Srinivas Venkatesh

National Centre for Disease Control | NCDC

Background: In 2015, there were >12 million acute diarrheal disease (ADD) cases with 1,216 deaths reported in India; 75,347 cases and 320 deaths were reported from Uttar Pradesh state. A suspected ADD outbreak was reported from Radhakund town, Uttar Pradesh (population = 11,488 as per census 2011) on November 11, 2016 during a religious festival wi...

Introduction Adolescent female sex workers are at high risk of acquiring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) infection. There was paucity of information regarding their sexual practices. The main objective of this study was to study the sexual behavior, condom use practices, and physical and sexual violence...

Background: The vulnerability of female sex workers (FSWs) to HIV infection increases if unprotected heterosexual anal intercourse (HAI) is practiced. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of HAI among FSWs, and associated factors, and prevalence of consistent condom use (CCU) during HAI and associated factors. Methods: Analysis of cross-sect...

Background: During HIV sentinel surveillance (HSS) 2017 round, the sampling strategy to recruit female sex workers (FSWs) was changed from consecutive to random sampling. This may affect the participation and HIV positivity rates among FSWs. Objective: The objective of this study is to estimate the nonparticipation rates among FSWs and its effec...

Background & objectives: The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and the ICMR-National Institute of Medical Statistics, the nodal agency for conducting HIV estimations in India, have been generating HIV estimates regularly since 2003. The objective of this study was to describe India's biennial HIV estimation 2017 process, data inputs, tool,...

A daily surveillance for disease detection and response at the Simhastha Kumbh Mela, in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, April-May 2016, was established. Existing weekly reporting of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) was modified to report 17 diseases or events from 22 public hospitals and three private hospitals in Ujjain. Water samples...

Background: Cutaneous anthrax in humans is associated with exposure to infected animals or animal products and has a case fatality rate of up to 20% if untreated. During May to June 2015, an outbreak of cutaneous anthrax was reported in Koraput district of Odisha, India, an area endemic for anthrax. We investigated the outbreak to identify risk fa...

Background: Air pollution is a major planetary health risk, with India estimated to have some of the worst levels globally. To inform action at subnational levels in India, we estimated the exposure to air pollution and its impact on deaths, disease burden, and life expectancy in every state of India in 2017. Methods: We estimated exposure to ai...

It is important to study the molecular properties of vertically transmitted viruses in early infancy to understand disease progression. P24 having an important role in virus assembly and maturation was selected to explore the genotypic characteristics. Blood samples, obtained from 82 HIV-1 positive infants, were categorized into acute (≤ 6 months)...

Mumps, a vaccine‐preventable disease, causes inflammation of salivary glands and may cause severe complications such as encephalitis, meningitis, deafness, and orchitis/oophoritis. In India, mumps vaccine is not included in the universal immunization program and during 2009‐2014, 72 outbreaks with >1500 cases were reported. In August 2016, a suspec...

Objective: Identifying the genetic variability in vertically transmitted viruses in early infancy is important to understand the disease progression. Being important in HIV-1 disease pathogenesis, vpu gene, isolated from young infants was investigated to understand the viral characteristics. Method: Blood samples were obtained from 80 HIV-1 posi...

Introduction The HIV sentinel surveillance [HSS] conducted in 2010–11 among female sex workers [FSW] in the state of Maharashtra, India provided an opportunity to assess characteristics of different types of FSWs and their HIV risk. It is important for India’s National AIDS Control Program, to understand the differences in vulnerability among these...

Background 18% of the world’s population lives in India, and many states of India have populations similar to those of large countries. Action to effectively improve population health in India requires availability of reliable and comprehensive state-level estimates of disease burden and risk factors over time. Such comprehensive estimates have no...

With almost one-fifth of the world’s population living in India, the health status and the drivers of health loss are expected to vary between different parts of the country and between the states. Accordingly, effective efforts to improve population health in each state require systematic knowledge of the local health status and trends. While stat...

Background: As mortality rates decline, life expectancy increases, and populations age, non-fatal outcomes of diseases and injuries are becoming a larger component of the global burden of disease. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016) provides a comprehensive assessment of prevalence, incidence, and years l...

Background: Measurement of changes in health across locations is useful to compare and contrast changing epidemiological patterns against health system performance and identify specific needs for resource allocation in research, policy development, and programme decision making. Using the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study...

Background Even though cholera has existed for centuries and many parts of the country have sporadic, endemic and epidemic cholera, it is still an under-recognized health problem in India. A Cholera Expert Group in the country was established to gather evidence and to prepare a road map for control of cholera in India. This paper identifies cholera...

