK39 RDT, direct agglutination test (DAT), and rK39 ELISA. Results: Contrary to the rK39 RDT and DAT, the rK39 ELISA showed a significant difference between all three categories of endemicity, with a seroprevalence of 5.21% in CE villages, 1.55% in PE villages, and 0.13% in NE villages. Even when only looking at the seroprevalence among children aged <10 years, the rK39 ELISA was still able to differentiate between villages with and without ongoing transmission. Conclusion: Our findings suggest the rK39 ELISA to be the most promising marker for monitoring of Leishmania transmission. Further validation is required, and practical, context-adapted recommendations need to be formulated in order to guide policymakers toward meaningful and sustainable surveillance strategies in the post-elimination phase. © 2024 The Author(s)