Dipty Jain

India, the most populous nation in the world, also has a high frequency of the sickle hemoglobin (HbS) allele globally. The Arab Indian HbS haplotype in India is characterized by a relatively high percentage of fetal Hb, with widely varying frequencies of α-thalassemia. Hence, sickle cell disease (SCD) in India was perceived to be mild. Advances in...

Objective We report the epidemiology of Japanese encephalitis (JE) disease after the implementation of routine immunization in medium-endemic districts in the states of Maharashtra and Telangana in Central India. Methods We investigated acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) patients hospitalized from October 2018 to September 2020. Field visits were al...

Background: We estimated the incidence of Japanese encephalitis (JE) and acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) following routine immunization with the live-attenuated SA 14-14-2 JE vaccine. Methods: We implemented enhanced surveillance of AES and JE hospitalizations in endemic districts in Maharashtra and Telangana States during 2015-2016 and 2018-2...

Japanese encephalitis (JE) disease among children continues in central India despite vaccination implemented in the routine immunization programme. Therefore, we planned to estimate the JE vaccination effectiveness among children by undertaking a 1:2 individually-matched population-based case-control study from August 2018 - October 2020. The labor...

Background & objectives: Sickle cell disease (SCD) constitutes frequently inherited haemoglobin disorders and poses a significant health burden in India. Hydroxyurea (HU), the most commonly used drug, has shown promising results in the clinical management of SCD. The present systematic review was undertaken to assess the efficacy and toxicity of H...

COVID-19 pandemic has affected all age groups globally including pregnant women and their neonates. The aim of the study was to understand outcomes in neonates of mothers with COVID-19 during the first and second waves of COVID-19 pandemic. A retrospective analysis of 2524 neonates born to SARS-CoV-2-infected mothers was conducted during the first...

Background We enhanced surveillance of hospitalizations of all ages for acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) along with infectious aetiologies, including the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). Methods From October 2018 to September 2020, we screened neurological patients for AES in all age groups in Maharashtra and Telangana States. AES cases were en...

Background: Neonatal period carries higher risk of death inspite of advances in perinatal and neonatal services. The objective of the study was to assess the morbidity/mortality pattern of intramural and extramural neonates.Methods: Prospective observational study was undertaken on all intramural and extramural neonates who fulfill the inclusion cr...

Background Only with education can we create generalized awareness regarding better neonatal care at the societal level. It is well known that the people in many rural and tribal areas across the developing world tend to harbor grave misconceptions regarding pregnancy and neonatal care and lack the knowledge of danger signs. However, the level of p...

Background & objectives: Homozygous sickle cell (SS) disease in Central India runs a more severe clinical course than reports from other areas of India. The current study was undertaken to compare the disease in Central India (Nagpur) with that in Jamaica, both populations defined by newborn screening. Methods: The Nagpur cohort included infants bo...

Introduction: India has been identified as having the second largest number of births with sickle cell anemia (SCA) in the world after Africa, with estimated 44,400 new-borns affected per year. SCD was previously reported to have a milder course in children from India, with less severe disease among aboriginal tribal populations than in non-tribal...

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a group of inherited single-gene autosomal recessive disorders caused by the ‘sickle’ gene, which affects haemoglobin structure. Sickle cell anemia is the most common hemoglobinopathy worldwide. The burden of sickle cell disease in pregnancy has been exponentially increasing with more number of women reaching the reprod...

This study evaluated the effect of alpha thalassemia on the red cell indices and hemoglobin profiles of normal, sickle heterozygous and sickle homozygous newborn babies in central India where the sickle gene is linked to the Arab-Indian haplotype. 265 newborn babies were analysed with complete blood count and hemoglobin analysis on high performance...

Background: The clinical phenotype of sickle cell disease (SCD) has been reported to be milder in India than in the United States. The objective of this large single-center study was to examine the rate of complications to define the phenotype of SCD in India. Methods: The rate of complications per 100 person-years in 833 pediatric SCD patients...

Objectives: To explore clinical, hematological and molecular features of homozygous sickle cell (SS) disease in central India. Methods: Focusing on the pediatric age group attending a clinic at the Akola Government Medical College, Akola, Maharashtra State, India, a cross-sectional assessment of 91 patients with sickle cell disease was performed...

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a major health burden in India. The objective of the study was to establish a neonatal screening program and to understand the clinical course of children with SCD in central India. Methods and findings: Pregnant mothers were screened for sickle hemoglobin using the solubility test. Babies were screened b...

Objectives: To assess the clinical, haematological and molecular features of sickle cell disease in central India where the disease has been reported to be more severe than the mild clinical course usually observed in the Asian haplotype of homozygous sickle cell (SS) disease. Methods: A cross-sectional assessment of 91 consecutive patients with si...

Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) infections are major public health problems in developing countries, including India. Hence, combination vaccines containing DTwP, recombinant hepatitis B and Hib conjugate vaccines have been developed. Here, we report a Phase IV study which assessed safety and reactogenicity of a new DTwP-HepB+Hi...

