Indian Journal Watch
10 November 2026
Microbiology, infectious disease, AMR and infection-control papers from India and South Asia added to PubMed on 8 to 9 November 2026 and not covered in earlier issues (PubMed showed no new qualifying entries dated 10 November at the time of compilation).
Lead articles
Nontuberculous mycobacteria · Surgical site infection · Cureus
Post-procedural Wound Infections by Mycobacterium fortuitum: A Series of Seven Cases From Eastern India
Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.117663 · PubMed 43001065
- What
- A case series from the Department of Microbiology, Manipal-Tata Medical College, Jamshedpur, with AIIMS Kalyani, describing the clinical, microbiological and therapeutic features of post-procedural wound infections caused by the rapidly growing nontuberculous mycobacterium Mycobacterium fortuitum in Eastern India.
- Design
- Cross-sectional observational study at a tertiary care teaching hospital between September 2024 and August 2025. Specimens were processed for Ziehl-Neelsen staining, routine bacterial culture and mycobacterial culture (BacT/ALERT MP liquid culture and Middlebrook medium); species identification was by MALDI-TOF MS. Seven patients with culture-confirmed M. fortuitum infection were described.
- Key findings
- The mean patient age was 39 years, and six (85.7%) were female. Five patients (71.4%) had undergone their primary procedure at peripheral nursing homes. Patients presented with chronic non-healing wounds, persistent serous or seropurulent discharge and poor response to conventional antibacterial therapy. Direct Ziehl-Neelsen staining was positive in two (28.6%) cases, whereas all isolates were recovered by BacT/ALERT MP liquid culture within 4-11 days. All patients received prolonged combination antimicrobial therapy, one required surgical debridement, and complete clinical healing was achieved in all cases.
- Limitations
- Small single-centre descriptive series; the abstract does not report susceptibility results or the source of infection.
- Relevance to India
- The authors highlight M. fortuitum as an overlooked cause of chronic post-procedural wound infection, particularly where routine bacterial cultures are negative, and the cluster of procedures at peripheral nursing homes is relevant to surgical IPC and laboratory practice.
Typhoid · Vaccines · Modelling · Epidemiology and Infection
Modelling indirect protection from typhoid conjugate vaccines in the TyVAC-Bangladesh trial
Epidemiology and Infection · doi:10.1017/S0950268826102337 · PubMed 43000950
- What
- A modelling analysis, with authors from Yale School of Public Health, icddr,b and the Oxford Vaccine Group, examining why indirect (herd) protection from typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) was modest and not statistically significant in the TyVAC-Bangladesh cluster-randomised trial, in which one TCV dose in children aged 9 months to <16 years gave strong direct protection.
- Design
- The trial was simulated with a primary transmission dynamic model calibrated against clinical surveillance data and an alternative model incorporating serological data, testing transmission across cluster boundaries, limited protection against infection and insufficient coverage as explanations.
- Key findings
- Vaccinating 64% of eligible children (the observed trial coverage) induced up to 67% and 54% indirect protection in the primary and alternative models, respectively, depending on chronic-carrier transmissibility and TCV efficacy against S. Typhi infection. Trial results were consistent with 15% to 85% TCV efficacy against infection in the primary model and 60% to 90% in the alternative model. If adults had been vaccinated at the same coverage as children, indirect protection was estimated to rise from 19% to 40%-57%.
- Limitations
- Model-based estimates whose ranges depend on assumptions about carrier transmissibility and vaccine efficacy against infection.
- Relevance to South Asia
- The authors conclude that TCV protects against transmission from acute infections and that low observed indirect protection can be explained by transmission from unvaccinated adults, relevant to TCV programme design in typhoid-endemic South Asia.
More from the journals
Bacterial infection, AMR & stewardship
- AIIMS Jodhpur: meta-analysis of 19 studies (7,993 patients) found persistent Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia associated with higher 30-day mortality (unadjusted OR 1.97, 95% CI 1.62-2.40).Systematic Reviews · PubMed 43000473
- Amrita Institute, Faridabad: quality improvement bundle cut median time to first antibiotic dose in febrile neutropenia from 57.5 to 39 minutes; the proportion treated within 60 minutes rose from 50% to 84%.Cureus · PubMed 43001083
- Saveetha, Chennai: green-synthesised ZnO-PVA nanoparticles inhibited Streptococcus mutans in vitro (MIC 31.25 µg/mL) and disrupted mature biofilms.Odontology · PubMed 43000481
TB, leprosy & mycobacteria
- Mayo Hospital, Lahore: hyperuricaemia in 19 of 96 patients (19.8%) on first-line anti-tuberculosis therapy; elevated creatinine in 2 (2.1%).Cureus · PubMed 43001047
- SGPGIMS, Lucknow: authors’ response on therapeutic drug monitoring of linezolid and prevention of optic neurotoxicity in drug-resistant TB (letter).Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases · PubMed 43000900
- Sri Lanka: leprosy new case detection stayed at 8-10 per 100 000 from 2000 to 2013 before declining, correlating with dermatologist numbers from 2014 to 2019 (r = -0.903).BMC Health Services Research · PubMed 43000356
- CSIR-IICB, Kolkata: cryo-EM structures indicate EF-G1, not EF-G2, is the canonical ribosome recycling factor in mycobacteria (M. smegmatis).Acta Crystallographica Section D · PubMed 43001739
Viral, vector-borne & zoonotic
- Visakhapatnam: cerebellitis, meningoencephalitis with hydrocephalus and aseptic meningitis in children during a February-April 2025 mumps outbreak.Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology · PubMed 43002168
- University of Dhaka: dengue in Bangladesh 2000-2025, with a record 321,179 cases and 1705 deaths in 2023; cases and deaths rose significantly, CFR trend not significant.Public Health Challenges · PubMed 43001093
- University of Colombo: herpesvirus DNA detected in 152 of 391 (38.87%) oral swabs from five bat species in a Sri Lankan cave; first report from Sri Lankan bats.BMC Veterinary Research · PubMed 43000354
- AIIMS Gorakhpur: NFHS-5 analysis identified 167 under-five acute respiratory infection hotspot districts (prevalence 7.23% vs 2.74% nationally); recent diarrhoea had a PAF of 19.6%.Tropical Medicine and Health · PubMed 43000452
Mycology, microbiome & history
- Government Dental College, Ahmedabad: temporalis flap closure of post-maxillectomy defects in 20 patients after rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis; complete flap integration in 85%.Archives of Craniofacial Surgery · PubMed 43000773
- Bengaluru and Bhopal: shotgun metagenomics of 25 Baiga tribe and 25 urban adults showed greater gut microbial diversity in the Baiga.iScience · PubMed 43001270
- University of Edinburgh: history of tabulation in the Indian Plague Commission of 1898-99, including tables used to assess Haffkine’s plague vaccine.Medical History · PubMed 43001349
Items are summaries of published abstracts and are not clinical advice. Readers should consult the original article. Figures are quoted as reported in each abstract.
