Of the 360 cases, 17.2% samples were positive for Giardia by direct microscopy and 23.6% were found to be positive by ELISA (sensitivity ~97%), but specificity was ~92% only. Because of less specificity, we need to perform ELISA in congruence with direct microscopy, etc. Further studies need to be performed on a larger sample size using other molecular tests in order to get more accurate estimations.

Many cleft lip and cleft palate patients show high eosinophil counts. Absolute eosinophil count was found to be a better parameter for assessment of eosinophils.

Global efforts invested for the prevention and treatment of cancer need to be repositioned to develop safe, effective, and economic anticancer therapeutics by adopting rational approaches of drug discovery. Drug repurposing is one of the established approaches to reposition old, clinically approved off patent noncancer drugs with known targets into newer indications. The literature review suggests key role of drug repurposing in the development of drugs intended for cancer as well as noncancer therapeutics. A wide category of noncancer drugs namely, drugs acting on CNS, anthelmintics, cardiovascular drugs, antimalarial drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs have come out with interesting outcomes during preclinical and clinical phases. In the present article a comprehensive overview of the current scenario of drug repurposing for the treatment of cancer has been focused. The details of some successful studies along with examples have been included followed by associated challenges.

CONTEXT:Dengue virus infection has emerged as notable public health problem in recent decades because of high mortality and morbidity associated with it. Dengue with its two severe clinical manifestations dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS) is endemic in India and epidemics are frequently reported from many parts of India and abroad. It infects 50-100 million people worldwide a year with half a million life threatening infections requiring hospitalization resulting in 12,500 to 25,000 annual deaths. Hence early and rapid laboratory diagnosis which is usually done by serology is crucial for Dengue patients. AIMS: To determine seroprevalence of dengue in tertiary care centre SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Retrospective study done in tertiary care hospital. METHODS AND MATERIAL: A total of 668 blood samples were collected from suspected patients of Dengue in Era's Lucknow Medical College and Hospital from February 2010 to January 2011. They were then centrifuged to obtain sera which was tested by immunochromatographic card strip (SD Standard Diagnostics) Statistical analysis used: p value applied in positive cases. RESULTS: Out of 668 sera of suspected patients admitted in our hospital, 183(27.4%) were IgM positive. Out of this 19% were also positive for IgG. Besides these, 33.46% were only IgG positive which showed past infection with Dengue. CONCLUSIONS: Dengue cases were more during September to December with their tapering number in January ie in post monsoon season. Dengue IgM sensitivity among the suspected cases indicates active dengue virus activity. Studies need to be done to identify circulating serotypes of dengue virus to design preventive strategies.

Introduction: The global pandemic COVID-19 and its uncontrolled spread and lack of effective therapeutics demand to investigate the herbal resources in search of novel, safe and potent therapeutics. Herbal medicines have proven the advantage of multi-target potential and thus can be investigated for virus-host interaction protein and viral protein targets. Objectives: Manuscript aims to provide an outcome-based analysis of studies performed towards evaluation of herbal compounds as anti-COVID agents. The studies focus on the proposed mechanism of viral inhibition by herbal compounds. Methods: The details on modern drug discovery approaches for investigation of potential antiviral agents includes in silico screening, ADMET and molecular docking studies. It helps to establish the probable mechanism of viral inhibition as well as to establish pharmacophore. The reports explaining role of herbal therapeutics/phytochemicals in antiviral drug development have been thoroughly searched. Results: The study summarizes herbal therapeutics and phytochemicals based on their antiviral properties against various pathogenic viruses. Herbal compounds that have an interesting role in the development of therapeutics and herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2 are included and discussed. Conclusion: The manuscript provides a summarized description of herbal resources and phytochemicals which are under investigation or have been investigated as potential therapeutic option for SARS-COV-2 inhibition. It will be a useful resource for researchers interested in the development of herbal therapeutics for the prevention and/or treatment of COVID-19.