The prevalence of the Factor V Leiden (FVL; G1691A) mutation and the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR; C677T) mutation was determined in 180 patients with sickle cell (SS) disease (126 sickle homozygous and 54 sickle β-thalassaemia-age 1-47 years) and in 130 healthy controls. The FVL mutation in the heterozygous state was present in only...

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is one of the most common monogenic diseases worldwide. Although there have been some advances in the management of SCD, much remains to be learned about the mechanisms underlying the wide phenotypic diversity of the disease. In resource poor countries, basic facilities for diagnosis and management are lacking, systematic...

Objective Under nutrition has chronically remained a major public health problem among tribal children population in India. The present study aimed to estimate the prevalence of various forms of under nutrition in ‘under five’ children in Melghat – a difficult to reach, hilly, forest area of Maharashtra in Central India using different standards....

Sickle cell disease is a major health burden in India. The aim of the study was to compare the diagnostic utility of two different approaches on automated high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for newborn screening for sickle cell disorders and other haemoglobinopathies in India. Newborn babies of sickle heterozygous mothers were tested by...

The β-thalassemias and sickle cell disorders are a major health burden in India. Diagnosis and management of these disorders both in adults and in newborns using appropriate approaches and uniform technology are important in different regions of a vast and diverse country as India. In view of a National Thalassemia Control Program to be launched so...

Co-inheritance of structural hemoglobin variants like HbS, HbD(Punjab) and HbE can lead to a variable clinical presentation and only few cases have been described so far in the Indian population. We present the varied clinical and hematological presentation of 22 cases (HbSD(Punjab) disease-15, HbSE disease-4, HbD(Punjab)E disease-3) referred to us...

Background & objectives: Children with sickle cell disease require more frequent hospital care and younger children (<5 yr of age) are more vulnerable to mortality. There are limited data on the events leading to hospitalizations and death in younger children with sickle cell disease from India. This study was, therefore, undertaken to evaluate the...

Data on the efficacy of hydroxyurea (HU) in Indian children with sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is limited. Hence, we have evaluated the efficacy of fixed low dose HU in Indian children. The study cohort consisted of 144 children (< 18 years of age) with SCA having severe manifestations ( 3 episodes of vasocclusive crisis or blood transfusions, or havin...

We evaluated the spectrum of hemoglobinopathies among the primitive tribal groups from 4 states in India. A total of 15 200 individuals from 14 primitive tribal groups were studied by automated high-performance liquid chromatography. The hemoglobin S (HbS) allele frequency varied from 0.011 to 0.120 and the β-thalassemia allele frequency from 0.005...

OBJECTIVE: We conducted this case-control study in children (age 3-59 mo) to study the risk factors for failure of standard treatment in severe and very severe community acquired pneumonia. One hundred and eighty one children were enrolled in the study among whom 31 (20.4%) had treatment failure. The independent risk factors for treatment failure b...

Objective. Sickle cell disease has variable clinical manifestations. Activation of neutrophils plays an important role in the initiation and propagation of vaso occlusive crises which can be analysed by determining the expression of neutrophil antigens such as CD16, CD32, and CD62L. The common FcγR polymorphisms (FcγRIIA and FcγRIIIB) are considere...

There is limited data on the efficacy of hydroxyurea (HU) in Indian sickle cell anemia patients who have severe manifestations despite high fetal hemoglobin (Hb F). Sixty sickle cell anemia children (5-18 years) with more than three episodes of vasoocclusive crises or blood transfusions per year were randomized to receive HU (n = 30) or placebo (n...

There is limited data on the incidence of sickle cell anemia in Central India; we therefore conducted a study to estimate the incidence of this disease in Central India. Mothers who delivered a live baby at the Government Medical College, Nagpur, India were screened for the presence of the sickle cell hemoglobin {Hb S: [β6 (A3) Glu→Val, GAG>GTG]} u...

To evaluate the significance of non-deletional α gene variants identified in neonates during newborn screening for sickle cell disorders. 1534 newborn babies were screened in the last 2 years for sickle cell disease using a targeted screening approach. Investigations included a complete blood count, high performance liquid chromatography analysis,...

Although sickle cell anemia (SCA) in India is believed to have a mild clinical presentation, few studies report severe disease in many patients from central India. Hence, we have retrospectively studied 316 children with SCA who were followed up for a period of 5.8±5.7 years. There were 55.4 blood transfusions, 43.3 episodes of vasoocclusive crises...

Hydroxyurea is known to reduce ineffective erythropoiesis and thereby hemolysis leading to a reduction in bilirubin levels in patients with hemoglobinopathies. However, the effect of hydroxyurea on hyperbilirubinemia in relation to the UGT1A1 gene promoter polymorphism is not known in Indian patients with different hemoglobinopathies. We studied 11...

Although the history of recognition of child abuse in Europe and North America extends over 40 years, recognition and data are lacking in other parts of the world. Cultural differences in child-rearing complicate cross-cultural studies of abuse. To ascertain rates of harsh and less-harsh parenting behavior in population-based samples. We used paral...

