Muruganandam Nagarajan

Indian Council of Medical Research | ICMR · Indian council of Medical Reseaarch

Background: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) causes various types of cancer in both men and women. Woman with HPV infection has a risk of developing invasive cervical cancer. Globally, HPV 16 and 18 were predominant. This study aims to find the distribution of various HPV types in South Andaman. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among wom...

Background Trichomoniasis is a common sexually transmitted infection among both men and women, worldwide. The prevalence of trichomoniasis among married women in the remote Indian population is more important, yet they rarely sought treatment. This was the first-ever study conducted on the prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) in the Andaman and...

Background: Human Papillomavirus causes various types of cancer in both men and women. Woman with HPV infection has a risk of developing invasive cervical cancer. Globally, HPV 16 and 18 were predominant. This study aims to find the distribution of various HPV types in South Andaman. Methods: A cross sectional study conducted among woman in South A...

The prognosis of oral cancer highly depends on early diagnosis and access to proper treatment measures. The indigenous communities in India like the rest of the world carry a disproportionate burden of diseases compared to their counterpart due to inequality in healthcare services. This study reports a series of cases of four oral cancers among the...

Background: Tobacco usage and consumption of alcoholic beverages are reported to be high among the Nicobarese tribe. The main objective of this study was to assess the status of oral cancer and precancerous lesions among this tribe. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted for screening Nicobarese tribal population by documenting the details...

The commercially important grouper fishes such as genus Epinephelus and Plectropomus are morphologically ambiguous and difficult to identify by the traditional taxonomic tool, hence misidentification of these species may lead to a decline in their market values. The accuracy of species-level identification using genetic markers is the best method t...

Typically, humans contract leptospirosis through exposure to soil or water contaminated with the urine of infected animals. Specifically, people working in inundated fields, engaged in aquatic sports, or exposed to contaminated floodwater after periods of heavy rainfall bear the risk of contracting leptospirosis. There is a critical gap in the know...

A 27-year-old male presented in the OPD of Naval Hospital in Port Blair, Andaman Islands, India, in 2011 with a history of low-grade fever associated with malaise and a pruritic skin rash. Case 2 – A 17-year-old male student reported to the OPD at Naval Hospital, Kochi Kerala, India, in August 2015. He presented with eruptions on both the palm and...

Objectives: To investigate an outbreak of Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Andaman Islands during 2013. Methods: Epidemiological, clinical data and samples were collected from HFMD patients who attended selected hospitals. Data were analyzed and samples were processed for detection of Enterovirus and further confirmed by sequencing. Serotype-...

An upsurge of fever cases of unknown origin, but resembling dengue and leptospirosis was reported in Havelock, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, an important tourism spot, during May 2014. Investigations were carried out to determine the aetiology, and to describe the epidemiology of the outbreak. The data on fever cases attending Primary Health Centre (P...

Climatic changes are responsible, to a certain extent for the occurrence and spread of arboviral pathogens world over. Temperature is one of the important abiotic factors influencing the physiological processes of mosquitoes. Several genes of heat shock protein (HSP) families are known to be expressed in mosquitoes, which aid in overcoming stress i...

Animal DNA barcoding has been advanced as a promising tool to aid species identification and discovery through the use of short, standardized mitochondrial gene COI targets in spite of extensive morphological taxonomic studies, for a variety of reasons the identification of fishes can be problematic, time consuming, even for experts. To overcome in...

Background An outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) occurred in the Andaman Islands in 2013. Therefore, we aimed to identify the aetiological agent and to explore its genetic characteristics. Methods Clinical specimens were subjected to virus isolation, further confirmed by sequencing the partial VP1/2A region of enterovirus, and analyse...

Background: Vaccination and passive antibody therapies are critical for controlling infectious diseases. Passive antibody administration has limitations including the necessity for purification and the delivery of multiple injections required for efficacy. Vaccination is associated with a lag phase before generation of immunity. Novel approaches r...

Corresponding author. Regional Medical Research Centre (ICMR), Post Bag: 13, Dollygunj, Port Blair - 744101, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India. Tel.: +91 3192 251158, +91 3192 251164; fax: +91 3192 251163.

DNA barcoding tools have been developed for the species identification of eukaryotes, including plants and animals. The standard region of mitochondrial DNA Cytochrome C Oxidase subunit I (COI) sequence is effective for identification of fish and was used in this study. Marine venomous and poisonous fish belonging to families Scorpaenidae and Tetra...

Biology and pathogenesis of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) are not clearly established. Host factors play an important role in determining the progression and severity of the disease. Polymorphisms in the promoter region of CD209 gene (rs735239, rs4804803, rs2287886) and OAS1 (rs1131454 and rs10774671), OAS2 (rs15895 and rs1732778), and OAS3 (rs2285932...

A disease outbreak of A (H1N1) PDM09 was reported in Andaman and Nicobar islands in 2009 with an attack rate of 33.5% among settler population and 26.3% among the aboriginal Nicobarese tribe. During the ongoing outbreak of A (H1N1) PDM09 disease in different parts of the world, a subject working in Dubai city of Saudi Arabia, came to Port Blair, fo...

