BioMed Central Ltd. Acta Medica Okayama 1757-4749 2 2010 Emerging trends in the etiology of enteric pathogens as evidenced from an active surveillance of hospitalized diarrhoeal patients in Kolkata, India EN Gopinath Balakrish Nair Thandavarayan Ramamurthy Mihir Kumar Bhattacharya Triveni Krishnan Sandipan Ganguly Dhira Rani Saha Krishnan Rajendran Byomkesh Manna Mrinmoy Ghosh Keinosuke Okamoto Yoshifumi Takeda Background: This study was conducted to determine the etiology of diarrhoea in a hospital setting in Kolkata. Active surveillance was conducted for 2 years on two random days per week by enrolling every fifth diarrhoeal patient admitted to the Infectious Diseases and Beliaghata General Hospital in Kolkata. Results: Most of the patients (76.1%) had acute watery diarrhoea in association with vomiting (77.7%) and some dehydration (92%). Vibrio cholerae O1, Rotavirus and Giardia lamblia were the important causes of diarrhoea. Among Shigella spp, S. flexneri 2a and 3a serotypes were most predominantly isolated. Enteric viruses, EPEC and EAEC were common in children <5 year age group. Atypical EPEC was comparatively higher than the typical EPEC. Multidrug resistance was common among V. cholerae O1 and Shigella spp including tetracycline and ciprofloxacin. Polymicrobial infections were common in all age groups and 27.9% of the diarrhoea patients had no potential pathogen. Conclusions: Increase in V. cholerae O1 infection among <2 years age group, resistance of V. cholerae O1 to tetracycline, rise of untypable S. flexnerii, higher proportion of atypical EPEC and G. lamblia and polymicrobial etiology are some of the emerging trends observed in this diarrhoeal disease surveillance. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Elsevier Acta Medica Okayama 0304-4017 171 1-2 2010 Molecular characterization and assessment of zoonotic transmission of Cryptosporidium from dairy cattle in West Bengal, India 41 47 EN Shahbaz Manzoor Khan Chanchal Debnath Amiya Kumar Pramanik Lihua Xiao Tomoyoshi Nozaki Sandipan Ganguly Few studies in the past have examined the genetic diversity and zoonotic potential of Cryptosporidium in dairy cattle in India. To assess the importance of these animals as a source of human Cryptosporidium infections, fecal samples from 180 calves, heifers and adults and 51 farm workers on two dairy farms in West Bengal, India were genotyped by PCR-RFLP analysis of the 18S rRNA gene of Cryptosporidium followed by DNA sequencing of the PCR products. Phylogenetic analysis was carried out on the DNA sequences obtained in the study and those available in GenBank. The overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium in cattle was 11.7% though the infection was more prevalent in younger calves than in adult cattle. The occurrence of Cryptosporidium parvum, Cryptosporidium bovis, Cryptosporidium ryanae and Cryptosporidium andersoni in cattle followed an age-related pattern. A Cryptosporidium suis-like genotype was also detected in a calf. Farm workers were infected with Cryptosporidium hominis, C. parvum and a novel C. bovis genotype. These findings clearly suggest that there is a potential risk of zoonotic transmission of Cryptosporidium infections between cattle and humans on dairy farms in India. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

