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Biomedical subjects

M R Saha

Publications and source records attributed to M R Saha.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Occurrence of multi-drug resistant Salmonella typhi in Calcutta.

Blood and faecal samples were collected from 122 hospitalised patients of Calcútta clinically suspected to have enteric fever, for isolation of S. typhi. It was isolated from 34.4, 4.9 and 4.1 per cent patients by blood culture, stool culture and by both respectively. The in vitro drug susceptibility testing showed that all the isolates were resistant to chloramphenicol, ampicillin and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole, but were uniformly susceptible to ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin and furazolidone. In view of the appearance of multi-drug resistant S. typhi in Calcutta, great care should be exercised in the use of newer quinolone derivatives.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1992

Nosocomial rotavirus diarrhea in two medical wards of a pediatric hospital in Calcutta.

One hundred eighty nine children suffering from different medical problems were admitted in two wards of a pediatric hospital in Calcutta during the period between November 18, 1985 and February 10, 1986. Amongst them, 36 children developed nosocomial diarrhea and rotavirus was detected from 80.5% of the cases. The nosocomial rotavirus diarrhea cases had lesser frequency of stools and only mild dehydration but the course of illness was longer in comparison to that of the hospitalized rotavirus diarrhea cases. There is a possibility of spread of infection via fomites, environmental surfaces and most likely mothers.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1992

Occurrence of multi-resistant Salmonella typhimurium infection in a pediatric hospital at Calcutta.

Salmonella typhimurium was isolated from 55 (15.9%) of the 347 hospitalized diarrheal children and 14 (11.1%) of the 126 non-diarrheal controls. All the 98 asymptomatic children attending hospital outpatients were negative. Six (3.7%) of the 162 samples of different categories examined from the hospital were positive for S. typhimurium. Finger washing of one female food handler, feces of two cats of the wards, surface of wash basin, lavatory seat and shelf yielded positive isolations. In vitro antibiotic sensitivity testing showed majority of the strains were resistant against commonly used antimicrobial agents while they were uniformly sensitive to norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin. The present study points to cross-infection by multi-resistant S. typhimurium strains in the hospital wards.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1991

Prevalence of Clostridium difficile in hospitalised patients with acute diarrhoea in Calcutta.

During a 12-month period, Clostridium difficile was isolated from 38 (11.1%) of 341 hospitalised patients suffering from acute diarrhoea and from five (3%) of 172 patients as control who were admitted with illnesses other than diarrhoea. It was the sole bacterial pathogen in 31 cases. 87% of the isolates obtained from patients with diarrhoea produced neutralisable cytotoxin. None of these patients had any history of previous treatment using antibiotics. No age or gender-specific high incidence was observed. Clinical presentation in these patients revealed no distinctive pattern. Both dysenteric and diarrhoeal presentations were found, the latter being more frequent. The results suggest that Clostridium difficile by itself may be a causal agent of acute diarrhoea.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1991

Oral rehydration solution containing 90 millimol sodium is safe and useful in treating diarrhoea in severely malnourished children.

The safety and efficacy of standard oral glucose-electrolyte solution, containing 90 mmol of sodium per litre, was evaluated in the treatment of dehydrating diarrhoea among severely malnourished (marasmic) children. A total of 81 male children aged between 6 and 48 months were studied; 41 were in the malnourished group (study group: less than 60% of Harvard Standard weight-for-age) and 40 were in the well-nourished group (control group: 80% or more Harvard Standard weight-for-age). Children of both groups could be rehydrated with standard oral rehydration solution (ORS) without encountering any clinical or biochemical complications. The results of this study lend support to the World Health Organization's concept of a unified formula of ORS for the treatment of all cases of acute diarrhoea, including severely malnourished children.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1985

Comparison of the modified Elek test and Wagatsuma agar for determination of the Kanagawa phenomenon of Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

The modified Elek test and Wagatsuma agar were compared for their ability to detect the Kanagawa activity of 142 strains of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. The performance of the modified Elek test was on a par with that of the Wagatsuma agar as far as positivity was concerned, and the test was far superior to Wagatsuma agar in eliminating doubtful results. The results of the modified Elek test were not unduly influenced by the different types of agar used.

Bacteriological Techniques↗
PubMed1984

Role of rotavirus as the cause of acute paediatric diarrhoea in Calcutta.

Of the 245 acute paediatric diarrhoea cases admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Calcutta between July, 1979 and June, 1981, rotavirus was detected in the faeces of 55 (22.4%) patients either as the sole aetiological agent or in association with other enteropathogens. Children aged six months to two years were most commonly infected. The virus was detected throughout the year with higher incidence during the winter months of both years. The frequency of detection of major enteropathogens other than rotavirus was Vibrio cholerae biotype El Tor (31.0%), enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (8.2%) and enterotoxigenic E. coli (6.5%).

Child↗
PubMed1984

Studies on Escherichia coli as a cause of acute diarrhoea in Calcutta.

The prevalence of different types of diarrhoea-producing Escherichia coli among 240 patients with acute diarrhoea in hospital was investigated. The 25 patients (10.4% of the total) from whose faeces we isolated enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) were all less than 5 years old but the 29 (12.1%) from whom we isolated enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) were of various ages, most of them greater than 12 years old. No enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC) strains were isolated. ETEC strains that produced heat-labile toxin (LT) were encountered more often than those that produced either heat-stable toxin (ST) alone or both LT and ST. The ETEC isolates were distributed among eight different serotypes, the commonest being O148:H28 (38%). Correlations between enterotoxin production, serotype pattern and possession of colonisation factor antigens I and II were observed.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1984

Evaluation of three simple and rapid immunological tests for detection of heat-labile enterotoxin of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli.

Three simple immunological tests, the modified Elek (Biken) test, the modified staphylococcal coagglutination test, and the rapid GM1-horseradish peroxidase-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay have been evaluated for detection of heat-labile enterotoxin of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. Of the 100 coded E. coli strains tested, 94 gave consistent results with all the three immunological tests; a discrepancy was observed in only 6 strains. Identical results were obtained when the Biken test was conducted with complete and incomplete Biken kits (Meguro Institute Ltd., Osaka, Japan). All three immunological tests evaluated in this study were found to be sensitive and simple and can be easily adopted by any laboratory for detection of heat-labile enterotoxins of enterotoxigenic E. coli strains.

Agglutination Tests↗
PubMed1983

Aetiological studies on hospital in-patients with acute diarrhoea in Calcutta.

Bacterial enteropathogens and rotavirus were sought in 356 cases with acute diarrhoea admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Calcutta. One or more pathogens were isolated from 74.7% of the cases. Single enteropathogens could be detected from 66% and multiple enteropathogens from 8.7% of the patients. Vibrio cholerae biotype El Tor, rotavirus, V. parahaemolyticus, and enteropathogenic and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli were the major pathogens detected. Rotavirus was detected from 7.6% of the cases. A higher rate of detection of rotavirus was seen in children younger than two years. Campylobacter jejuni could be isolated from the faeces of six (15%) of 40 cases either as a single pathogen or in association with V. cholerae biotype El Tor.

Acute Disease↗