Early and accurate diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is essential for timely identification of patients needing antiretroviral therapy and for instituting HIV prevention strategies. The primary methodology for HIV testing has shifted from enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in recent years, especially in resource limited settings. However, the diagnostic performance of RDTs is a matter of concern. In the present study the performance of an RDT being used as the initial test in serial testing based algorithm for HIV diagnosis was compared with ELISA. Seven hundred and eighty-seven sera, tested at the voluntary counselling and testing facility employing a serial testing algorithm (based on SD Bioline HIV-1/2 3.0 as the first test), were subsequently tested with Microlisa-HIV for anti-HIV antibodies. The first test missed 9 HIV reactive samples and also registered 5 false positives. The sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive values of the first test were 77.5%, 99.3%, and 98.8% and 86.1%, respectively, taking ELISA as the standard test. Our study highlights that RDTs fare poorly compared to ELISA as screening assays and that reactive results by RDTs need to be confirmed by western blot for a positive serodiagnosis of HIV infection.

Homosexuality is not legally and socially accepted in India. Thus, this area of research has largely been ignored by Indian authors, resulting in dearth of knowledge, particularly with respect to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in this high-risk group. Over a period of two years (2013-2014), 738 males sought care at skin and venereal diseases clinics, 52 (7.05%, 95% CI=5.4-9.14%) of who identified themselves as MSM and were enrolled in the study. Diagnosis was made on the basis of clinical presentation and laboratory testing, wherever indicated. Thirty six percent of MSM had only homosexual preferences, while 64% were bisexual. The most common sexually transmitted infection was genital warts (23.08%, 95% CI=13.58-36.28%). Fourteen patients (26.92%, 95% CI=16.67-40.35%) were VDRL and TPHA positive (two, five and four with primary syphilis, secondary syphilis and latent syphilis, respectively). These were followed by genital herpes (11.54%, 95% CI=5.03-23.34%), genital molluscum contagiosum (9.62% 95% CI=3.75-21.04%), and gonorrhea (5.77%, 95% CI=1.38-16.25%). Of those tested, 23.08% (95% CI=13.58-36.28%) of patients were reactive for HIV serology. Thus, MSM is a high-risk group with high prevalence of HIV and other STIs in this group, mandating greater focus, education and counseling.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmits from person to person mainly through respiratory droplets and coughing. Infection severity ranges from asymptomatic and mild infection to those with moderate and severe symptoms which may lead to multiple organ failure and mortality. Infection severity largely depends on individual's immune response, age and co-morbidities. Present study categorized COVID-19 infected patients based on their infection severity and linked COVID-19 severity with age, gender and ABO blood group types. Clinical details of 383 COVID-19 patients were collected from Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty hospital (RGSSH), India; divided into three groups; mild, moderate and severe patients, based on their symptoms. Present analysis revealed that age plays major role in infection severity, as the symptoms are more severe in patients above 45 years. Infection rate was higher in males compared to females. Most patients with A(+ve) and B(+ve) blood group were severely affected compared to those of blood group type O(+ve) and AB(+ve). O(+ve) blood group was least represented in severe patients. Present findings could be helpful in generating awareness amongst the population regarding susceptibility towards the COVID-19 infection. This supportive information would help clinicians and health workers to propose new strategies and tactical solution against COVID-19 infection.

The contribution of India to the global burden of HIV/AIDS is significant. A major barrier that the country has faced in its battle against this disease is the inadequate and inaccurate information about it among the population. The present analysis explores the knowledge about HIV/AIDS among clients attending a voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) facility in India. Two hundred clients attending the VCT facility were assessed in this regard using a structured predesigned questionnaire. Sixty-three (31.5%) of the respondents had never heard of HIV/AIDS. In comparison to males, a significantly higher number of females had not heard about the disease (P < 0.01). Lower levels of education of participants were found to be significantly associated with the response of not having heard of HIV/AIDS (P < 0.01) as was an occupation status of being an unemployed man/housewife (P = 0.002). For the 137 (68.5%) respondents who had heard about HIV/AIDS, television was the source of information in 130 (94.9%) followed by posters in 93 (67.9%) and newspapers in 88 (64.2%). While the knowledge about HIV transmission and prevention was good, the extent of misconceptions was high (61.8%). Our study highlights the strong need to raise the levels of HIV awareness among Indian population.

Background:Serology is considered the mainstay of syphilis diagnosis. The limitations of the traditional serological methods and the advent and availability of novel immunochromatographic assays have led to the widespread application of rapid point-of-care procedures as screening tools for syphilis. However, these tests have not been extensively evaluated. This study was designed to evaluate the performance of a rapid syphilis diagnostic test known as SD BIOLINE Syphilis 3.0 (SD Biostandard Diagnostics Private Limited, Gurgaon, Haryana, India).Materials and Methods:A panel comprising of 50 venereal disease research laboratory reactive and 50 nonreactive sera was tested using SD BIOLINE Syphilis 3.0. The performance of the test was evaluated using IMMUTREP Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay (TPHA) (OMEGA Diagnostics Limited, Scotland, United Kingdom) as the reference standard and sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive values were calculated.Results:The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of SD BIOLINE Syphilis 3.0 were 92.86% (confidence interval of 95%: 80.52–98.50%), 98.28% (90.76-99.96%), 97.50% (86.84–99.94%), and 95.00% (86.08–98.96%), respectively, compared to TPHA as the gold standard.Conclusion:Keeping in view the high sensitivity and specificity of SD BIOLINE Syphilis 3.0, we conclude that the test can be used as a tool for rapid on-site diagnosis of syphilis and as an alternative to TPHA for detection of antibodies to Treponema pallidum.