1.An investigation on the diversity of mosquitocidal bacteria and its relationship with incidence of vector borne diseases
Subbiah Poopathi ; De Britto, R.L.J ; Thirugnanasambantham, K ; Ragul, K ; Mani, C ; Balagangadharan, K.
Tropical Biomedicine 2015;32(1):84-97
Control of mosquitoes is the most important aspect of public health, as mosquitoes
transmit many human diseases, including the fatal infection, Japanese encephalitis. This
paper addresses the isolation of new mosquitocidal bacteria from soil samples in the Union
Territory of Pondicherry, India, where, no clinical cases of vector borne infections have been
reported. Bacterial isolates from soil samples were screened for potential mosquitocidal
strains and bioassays against mosquito vectors (Culex quinquefasciatus, Anopheles stephensi
and Aedes aegypti) were carried out. Genomic DNA of potential mosquitocidal isolates was
amplified and species identification was carried out using BLASTn program (NCBI).
Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA sequences of mosquitocidal bacteria revealed seven
potential isolates. SDS-PAGE results have shown that there was considerable difference in
the protein profiles. Numerical analysis revealed 4 distinct groups at similarity level 25%. The
relationship between VBDs and prevalence of soil mosquitocidal bacteria in the study sites
has elicited considerable interest in the diversity of mosquitocidal bacteria and their application
for mosquito borne diseases control.
2.Enhanced efficacy of sequential administration of Albendazole for the clearance of Wuchereria bancrofti infection: Double blind RCT
De Britto, R.L.J. ; Vanamail, P. ; Sankari, T. ; Vijayalakshmi, G. ; Das, L.K. ; Pani, S.P.
Tropical Biomedicine 2015;32(2):198-209
Till today, there is no effective treatment protocol for the complete clearance of
Wuchereria bancrofti (W.b) infection that causes secondary lymphoedema. In a double blind
randomized control trial (RCT), 146 asymptomatic W. b infected individuals were randomly
assigned to one of the four regimens for 12 days, DEC 300 mg + Doxycycline 100 mg coadministration
or DEC 300 mg + Albendazole 400 mg co-administration or DEC 300 mg +
Albendazole 400 mg sequential administration or control regimen DEC 300 mg and were
followed up at 13, 26 and 52 weeks post-treatment for the clearance of infection. At intake,
there was no significant variation in mf counts (F(3,137)=0.044; P=0.988) and antigen levels
(F(3,137)=1.433; P=0.236) between the regimens. Primary outcome analysis showed that
DEC + Albendazole sequential administration has an enhanced efficacy over DEC + Albendazole
co-administration (80.6 Vs 64.7%), and this regimen is significantly different when compared
to DEC + doxycycline co-administration and control (P<0.05), in clearing microfilaria in 13
weeks. Secondary outcome analysis showed that, all the trial regimens were comparable to
control regimen in clearing antigen (F(3, 109)=0.405; P=0.750). Therefore, DEC + Albendazole
sequential administration appears to be a better option for rapid clearance of W. b microfilariae
in 13 weeks time. (Clinical trials.gov identifier – NCT02005653)
3.Does the morbidity management and disability prevention (MMDP) clinic serve the filarial lymphedema (FLE) patients’ preeminent expectation?
De Britto, R.L.J. ; Vijayalakshmi, G. ; Boopathi, K. ; Kamaraj, P. ; Supriya, V.K. ; Yuvaraj, J.
Tropical Biomedicine 2020;37(No.1):66-74
Advocacy and training on “Home care” for filarial lymphoedma (FLE) patients are provided through morbidity management and disability prevention (MMDP) clinic commonly known as filariasis clinic and clinical improvement is assessed by follow-up visits. While the physicians aim at reducing the recurrent ADL (coined as ADLA in 1997) episodes, the patients expect reduction in LE volume. The objective of the present study was to know whether the MMDP clinic serves the primary expectation of the FLE patients. LE patients who attended the clinic for at least four follow-up consultations and had LE volume measurements at three points of time during the one year period of observation were considered for analysis. Clinical assessment was done for LE grading and LE volume was measured by water displacement volumetry. Sixty-three patients who fulfilled the follow up criteria were included. It was observed that the median LE volume was 914ml (IQR 269 – 1935) at first visit of the observation period which reduced to 645ml (IQR 2151666) and 752ml (IQR 215 – 1720) at first and second follow-up visits respectively. Over all, in short span of one year, 21 of the 63 patients (33.3%) who visited MMDP clinic at least four times in a year were benefitted through the MMDP advocacy and the National filariasis control programme need to emphasise on the importance of follow up visits to FLE patients.