Scrub typhus is a vector borne disease which in a proportion of patients causes multiorgan involvement and death if untreated. Infecting genotype and virulence factors play a role in severity of infection and outcome. The current prospective cohort study was undertaken to elucidate the severity of illness in scrub typhus patients and to identify the circulating genotypes in Karnataka, India. A total of 214 patients of either gender from 9 districts of Karnataka and one patient each from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, India were enrolled in the study. With a predefined severity criterion, 132 patients were segregated to the severe group. Multi organ involvement was seen in 59 (44.69%) patients. Phylogenetic analysis revealed JG-v like (48.97%), Karp-like (26.53%), JG-like (22.44%), and Kato-like (2.04%) strains in Karnataka. Patients infected with Orientia tsutsugamushi Karp-like strains had respiratory involvement (69.2%), cardiovascular involvement (46.2%) and thrombocytopenia (23.1%) and required higher hospital resource utilization.

Objective: To investigate the incidence of clopidogrel resistance in patients with acute ischaemic stroke and to evaluate whether there is an association between clopidogrel resistance and the occurrence of a further cerebrovascular ischaemic event using the vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) index as a marker of clopidogrel resistance. Methods: It is a prospective cohort study that recruited 120 patients from the acute stroke unit at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. All patients with confirmed acute ischaemic stroke had clopidogrel 75mg/day at discharge or after 14 days of acute stroke if deemed by the direct clinical team to be the most appropriate treatment. After at least 7 days of clopidogrel 75mg/day, all those patients fulfilling inclusion/exclusion criteria had phosphorylation of vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) measured. If VASP measured ≥50% after ≥7 days of clopidogrel maintenance, these patients were deemed as ‘clopidogrel resistant’, while those with VASP <50% were deemed as ‘clopidogrel responder’. Statistical analysis was by univariable analysis which considered the association of each variable – diagnosis, age, duration of clopidogrel, VASP, days to VASP, and number of comorbidities – with the outcome. Risk of second stroke after a first at 6, 12 and 24 months was estimated using logistic regression. Results: No variables were significantly associated with risk of stroke at 6 months with clopidogrel resistance having no significant effect on likelihood of a further stroke compared to the no clopiodgrel resistance cohort (p value= 0.39). Results were similar at 12 months follow up. However, at 24 months VASP index was significantly associated with risk of a further stroke; each one unit increase in VASP was associated with a 3% increase in risk of stroke at 24 months (p value = 0.05, CI Interval of 1.00- 1.06). Conclusion: No variables were significantly associated with risk of further stroke at 6 months and 12 months after a first stroke. However, VASP was significantly associated with risk of further stroke at 24 months with increasing VASP leading to a higher risk of further stroke.