BACKGROUND Maternal infections play a crucial role in pregnancy wastage, which are transmitted in utero during pregnancy. The TORCH infections are the most significant of all infections causing morbidity and mortality. Primary infection with Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is one of the most common congenital viral infections. Although, 90% of congenital infections are asymptomatic, 5 to 17% of infants born to mothers with primary CMV infection will be overtly symptomatic and have a mortality rate of 30% and severe neurological morbidity occurs in 90% of survivors. Acute CMV infection can be diagnosed by detection of antibodies by serology and by detection of CMV genomic sequences by RT-PCR. Seroconversion or significant rise in the titre of CMV IgM indicates recent CMV infection and may still be detected upto one year even if the individual presents after the symptoms have subsided. Hence, the present study was carried out. This study aims to screen antenatal women for IgM antibodies to CMV by ELISA and to study the seroprevalence of CMV in antenatal women. Further, the seropositivity was correlated with bad obstetric history cases in antenatal women. MATERIALS AND METHODS An observational cross-sectional study was conducted in a Government Maternity Hospital, Tirupathi, for a period of one year. By using a convenient sampling method, a total of 186 blood samples were collected from antenatal women with bad obstetrics history who attended during the period of July 2011 to Jan 2012. All samples collected were processed and screened for CMV specific IgM antibodies by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) using "Anti-CMV IgM ELISA" kit of Euroimmune following the manufacturer's instructions. Chi-square test was applied to check the significance level. Finally, results were displayed in terms of percentages, bar diagrams, pie diagrams and tables. RESULTS A total number of 186 blood samples were collected and processed. Samples were screened for IgM antibodies against CMV using Anti-CMV IgM kit by ELISA as per the manufacturer's instructions. Of the 186 samples tested, 156 were from antenatal women with BOH (test group) and the remaining 30 were from the women with previous normal deliveries (control group). Of the test group, 12 (7.69%) serum samples were found to be positive for IgM antibodies to CMV. Among the control group, no sample was found to be positive for IgM antibodies to CMV. CONCLUSION It is concluded that CMV infections are responsible for some obstetrical losses. There is no vaccine for prevention and there is no way to prevent foetuses from being infected once the mother acquires the infection. It is suggested that women in the reproductive age group should be screened for CMV infections. It is observed that universal screening of pregnant women for CMV infection during an early prenatal visit is not yet recommended worldwide.

BACKGROUND Mechanical ventilation is a life-saving procedure for most patients in ICUs. But it has a risk of acquiring respiratory tract infections resulting in high morbidity and mortality. If not treated early, it may lead to ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Early diagnosis and appropriate antibiotic therapy at right time in the right dosage is essential for better clinical outcome. The objectives of the study were to analyse the microbiomes of endotracheal samples and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern in mechanically ventilated patients in ICUs and to frame an institution based local antibiotic policy especially for them. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital and sample data was collected which included all adult patients who were mechanically ventilated for various co-morbid conditions in ICUs from January 2019 to December 2019. All the samples were processed for microscopy, culture and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. RESULTS Among 848 endotracheal samples, 673 (79.4 %) samples were culture positive and 175 (20.6 %) samples were sterile. Most common organism was Acinetobacter spp (N=240) followed by Klebsiella spp (N=225) and Pseudomonas spp (N=97). In our study, polymicrobial infections were 186(21.7 %). Sixty-eight percent of organisms were multidrug-resistant. Carbapenem resistance was 58 %. CONCLUSIONS The most common complication of mechanical ventilation is an endotracheal infection which in turn leads to prolonged stay in hospital, morbidity and mortality. It is essential to know about the local microbiome and its antibiotic susceptibility pattern. KEY WORDS Microbiome-human, Antibiogram, Endotracheal Intubation.

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