Present study consists sequencing of Cytochrome Oxidase I gene (COI) (DNA barcoding) to identify Epinephelus coioides (Hamilton, 1822) and Epinephelus tauvina (Forsskal, 1775)specimens. Using a Kimura two parameter (K2P), Neighbour Joining (NJ) phylogram and species identification found in the Barcoding of Life database (BOLD) revealed that Andaman...

The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of basal core promoter (BCP) and precore gene (PC) mutations in hepatitis B virus (HBV) isolates among the Nicobarese tribe and their relationship with genotypes and HBeAg status. A total of 726 blood samples were collected from two villages of the Car Nicobar Island where mass vaccination was per...

Actinobacteria are ubiquitous and known for its heavy metal resistance and antibiotic production. Antibiotic activity and metal resistance property of Casuarina equisetifolia associated actinobacteria were studied. The actinobacteria were screened for antagonistic activity against bacterial and fungal pathogens. Four strains identified as S.roseise...

Abstract The present study was undertaken to understand the distribution and the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of the uropathogens in the remote islands of India. Patients' demographical data, urine culture results, and resistance rates were analyzed and multidrug resistant isolates were characterized. Significant bacteriuria was found in 1...

A sudden upsurge of fever cases with joint pain was observed in outpatient department, Community Health Centre, Rangat during July-August 2010 in Rangat Middle Andaman, India. The etiological agent responsible for the outbreak was identified as Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), by using reverse transcriptase based polymerase chain reaction and IgM ELISA....

Abstract Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an important emerging mosquito-borne alphavirus, indigenous to tropical Africa and Asia. It can cause epidemic fever and acute illness characterized by fever and arthralgias. The epidemic cycle of this infection is similar to dengue and urban yellow fever viral infections. The generation of an efficient vaccine...

Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhoea worldwide, affecting over 125 million young children every year in developing countries. The present study is a part of ongoing childhood diarrhoeal surveillance to determine the strain diversity of rotaviruses prevalent in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. From October 2010 to February 2012, 296 st...

Enteric fever, due to infection with Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi and Paratyphi A, is estimated to cause more than 27 million infections each year worldwide with 216,000 deaths 1,2 . Almost 80 per cent of cases and deaths occur in Asia. Annual incidence as high as 1,100 cases per 100,000 population has been documented in developing countries...

Present study was carried out for identification of the Epinephelus spp. present in Andaman coastal region by bar coding technique and also by other conventional methods to understand the significance of its distribution. DNA sequences of cytochrome C oxidase I gene (COI) of Epinephelus spp. were employed to test efficiency of species identificatio...

Etroplus suratensis is known for the high commercial value fish available in South India. The identification of the species of this fish cumbersome and inaccurate in different life stages of the fish. Therefore, DNA sequence of cytochrome Oxidase subunit I gene was analyzed for the species identification and phylogenetic relationship of the species...

Prior to 2009 dengue fever had not been reported in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago. In 2009, a few patients with dengue fever-like illness were reported, some of whom tested positive for dengue antibodies. In 2010, 516 suspected cases were reported, including some with dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS); 80 (15·5%)...

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an Alphavirus belonging to the family Togaviridae. In 2006, CHIKV infection struck the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, with an attack rate of 60%. There were more than 10 cases with acute flaccid paralysis simulating the Guillian Barre Syndrome. The majority of the patients presented severe joint pain. The cause for su...

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) has caused large outbreaks worldwide in recent years. Acute-phase CHIKV infection has been reported to cause mild to severe febrile illness, and in some patients, this may be followed by long-lasting polyarthritis. The mainstay of treatment includes nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and other disease-modifying agents, t...

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an emerging mosquito-borne alphavirus indigenous to tropical Africa and Asia. Acute illness is characterized by fever, arthralgias, conjunctivitis, rash, and sometimes arthritis. Relatively little is known about the antigenic targets for immunity, and no licensed vaccines or therapeutics are currently available for the...

The outbreak of chikungunya fever that surfaced in India during late 2005 has affected more than 1.56 million people, spread to more than 17 states/union territories, and is still ongoing. Many of these areas are dengue- and leptospirosis-endemic settings. We carried out a cross-sectional survey in one such chikungunya-affected location in Dakshina...

Intestinal parasites are widely prevalent in developing countries, probably due to poor sanitation and inadequate personal hygiene. It is estimated that as much as 60% of the world's population is infected with intestinal parasites, which may play a significant role in morbidity due to intestinal infections. This study was designed to estimate the...

We report the case of a 31-year-old male presenting with complaints of mild pain in the right ear for three months and hypoacusis for 10 days. On otoscopic examination, a thin, papery, white material was extracted from his ear and sent for fungal identification. This material revealed presence of Malassezia spp - with characteristic "spaghetti and...

This longitudinal follow-up study of 203 patients with serologically confirmed chikungunya (CHIK) virus infection describes the clinical features of CHIK fever during the first and tenth months of illness. During the acute stage CHIK fever presents with a wide array of symptoms. The foremost chronic symptoms at the end of a month were rheumatism (7...

Aims: The primary objective of the study was to establish the association of Multi Drug Resistant Organism (MDRO) in Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFU) in the patients attending Aarupadai Veedu Medical College & Hospital, Pondicherry. Material & Methods: The study period was 2 years- where about 560 pus & debrided tissue samples from patients with diabetic...