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Objectives: This study was conducted to compare the disease severity of COVID-19 in pregnant and nonpregnant females of reproductive age group and to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on neonatal outcome. Materials and Methods: The present prospective observational study was conducted at a tertiary care center in northern India over a period of 6 months. Females of reproductive age group (15–44 years) that were admitted in COVID isolation ward with reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction-positive COVID-19 disease were included in the study and followed till discharge. Results: Among the 60 females of reproductive age group, 41.67% (25) were pregnant and 58.34% (35) were nonpregnant. The median duration of hospitalization among pregnant and nonpregnant females was 9 and 8.5 days, respectively. The severity of infection among pregnant and nonpregnant females was as follows: asymptomatic + mild disease 96% (24) and 77.14% (27) and moderate + severe disease 4% (1) and 22.86% (8), respectively. There were no maternal mortalities. Forty percent (10) of pregnant females had lower segment cesarean section (LSCS) and 32% (8) had normal vaginal delivery. There were 8 preterm, 6 full-term, 3 early-term, and 1 late-term deliveries. Twelve newborns had normal birth weight, 4 were low birth weight (LBW), 1 was very LBW, and 2 intrauterine deaths IUD were reported. No case of neonatal death or neonatal asphyxia was reported. Conclusion: In comparison to nonpregnant women with COVID-19 pneumonia, the infected pregnant females had mild or no respiratory symptoms, and none developed severe respiratory compromise or required intensive care. Preterm delivery, LSCS, and LBW were common in COVID-19-infected females.

Purpose: Early diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB) with simultaneous detection of rifampicin (RIF) resistance (RR) directly from the sample is a revolution brought by GeneXpert Mycobacterium TB (MTB/RIF) assay. Line probe assay (LPA) is not recommended for extrapulmonary/nonsputum specimens; GeneXpert MTB/RIF provides a diagnostic option for these. Hence, the following study aimed to evaluate the performance of GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay in nonsputum samples. Materials and Methods: A total number of 642 extrapulmonary and nonsputum respiratory samples were subjected to Ziehl–Neelsen (ZN) staining technique, fluorescent microscopy (FM), and GeneXpert MTB/RIF Assay. All samples were cultured on a solid Lowenstein–Jensen (LJ) medium and culture-positive samples were subjected to GenoType MTBDRplus LPA and drug susceptibility testing by 1% proportion method on a solid LJ medium. Results: GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay detected MTB in 25.9% (166/642) of the samples. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of ZN staining technique and FM were 21.52%, 99.35%, 91.89%, and 78.77% and 27.22%, 99.78%, 97.73%, and 80.07%, respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of GeneXpert MTB/RIF in the detection of MTB were 93.75%, 96.53%, 90.36%, and 97.80%, and RIF RR was 92.0%, 97.74%, 88.46%, and 98.48%, respectively. LPA performed on positive culture growth showed 100% sensitivity and specificity in the detection of RIF and isoniazid resistance. Conclusion: GeneXpert MTB/RIF showed high sensitivity and specificity in detecting MTB and simultaneous RIF RR among the nonsputum samples which had a good concordance to LPA. It provides a judicious option for early detection of multidrug-resistant TB in extrapulmonary and nonsputum respiratory samples.

Introduction: Candidemia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients, especially pediatric population, justifying the importance of adequate antifungal therapy. Immunocompromised patients, preterm neonates, elderly patients and patients admitted to intensive care units are at higher risk of invasive candidiasis infections. A shift has been observed in the relative frequency of non-albicans Candida (NAC) and Candida albicans in blood stream infections. Studies on the prevalence of infections and antifungal susceptibility testing can help with deciding on clinical strategies to manage this problem. Aims and Objectives: The following study was performed to find the prevalence of various Candida species causing candidemia and their resistant pattern in Aligarh region of western Uttar Pradesh. Materials and Methods: Two thousand and eighty-four samples for blood culture were received in the microbiology laboratory over a period of 5 months. Seventy-one positive samples for Candida were identified and tested for antifungal susceptibility testing by Vitek-2 (21) and conventional methods (50). Results: 3.41% of the blood culture were positive for Candida species. Candida tropicalis (35.21%) was the most common species isolated followed by Candida glabrata (21.13%), C. albicans (14.08%), Candida krusei (9.86%), Candida pelliculosa (9.86%), Candida parapsilosis (4.23%), Candida guilliermondii (4.23%), and Candida utilis (1.41%). Maximum percentage of isolates were from neonates (47.89%) followed by infants (25.35%). Resistance to fluconazole and amphotericin B was seen in 11.27% and 1.41% of isolates. Conclusion: NAC species outnumbering C. albicans even as single most common species in candidemia patient isolates is alarming. Fluconazole is generally used as empirical therapy. NAC being more resistant and some being intrinsically resistant (C. krusei) to fluconazole strengthens the need of antifungal susceptibility testing on priority basis.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health problem. India accounts for the one-fourth of the global TB burden. For resource-limited countries like India having high burden of TB, smear microscopy is the most commonly used method for microbiological diagnosis. Although culture being highly sensitive and specific method, it is time-consuming. Under Revised National TB Control Program (RNTCP), Ziehl–Neelsen (ZN) stain-based microscopy and light-emitting diode-based fluorescent microscopy (LED-FM) are being recommended. Aim: The present study was done to determine the sensitivity and specificity of ZN stain-based microscopy and FM (LED-FM) keeping solid culture as gold standard. Materials and Methods: A total of 1503 sputum samples were collected from suspected cases of pulmonary TB (new or previously treated). They were processed and subjected to ZN (conventional light microscopy), Auramine-O (AO) staining (LED-FM) and solid culture on Lowenstein–Jensen medium for detection of acid-fast bacilli. Positive smears were graded according to RNTCP guidelines. Results: Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of ZN staining technique were 84.93%, 95.74%, 96.50%, and 82.16%, respectively, and that of FM was 95.25%, 91.33%, 93.81%, and 93.31%, respectively. Conclusion: LED-FM being more sensitive, especially in detecting the paucibacillary cases and less time-consuming, has advantage over ZN method. Nation-wide implementation will lead to improved diagnosis, thus better control of TB.