Introduction: Timely diagnosis and isolation of cases is of paramount importance to contain the spread of a pandemic. The Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a major health problem that needs concerted efforts for mitigation and control. Real-time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), the gold-standard diagnostic modality, has high cost and can be performed in special laboratories. Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) has been developed to serve as an alternative and is recommended to use at point-of-care testing. Aim: To compare the case detection rate of RAT and RT-PCR and the possible role they may play in the pandemic mitigation efforts. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, all the samples collected during a nine-months period were analysed. Depending upon the criteria, either a RAT or RT- PCR was done on the samples. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, mean, standard deviation, and percentages). Results: A total of 8,29,745 samples were tested during the study period among which number of positive samples was 19,414 giving an overall positivity rate of 2.34% (0.20% to 12.58%). RAT positivity was 1.58% while RT-PCR gave a positivity of 4.26. Total number of positive cases identified by RAT and RT-PCR were 9,382 and 10,032, respectively. Conclusions: RAT is a low-cost alternative to the expensive RT-PCR with the added advantage of giving accurate and timely results. This can be a game changer especially in low-resource settings, which have witnessed a increase in the spread of COVID-19 during the latter part of the pandemic.

Background: As COVID-19 spread across the globe, the new variants continued to emerge, leading to a rapid surge in the cases and thereby overwhelming the testing laboratories. As Rapid antigen test kits became available, they complimented the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) based testing and thereby moderately disburdening the testing laboratories. However, to increase the testing capacities, the regulatory authorities approved these rapid kits with little scrutiny. Therefore, validation of rapid antigen testing kits becomes essential before they are used as viable alternatives to RT-PCR based testing. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the sensitivity and specificity of OSKIT SARS-CoV-2 corona antigen test (Oscar Medicare Pvt. Ltd., India) to that of COVID-19 ONE-STEP RT-PCR KIT (Meril Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd., India). Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, spanning the peak of third wave in India (Between December 1 and January 31, 2022), 242 specimens were collected and analyzed by comparing their results both by OSKIT SARS-CoV-2 Corona Antigen Test and COVID-19 ONE-STEP RT-PCR KIT. The various clinico-epidemiological attributes of the patients were taken into consideration and used to analyze the results. Results: Rapid antigen tests (RAT) was positive in 44 individuals, giving an overall sensitivity of 67.31%. Sensitivity increased when Ct value of below 30 was taken a positive or when only symptomatic individuals were taken for analysis. Sensitivity was highest in case the duration of symptoms was <5 days (92.86%). When comparing RAT results with Ct value of the screening gene (N gene), a higher proportion of positive cases was observed for lower Ct values. Further analysis revealed that majority of the RAT positive cases were from that subset of symptomatic patients who had a history of symptoms of <5 days. Conclusion: The COVID-19 rapid antigen test evaluated in this study was able to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection with high viral loads in both asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals. Thus, this test can serve as a rapid tool for reducing community spread of the virus. The study concludes that the duration since symptom onset greatly affects sensitivity of antigen testing.

Objective: To make scientific validation of the ethanomedicinal in relation to urinary disorders. Vitex negundo (Jacq.) Methods: Antibacterial study was carried out on clinically isolated Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) infecting bacteria by disc diffusion method. Among the two extracts tested against three different Results: Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) bacteria, methanolic extract was effective against with E. coli highest inhibition zone (27 mm) followed by with inhibition zone (20 mm) and with P. aeruginosa K. pneumoniae inhibition zone (19 mm), while, hexane extract also shows highest effective against with inhibition zone (29 E. coli mm) followed by with inhibition zone (23 mm) and with inhibition zone (16 mm). P. aeruginosa K. pneumoniae Preliminary phytochemical screening shows the presence of phytoconstituents alkaloids, glycosides, saponins, viz carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, flavonoids, steroids, tannins. Based on the present study, along with Conclusion: previous studies, the ethanomedicinal use of for the treatment of CAUTI has been scientifically Vitex negundo validated.