Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) are one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in young children worldwide. Influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are the predominant aetiological agents during seasonal epidemics, and thus rapid and sensitive molecular tests for screening for such agents and timely identification of epidemics are required. This study compared real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) with conventional RT-PCR for parallel identification of influenza A virus (IAV) or influenza B virus (IBV) and RSV. A total of 1091 respiratory samples was examined from children with suspected ARTIs between January 2007 and December 2008. Of these, 275 (25.21 %) were positive for either influenza or RSV by qPCR compared with 262 (24 .01%) positive by RT-PCR. Overall, IAV, IBV and RSV were detected in 121 (11.09 %), 59 (5.41 %) and 95 (8.71 %) samples, respectively. In spite of overlapping clinical symptoms, RSV and influenza virus showed distinct seasonal peaks. IAV correlated positively and RSV negatively with rainfall and temperature. No distinct seasonality was observed in IBV infections. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first report of a systemic surveillance of respiratory viruses with seasonal correlation and prevalence rates from eastern India. This 2 year comparative analysis also confirmed the feasibility of using qPCR in developing countries, which will not only improve the scope for prevention of epidemics, but will also provide crucial epidemiological data from tropical regions.

Summaryobjective To assess the clinical efficacy of Lactobacillus sporogenes (Bacillus coagulans), as probiotic preparation, against dehydrating diarrhoea in children.methods Double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, hospital-based clinical trial with children aged 6-24 months who had diarrhoea with some dehydration. Children received tablets of L. sporogenes (B. coagulans) or placebo (control group) and oral rehydration salt solution for correction of initial dehydration as well as maintenance therapy. Duration, frequency, volume of diarrhoea and intake of ORS of two groups were compared as outcome variables.results One hundred and forty-eight children participated, of whom 78 (Study group) received L. sporogenes (B. coagulans) and 70 received placebo (Control group). Differences in recovery rate (P = 0.2), duration (P = 0.5), frequency (P = 0.05), volume (P = 0.1) of diarrhoea, intake of ORS (P = 0.2) and other fluids (P = 0.1) were not significant between both groups. Neither did a subgroup analysis of children who had rotavirus as sole enteropathogens show any significant differences in duration (P = 0.5), frequency (P = 0.6), volume (P = 0.8) of diarrhoea, intake of ORS (P = 0.8) and other fluids (P = 0.8) among both groups.conclusion L. sporogenes (B. coagulans), as an adjunct to ORS, had no therapeutic impact on management of acute dehydrating diarrhoea of diverse etiology including rotavirus associated diarrhoea in children.

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel illness, which is not fully understood. Whether an individual has traveled outside their respective country or never left their community, COVID-19 is a highly contagious illness, which can result in high death rates. Biobanks will play a role in providing tools to examine data from those receiving treatment along with reviewing the current and long treatment outcomes associated with this novel coronavirus disease. A diverse, global network made up of laboratory scientists, clinical researchers, epidemiologists, data science teams, physicians, and so on must have a standardized, collaborative, virtual biobanking solution to share clinical expertise and evidence-based solutions. This virtual biobank must be centrally managed to ensure standardized quality assurance and quality control efforts. Virtual biobanks will eliminate the need to transport samples between two locations for a specific study, minimizing the risk of contamination. It is necessary for virtual biobanks to upload imaging data from those patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Standardized, collected information will be essential in the area of discovery and validation of disease markers as well as novel therapeutic strategies. It is essential for biobanks to collect COVID-19 specimens along with corresponding clinical and demographic data from COVID-19 diagnostic testing. Because COVID-19 is an acute respiratory illness, proper collection procedures must be in place to collect respiratory samples for biobanking purposes. A preconfigured purpose-built COVID-19 Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) is an efficient tool to seamlessly manage a data sharing network. Data entered into LIMS will be beneficial in designing much needed clinical trials to address any unmet needs to better address clinical treatment and outcomes. The partners or entities associated with the COVID-19 data sharing network will be able to effectively communicate, view data, and images associated with their respective research interest to advance COVID-19 research and data driven, clinical care.