BioMed Central Ltd. Acta Medica Okayama 1757-4749 2 2010 Trend of Entamoeba histolytica infestation in Kolkata EN Avik K Mukherjee Kaushik Das Mihir K Bhattacharya Tomoyoshi Nozaki Sandipan Ganguly Background: Entamoeba histolytica infection is found almost all over the world and is highly endemic and a major cause of parasitic diarrhoea particularly in the developing countries. Methods: A systemic surveillance was set up at the Infectious Disease hospital, Kolkata, India between November 2007 and October 2009 for understanding the trend of E. histolytica infection in Kolkata. Fecal samples were collected from diarrhoeal patients attending the hospital, under the surveillance system and processed for detection of E. histolytica. Results: During the last two years about 2500 diarrhoeal samples were collected and screened for E. histolytica. About 3.6% were positive for E. histolytica. As compared to the earlier years, E. histolytica infection was observed to be less amongst patients screened during the last two years. No seasonality was observed in Kolkata although in the neighboring tropical country Bangladesh, a typical seasonality of E. histolytica infection was noticed. Conclusion: The study indicates that the detection rate of E. histolytica infection amongst diarrhoeal patients in Kolkata is decreasing during the last two years than that of Bangladesh. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Elsevier Acta Medica Okayama 0304-4017 178 3-4 2011 Molecular evidence for zoonotic transmission of Giardia duodenalis among dairy farm workers in West Bengal, India 342 345 EN Shahbaz Manzoor Khan Chanchal Debnath Amiya Kumar Pramanik Lihua Xiao Tomoyoshi Nozaki Sandipan Ganguly No study in the past has examined the genetic diversity and zoonotic potential of Giardia duodenalis in dairy cattle in India. To assess the importance of these animals as a source of human G. duodenalis infections and determine the epidemiology of bovine giardiasis in India, fecal samples from 180 calves, heifers and adults and 51 dairy farm workers on two dairy farms in West Bengal, India were genotyped by PCR-RFLP analysis of the β-giardin gene of G. duodenalis followed by DNA sequencing of the nested PCR products. The overall prevalence of G. duodenalis in cattle was 12.2% (22/180), the infection being more prevalent in younger calves than in adult cattle. Zoonotic G. duodenalis Assemblage A1 was identified in both calves and workers although the most prevalent genotype detected in cattle was a novel Assemblage E subgenotype. These findings clearly suggest that there is a potential risk of zoonotic transmission of G. duodenalis infections between cattle and humans on dairy farms in India. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Longdom Publishing Acta Medica Okayama 23195584 2 3 2013 THE SPLICEOSOMAL PROTEIN SnRNP F BINDS TO BOTH U3 AND U14 CLASS OF snoRNA IN Giardia lamblia 178 184 EN Arjun Ghosh Division of Parasitology, National Institute of Cholera & Enteric Diseases Sumallya Karmakar Division of Parasitology, National Institute of Cholera & Enteric Diseases Avik K. Mukherjee Division of Parasitology, National Institute of Cholera & Enteric Diseases Dibyendu Raj Division of Parasitology, National Institute of Cholera & Enteric Diseases Koushik Das Division of Parasitology, National Institute of Cholera & Enteric Diseases Srimanti Sarkar Department of Biochemistry, Bose Institute T. Nozaki Department of Parasitology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan and Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba Sandipan Ganguly Division of Parasitology, National Institute of Cholera & Enteric Diseases Small nuclear Ribonucleo Protein F (snRNP F) is a spliceosomal protein that binds with U1, U2, U4/U6 and U5 small nuclear RNA (snRNA) to form spliceosomal complexes responsible for pre mRNA processing. This study reports the unusual interaction of giardial snRNP F with small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNA) that are responsible for pre rRNA processing. Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay was used to demonstrate the interaction of this protein with U3 and U14 class snoRNA of the early branching eukaryote Giardia lamblia. It was also evident from our study that snRNP F in Giardia is evolutionary distinct from its other eukaryotic orthologues. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

SCIENCEDOMAIN international Acta Medica Okayama 22310886 3 2 2013 Multi-locus Genotyping Reveals High Occurrence of Mixed Assemblages in Giardia duodenalis within a Limited Geographical Boundary 190 197 EN Avik Kumar Mukherjee Department of Parasitology, National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases Sumallya Karmakar Department of Parasitology, National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases Dibyendu Raj Department of Parasitology, National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases Sandipan Ganguly Department of Parasitology, National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases Aim: 　To determine the common genotypes of Giardia duodenalis causing diarrhea in the study region and to assess the extent of genetic polymorphism among them.　 Study Design: 　Stool samples were collected from the patients attending IDBG Hospital, Kolkata with diarrheal complaints through a systemic sampling technique and were screened for Giardia duodenalis. The G. duodenalis positive samples were subjected to molecular genotyping through ‘PCR - Direct DNA sequencing’ procedure. All the sequence data obtained were incorporated into MEGA 4 software for multiple alignment and validation followed by phylogenetic analysis. The genotyping data obtained are stored in Excel spreadsheets and incorporated into EpiInfo 3.1 for analyzing possible association of genotype outcome with common physical factors such as age, sex etc.　 Place and Duration of Study: 　Department of parasitology, National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata, India from July 2009 to November 2011.　 Methodology: 　A total of 68 Giardia duodenalis positive stool samples were identified from the diarrhea patients attending IDBG hospital in the city and were subjected to multi-locus genotyping. Fragments of ß-giardin, Glutamate-dehydrogenase and Triosephosphate-isomerase genes of Giardia were amplified from those samples with specific primers and sequenced. All the sequences were analyzed using MEGA 4 software for obtaining the genotyping results. Results: Multi-locus genotyping identified 13 isolates as assemblage A and 41 as assemblage B, whereas 14 of them could not be assigned in a particular group. Detailed phylogenetic analysis revealed that multiple genotypes were observed in those 14 isolates depending upon the marker loci.　 Conclusion: 　The study could produce a preliminary idea about the G. duodenalis genotypes found in Kolkata city. High percentage of mixed assemblages in the study population also revealed the presence of genetic diversity among a small population of diarrheal patient within a limited geographical boundary. It has also hypothesized the possibility of inter-assemblage genetic exchange among Giardia. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

OMICS International Acta Medica Okayama 1 3 2017 Intractable Seizure in a Case of Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis caused by the Free Living Amoeba Naegleria Fowleri 1000114 EN Sandipan Ganguly National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research Anil Malhotra Kothari Medical Centre Manish Chowdhuri Kothari Medical Centre Ajanta Ghosal National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research Sanjib Kumar Sardar National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research Keinosuke Okamoto Collaborative Research Center of Okayama University for Infectious Diseases in India Shanta Dutta National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research Sujit K Bhattacharya GHSPL Sambhav KNJ Healthcares LLP No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.