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Biomedical subjects

D Sen

Publications and source records attributed to D Sen.

86 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Occurrence and significance of Cryptosporidium infection in Calcutta.

During a 2-year study, Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in 32 (5.6%) of 566 hospitalized paediatric diarrhoea cases and 2 (1.2%) of 167 non-diarrhoeic individuals. Cryptosporidium was the sole pathogen detected in 17 (3.0%) of the 32 positive cases; in the other 15 it occurred in combination with one or more other established enteropathogen(s). The frequency of detection of the parasite was highest in the 0-6 months age group; no sex-specific difference was discernible. The detection rate of the parasite was highest during the monsoon and post-monsoon months. Most of the patients had watery stools with a mild to moderate degree of dehydration, with the diarrhoea lasting for less than 7 d.

Age Factors

Acute diarrhoeal diseases in infants aged below six months in hospital in Calcutta, India: an aetiological study.

In a prospective 2-year study, 218 infants aged less than 6 months admitted to a children's hospital in Calcutta with acute diarrhoea and 102 infants (control group) from the out-patient department of the same hospital with similar age, sex and socio-economic composition as the diarrhoea patients, were concurrently investigated for enteropathogenic agents in the faeces. Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, enterotoxigenic E. coli, and enteroadherent E. coli constituted the 3 types of diarrhoeagenic E. coli most frequently (57.4%) detected in the faeces of diarrhoeic infants either as a sole pathogen or in association with other microorganisms. Other enteropathogens detected were rotavirus, Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella typhimurium and Aeromonas hydrophila. The frequency of detection of various aetiological agents was 72%; in the remaining 28% an infectious aetiology could not be determined. The study suggests that diarrhoeagenic E. coli plays a major role in the causation of acute diarrhoea in infants aged under 6 months in Calcutta.

Diarrhea, Infantile

Effect of protein rich diet during acute phase of dysentery.

Ninety six children upto the age of five years suffering from uncomplicated acute dysentery of less than 3 days' duration were studied to find out the impact of feeding of extra-protein rich diet during their acute phase of illness. These children were randomly allocated to either control group (receiving only hospital diet) and study group (receiving hospital diet and extra milk which constituted 30% of ideal total calorie requirement of patients. Patients in the two groups were comparable on admission. Forty percent reduced food intake was observed among the children of both the groups due to severe anorexia which was reflected by no significant differences in clinical outcome, anthropometrical measurements and haematological parameters between the two groups on day 7 of hospitalisation and on day 15 after discharge.

Acute Disease

Outbreak of dysentery due to nalidixic acid resistant S. dysenteriae 1 at Agartala, Tripura: a hospital based study.

During the epidemic of bacillary dysentery at Agartala, Tripura, a total of 62 hospitalized patients suffering from diarrhoeal diseases were studied during the later part (11-16 June, 1988) of the epidemic. Principal features of Shigellosis cases were discussed. Of these 62 cases investigated, 19(30.6%) cases had the mucoid diarrhoea. From them S.dysenteriae type 1 and S.flexneri had been recovered from 31.6% and 10.5% cases, respectively. All the strains of S.dysenteriae type 1 isolated during the period of investigation were resistant to nalidixic acid.

Disease Outbreaks

Multidrug resistant epidemic shigellosis in a village in west Bengal, 1984.

An out break of acute bacillary dysentery in a village called Dhamasin in Hooghly district of West Bengal was investigated during March 1984. Forty seven percent of families were affected. A total of 91 cases and 2 deaths occurred amongst 937 people giving an over all attack rate of 9.7% and a case fatality rate of 2.2 percent. Highest attack rate (22.7%) was observed in below one year age group. Multiple drug resistant Shigella dysentery type 1 strains were isolated for the first time from 6 out of 22 cases sampled at the domiciliary level. The organism was never isolated earlier during last ten years of surveillance in the infectious Diseases Hospital, Calcutta. Identification of nature of this outbreak and it's causative agent helped to realise the potentiality of extensive spread and paved the way for further investigations. Public health authorities were buffled as the rapid spread of the disease throughout the entire state of West Bengal could not be contained in spite of instituting all probable control measures on war footing.

Acute Disease

Etiological agents of diarrhoea.

Two decades of research have established newer pathogens and techniques in establishing several organisms of diarrhoeal diseases as aetiological agents. It is now possible to detect an agent in 80% of the situation of diarrhoea in a standard laboratory. The brief review describes the list of pathogens, their diagnostic techniques with short description on clinical and epidemiological status.

Bacterial Infections

Report of an outbreak of diarrhoeal disease caused by cholera followed by rotavirus in Manipur.

An outbreak of acute diarrhoeal disease between August and October 1985 in 3 districts of Manipur state was investigated amongst 9,29,077 population at risk. The overall attack rate and case fatality rate were 0.2% and 0.9% respectively. Hospital records revealed that 58.8% of cases occurred amongst older children above 5 years of age. V.cholera was isolated from 25.3% of cases sampled. Interestingly, increased frequency in weekly admission of cases amongst children during first two years of life increased in the beginning of October when the original peak of diarrhoeal outbreak was about to decline. The October peak was caused by rotavirus which could be detected from 50.0% of diarrhoeal children in this age group. This possibly reflected beginning of the usual rotavirus diarrhoea season in the locality.

Adolescent