Cholera outbreaks details 2012–2015. (DOCX)

Results of the multicollinearity test of the groups of variables. (DOCX)

Associations between district level characteristics and the number of cholera in the district in a bivariate model. (DOCX)

Targeting properties of vertically transmitted viruses in early infancy is important to understand disease progression. To investigate genotypic characteristics of transmitted viruses, blood samples were obtained from infants aged 6 weeks-18 months, categorized in two age groups, acute (?6 months) and early (>6-18 months). Nef having an important r...

Background: Outbreaks of unexplained illness frequently remain under-investigated. In India, outbreaks of an acute neurological illness with high mortality among children occur annually in Muzaffarpur, the country's largest litchi cultivation region. In 2014, we aimed to investigate the cause and risk factors for this illness. Methods: In this hosp...

Summary Background 18% of the world’s population lives in India, and many states of India have populations similar to those of large countries. Action to effectively improve population health in India requires availability of reliable and comprehensive state-level estimates of disease burden and risk factors over time. Such comprehensive estimates...

Japanese Encephalitis Outbreak among Children in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha

Dengue virus type 2 (DENV-2) has been associated with severe dengue outbreaks in many countries including India. Its predominance was recorded nearly after a decade in the capital city, Delhi in 2013. The present study characterizes DENV-2 circulated during 2013–2014. Analysis based on envelope (E) gene showed the presence of two clades (I and II)...

SUMMARY Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is an emerging zoonotic disease in India which is prevalent in neighbouring countries. CCHF virus (CCHFV) is a widespread tick-borne virus which is endemic in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. In the present study, samples of clinically suspected human cases from different areas of nor...

Chikungunya is a viral disease caused by arthropod-borne Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. In 2006, CHIKV re-emerged in Indian Ocean islands, Southeast Asia and India. Delhi witnessed the continued occurrence of CHIKV after its first outbreak in 2010. The constant monitoring of the circulating strains of CHIKV is import...

Outbreaks of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections are associated with unsafe injection practices, intravenous drug abuse and other exposures to blood and body fluids. We report here, 3 outbreaks of HCV infection from the Jammu and Kashmir (J & K) state of India which occurred over a period of 3 years and in which molecular epidemiological investigati...

Background: In India, first confirmed outbreak of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) was reported in 2011. Since then till now clusters of outbreaks were reported from various parts of Rajasthan. A team from National Centre for Disease Control, New Delhi, investigated the CCHF outbreak in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and reporting here their result. Met...

Introduction: The intestinal nematodes infestation in tropical and sub-tropical countries is mostly attributed to roundworms, hookworms and whipworms. India is one of the largest contributors to the global burden of soil-transmitted helminthes (STH) with a national population prevalence estimated to be 21% by Global Atlas of Helminth Infections (GA...

Background: Anthrax is associated with exposure to infected animals or animal products and has a case fatality rate of up to 20% if untreated. During May – June 2015, an outbreak of cutaneous anthrax was reported in Koraput district of Odisha, India, a known endemic area for anthrax. We investigated the outbreak to identify risk factors and recomme...

Background: Among 21.5 million children globally who did not receive a single dose of measles vaccine in 2013, 6.4 million (30%) were in India, resulting in a large susceptible population at risk for propagating measles outbreaks. On March 20, 2015, a single health facility in Goalpara District in Assam reported 73 children < 18 years with fever an...

Background: Kyasanur Forest disease (KFD), a tick-borne viral hemorrhagic fever has a case fatality rate as high as 10%. KFD is endemic to Karnataka but is spreading. Infected ticks transmit infection to monkeys, the amplifying host. Vaccination of high risk populations is the primary control strategy. On February 6, 2015, an outbreak of KFD was re...

Background: India has reported seasonal outbreaks of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) among children leading to substantial morbidity and mortality. From 2008-2014, 44,097 cases and 5,728 deaths were reported due to AES in India. Japanese Encephalitis (JE) virus is one of the key aetiological agent for AES outbreaks in India. Malkangiri district o...

Background: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the leading cause of acute viral hepatitis with over 2 billion cases per year. In India, HEV accounts for 60% of acute viral hepatitis cases. On 10 July 2015, Mandya district in Karnataka, India reported 50 cases of jaundice from factory A. We investigated to describe the outbreak, identify risk factors and pr...

Background: An outbreak of jaundice was reported from a girl's hostel (Old Girl's Hostel; OGH) of Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), Delhi in January-2014. We conducted an investigation to identify the etiological agent, source of infection, potential risk factors and to recommend control measures. Methods & Materials: We conducted a retrospecti...

The objective of the study was to find out most productive breeding sites for immature as well as for pupae of Aedes aegypti in Alwar city of Rajasthan, India, and to assess the community about awareness of dengue. The study was carried out through door-to-door entomological survey in and around houses during the month of March 2016. All field coll...

Earlier studies indicated high prevalence of filariasis in Palakkad district, Kerala. Therefore, a cross-sectional parasitological study was conducted to assess the microfilarial prevalence in Palakkad town and 31 rural panchayats. A total of 6747 night blood smears were collected by cluster sampling technique and were examined for microfilariae. P...

