Ret-He can be used as a routine screening test to detect LID in blood donors. This could provide an opportunity to make appropriate and timely interventions like dietary changes or drug supplementation.

Objective:We are presently going through a historic and unprecedented crisis for humanity with SARS-CoV-2 causing immense damage to life and world economics. It has been 3 months, since we had the first cluster in China and we felt the need to look into certain regional patterns of transmission of the virus with respect to some distinctive living conditions, incidence of malaria, the genomics of different strains, and its impact on severity.Material and Methods: Data for 107 countries was compiled and correlation analysis was done between incidence of malaria and number of SARS-CoV-2 cases. Possibility of genetic similarity between SARS-CoV-2 and reported zoonotic RNA viruses found associated previously with some Plasmodium species was explored by utilizing NCBI database. Results:We found a significant inverse correlation between SARS-CoV-2 disease burden and incidence of Malaria. Our analysis also showed that a 12 base pair region encoding a part of surface glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 aligned with the Plasmodium associated zoonotic viral genome. Conclusion:Our analysis suggests a significantly lower SARS-CoV-2 disease burden in Malaria endemic regions and an inverse correlation with incidence of Malaria. The possibility of a pre-existing immunological memory for SARS-CoV-2 in Indians is possible and needs to be explored further

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Background and Aim: We report here our experience of using pegylated granulocyte colony stimulating factor (peg-GCSF) for peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) mobilization in children. Methods and results:A total of nine children suffering from high-risk/relapsed solid tumors were mobilized with chemotherapy and peg-GCSF (100 microgram/kg single dose). Mean age was 7.7 years (range 2-15 years).The mean time from peg-GCSF administration to PBSC harvest was 9.7 days. Adequate stem cells (median dose 26.9 million/kg) could be harvested in all children by a single apheresis procedure. No major adverse events observed. Conclusion:It is feasible and safe to mobilize PBSC with peg-GCSF in children with cancer.

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