To gain consensus among an ethnically and linguistically diverse group of international child protection experts on the structure and content of a new survey tool for retrospective measurement of child abuse, and to determine the performance of the instrument through an international field trial with young adults. The questionnaire was developed th...

Objective: Child maltreatment is a problem that has longer recognition in the northern hemisphere and in high-income countries. Recent work has highlighted the nearly universal nature of the problem in other countries but demonstrated the lack of comparability of studies because of the variations in definitions and measures used. The International...

To develop a child victimization survey among a diverse group of child protection experts and examine the performance of the instrument through a set of international pilot studies. The initial draft of the instrument was developed after input from scientists and practitioners representing 40 countries. Volunteers from the larger group of scientist...

Establishment of baseline epidemiology of intussusception in developing countries has become a necessity with the possibility of reintroduction of rotavirus vaccine. The current study assessed the seasonal trend in cases admitted with intussusceptions and dehydrating acute watery diarrhoea in children aged 2 months to 10 years. In a prospective sur...

The present study assess association between physical violence during pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes. A cross sectional study using McFarlane's Abuse Assessment Screen (AAS) was done. A systemic random sample of newly registered pregnant women seeking routine ANC care at the study hospital, who satisfied eligibility criteria was screened...

This study was performed to determine the frequency of complications (pharynigtis/tonsillitis/sinusitis/otitis media) in children with persistent rhinorrhoea. Methods: Children aged 6 months to 12 years were enrolled as per inclusion criteria and follow up examination was done on day 3 and day 10. Tympanometry was done on 30th day to assess impedan...

There is clinical variability in the presentation of sickle cell disease among Indians. Vaso-occlusive crisis is common among non-tribal patients. Hydroxyurea, induces fetal hemoglobin (HbF) synthesis and reduces the clinical severity of sickle cell disease but individual patients have a variable response. This study was undertaken to investigate t...

Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is uncommon in individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) because of availability of an adequate iron source potentially from increased red cell turnover and from blood transfusions. Also, iron deficiency anaemia can often go unnoticed because the sickle cell disease patients are already anaemic. Iron deficiency in sic...

BACKGROUND: -Sickle cell anemia presents one of the major health problems in central India. The complex variability in symptomology of children with sickle cell anemia is still point of speculation. Hence, a prospective longitudinal study was carried out at GMC Nagpur to study their morbidity and mortality pattern. OBJECTIVE: -To study morbidity an...

Objective: Assess the impact of zinc supplementation with locally developed culturally specific educational statements (messages) on oral rehydration solution (ORS) and antibiotics or antidiarrheal use in children with acute watery diarrhea as well as to assess adherence and side effects of zinc. Methods: This was a randomized effectiveness trial c...

In recent years violence against women has emerged as an important social problem in India. It has attracted the attention of a wide spectrum of agencies, from healthcare providers to law enforcement authorities. This study attempted to determine the characteristics and the magnitude of physical and psychological violence against women in rural Mah...

To determine the prevalence of physical violence during pregnancy and the factors associated with it. A population-based, multicentre, cross sectional household survey. Rural, slum and urban non-slum areas of Bhopal, Chennai, Delhi, Lucknow, Nagpur, Trivandrum and Vellore, in India. A total of 9938 women who were 15 to 49 years of age and living wi...

This paper describes the collaborative efforts of research teams from medical schools in India, Chile, Egypt, the Philippines, Brazil, and the United States to develop and implement a core protocol for household surveys on family violence and to conduct standardized training for field workers. Our objectives are to share successes and difficulties...

It has been suggested Haemophilus influenzae serotype b (Hib) disease is uncommon in Asia. During 1993-1997, we conducted prospective surveillance of acute infections caused by H. influenzae in 6 academic referral Indian hospitals. The study included 5798 patients aged 1 month to 50 years who had diseases likely to be caused by H. influenzae; 75% o...

Objectives: To determine the type and severity of discipline practices in rural India and to identify risk and protective factors related to these practices. Methods: Five hundred mothers, ages 18-50, participated in face-to-face interviews as part of a cross-sectional, population-based survey. One of the mother's children was randomly selected...

Although immunisation coverage has increased substantially in recent years, still a sizable proportion of children are not being immunised at appropriate time. The present hospital based, pair matched, case control study was carried out at immunoprophylactic centre of Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur, to identify risk factors associa...

Objective, To determine the frequency, clinical characteristics and outcome of acute invasive infections caused by Haemophilus influenzae. Design. Prospective hospital-based surveillance. Setting. Six large academic referral hospitals in India. Participants. Three thousand four hundred forty-one patients from infancy to adulthood with pneumonia, me...

A total of 14 invasive H. influenzae were isolated from 12 patients by culturing 621 samples of body fluids over a span of one year. Twelve non-replicate isolates were analyzed for their drug susceptibility and serotype distribution. Eight (66.7%) isolates were multiply drug resistant with resistance to ampicillin, chloramphenicol and cotrimoxazole...