Background: Strongyloidiasis, endemic in tropical areas, may be asymptomatic in immunocompetent subjects or may cause potentially fatal hyper-infection in immunocompromised patients. Methods: Of the 13,885 patients referred to the parasitology laboratory at our tertiary care referral center for stool microscopy, 15 were diagnosed as strongyloidiasis over a 6 year period. We assessed these patients retrospectively. Results: Most patients were young (median age 32 years, range 3-66) males (12, 80%). Seven patients (46.6%) were immunocompromised. All patients were symptomatic, and symptoms included chronic diarrhea (4, 26.7%), acute diarrhea (1, 6.7%), abdominal pain (6, 40%), weight loss (3, 20%), cough (2, 13.33%), vomiting (1, 6.7%), anemia (10, 66.7%) and eosinophilia (3, 20%). Thirteen patients (86.6%) were diagnosed on first stool microscopy. Duodenal biopsy showed normal histology in twelve (80%) and partial villous atrophy in one (6.7%) patient. Stool microscopy also revealed giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis in one patient each. Nine patients responded well to ivermectin and albendazole, one died and five were lost to followup. Conclusions: In endemic areas, even immunocompetent subjects may suffer from symptomatic strongyloidiasis and associated eosinophilia is uncommon.

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Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly infectious disease causing millions of cases worldwide. Though pulmonary TB is the most common form of infection, extrapulmonary cases are also very rampant and are responsible for a large number of cases. But the diagnosis of extrapulmonary cases is quite difficult because of varied manifestations and the paucibacillary nature of the infection. Cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification test (CBNAAT) is a simple, rapid test that is very efficient in the early diagnosis of these extrapulmonary cases [extrapulmonary TB (EPTB)]. Aim: A study was done to establish the usefulness of CBNAAT in the early diagnosis of EPTB cases. Materials and methods: A comparative study was conducted in a rural tertiary care hospital in West Bengal, India, for 8 months (July 2021–February 2022). Samples were collected from different sites like pleural fluid, lymph nodes, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), pus, ascitic fluid, and tissue aspirate and subjected to both CBNAAT and smear staining and examination under a fluorescent microscope. Positive samples were cultured, examined, and compared. Result: From 593 samples collected from different sites in suspected cases of EPTB—52 samples were positive by CBNAAT, and six cases showed rifampicin resistance (RIF resistant). Smear staining of the samples by auramine-rhodamine stains and examined under the fluorescent microscope for acid-fast bacilli identifying 33 samples; the rest were negative. Slides showing acid-fast bacilli were cultured on Lowenstein–Jensen media. Conclusion: Cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification test (CBNAAT) is a very useful assay for the early diagnosis of extrapulmonary cases as it can accurately identify false negative samples by smear microscopy

Background: Proper hand hygiene practices by healthcare providers are critical to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). This study aimed to assess the hand hygiene knowledge and practices of nursing students in various departments and operation theatres of a tertiary care hospital in Eastern India. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey based on WHO questions was conducted in March-April 2022 to evaluate the hand hygiene knowledge and practices of 105 nursing students. The study included nursing students from different departments, including medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, eye, different ICUs (adult, NICU, and PICU), and different OTs. The collected data were analyzed according to the STROBE guidelines. Results: Of the 105 nursing students, 42.86% had no training in hand hygiene practices, highlighting the need for additional training. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most students (86%) were familiar with using alcohol-based hand rubs. Most students preferred hand rubbing before giving an injection (65.74%), while hand washing was preferred after vacating a bedpan (91.42%) or being exposed to blood (89.52%). Comparing the pre-and post-workshop questionnaires showed a significant improvement in hand hygiene knowledge. However, more training is required to understand the importance of infection spread from the infected hands of HCWs. Additionally, gloves are not a substitute for hand hygiene practices, and wearing jewelry and artificial nails should be avoided. Regular training and workshops can increase awareness among nursing students. Conclusion: The findings indicate a need for ongoing training to improve hand hygiene practices among nursing students. Regular training and workshops can increase awareness and knowledge, leading to decreased incidence of HCAIs.