A study has been carried out in the Nilgiri hills and downhill areas of erstwhile plague-endemic localities to determine the prevalence, density of rodents and rat fleas, their significance in plague surveillance and control activities undertaken in this region. Four species of rodents, viz., Rattus rattus, Bandicota bengaliensis, Bandicota indica...

[Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2015 Wuhan Institute of Virology, CAS and Springer Science+Business Media Singapore Pte Ltd

Outbreak Investigation Of Anthrax, Kuruchdega Village In Simdega District Of Jharkhand, India 2014 Authors: Priyakanta Nayak 1, Achelal R Pasi 1, Aakash Shrivastava 1, Shaikh S Hossain 2, Kayla Laserson 2, Samir V Sodha 2, Anil Kumar 1, Srinivas R Venkatesh 1 1 National Center for Disease Control, India. 2 Centers for Disease Control and Preventio...

This paper provides HIV estimation methodology used in India and key HIV estimates for 2010-2011. We used a modified version of the Spectrum tool that included Estimation and Projection Package as part of its AIDS Impact Module. Inputs related to population size, age-specific pattern of fertility, sex-ratio at birth, age and sex-specific pattern of...

Soil transmitted helminth infestation is a global health concern affecting two billion population worldwide. Mainly three species viz. Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and hookworm inflict considerable morbidity and mortality amongst infected persons. Present study was conducted among school children of three zones of Delhi (divided accord...

Background: India has a large burden of viral hepatitis, but lacks a national estimate. Since 2009, the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) has gathered nationwide surveillance and outbreak data for epidemic-prone diseases, including viral hepatitis. We summarise here the viral hepatitis surveillance and outbreaks data as reported to the...

The burden of viral hepatitis in India is not well characterized. In 2009, the national Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) began conducting surveillance across all Indian states for epidemic-prone diseases, including foodborne and waterborne forms of viral hepatitis (e.g., hepatitis A and E). Information on outbreaks of all forms of v...

The burden of viral hepatitis in India is not well characterized. In 2009, the national Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) began conducting surveillance across all Indian states for epidemic-prone diseases, including foodborne and waterborne forms of viral hepatitis (e.g., hepatitis A and E). Information on outbreaks of all forms of v...

Yaws, a non-venereal treponematosis, affecting primarily the tribal populations, has been considered historically as one of the most neglected tropical diseases in the world. In 1996, India piloted an initiative to eradicate yaws based on a strategy consisting of active case finding through house-to-house search and treatment of cases and their con...

The current ongoing outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in West Africa is unprecedented in many ways. It is certainly one of the largest and deadliest outbreaks in recent times. It began in Guinea in late 2013 and spread to neighboring countries of Liberia and Sierre Leone. A total of 18,464 suspected, probable and confirmed (11,699) cases with 6...

Background Although India has demonstrated success in the overall reduction of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) incidence by 57% in the past 10 years, its control among men who have sex with men (MSM) remains a critical challenge. This paper describes the current status, geographic variability, and factors associated with HIV among MSM from the n...

Background Indian cultural tradition demanding marriage, many MSM howsoever they self-identify are likely to be married or have sex with women. To consolidate India's HIV prevention gains, it is important to understand and address the interaction between the MSM and heterosexual epidemics in India and create specific interventions for bisexual MSM....

The national antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiative in India began in 2004. In order to better inform the national program, we estimated the mean cumulative survival probability and loss to follow-up (LFU) rate among patients initiated on ART. We identified a cohort of people living with HIV (PLHIV) aged ≥15 years initiated on ART in two ART centr...

Yaws disease was first reported in India during early 1900s. Subsequently, the disease was reported from several other parts of the country. 1950s worldwide anti- yaws campaign reduced its incidence to a negligible level in India. But, it resurged. National Yaws Eradication Programme was launched in 1996. It achieved elimination goal in 2006. Since...

Administration of rifampicin along with nevirapine reduces the plasma concentration of nevirapine in human immunodeficiency virus positive individuals with concomitant tuberculosis (HIV-TB patients). Nevirapine is a much cheaper drug than its alternative efavirenz, and might be beneficial in resource constrained settings. A randomised open label tr...

Research in India has extensively examined the factors associated with non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) with limited focus on examining the relationship between adherence to ART regimen and survival status of HIV infected patients. This study examines the effect of optimal adherence to ART on survival status of HIV infected patients at...

Tobacco use is widely entrenched in the South-East Asia (SEA) Region leading to high morbidity and mortality in this region. Several studies revealed that tobacco use is widespread among youth and school children. Exposure to second-hand smoke was reported as around 50% or more in three countries - Myanmar (59.5%), Bangladesh (51.3%), and Indonesia...