Indian Journal Watch
12 November 2026
Microbiology, infectious disease, AMR and infection-control papers from India and South Asia added to PubMed on 10 to 11 November 2026 and not covered in earlier issues.
Lead articles
Dengue · Biomarkers · PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Serum ferritin kinetics and ferritin-derived ratios in hospitalised adults with dengue: A prospective serial biomarker study
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases · doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0014867 · PubMed 43013619
- What
- A prospective study from SMIMER Medical College, Surat, characterising serial serum ferritin kinetics in hospitalised adults with dengue and evaluating two ferritin-derived indices, the Ferritin-to-Platelet Ratio (FPR) and the Ferritin/ALT Ratio (FLR).
- Design
- 100 adults with WHO 2009-confirmed dengue were enrolled (June 2020 to November 2021); ferritin was measured by sandwich ELISA on hospital Days 1, 3 and 5. Severity was non-severe (n = 68) or severe (n = 32). Primary outcomes were shock/DSS (n = 22), severe thrombocytopenia <20,000/μL (n = 28) and severe hepatitis AST/ALT ≥ 1,000 IU/L (n = 18); indices were compared with their component tests by paired DeLong tests.
- Key findings
- Ferritin peaked on Day 3 (mean 955 ± 177 ng/ml). FPR Day 1 separated severity groups with AUC 0.704 (95% CI 0.579-0.830); median FPR was 39.0 vs 7.5 (p = 0.001). Against shock/DSS, FPR Day 1 had AUC 0.801, no higher than platelet count alone (AUC 0.784; DeLong p = 0.41). FLR Day 1 discriminated severe hepatitis with AUC 0.995, no higher than ALT alone (AUC 1.000). Ferritin offered no incremental benefit over platelet count alone (NRI = 0.143; IDI = 0.000).
- Limitations
- Single centre; platelet and transaminase values were the extremes of the admission and outcomes were recorded over the whole stay, so the authors describe both ratios as markers of severity rather than predictors.
- Relevance to India
- The authors call for prospective multi-centre studies with laboratory values and outcomes timed from admission.
Measles · Vaccination · PLOS ONE
Vaccination status and its association with complications among the patients admitted with measles in the dedicated measles hospitals, Dhaka, Bangladesh
PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0353336 · PubMed 43013529
- What
- A hospital-based study assessing measles vaccination status and its association with complications among children admitted during the 2026 measles resurgence in Bangladesh, where the authors report more than 60,000 suspected cases and over 600 deaths between March and May 2026.
- Design
- Cross-sectional study of 260 children aged 2-72 months with clinically confirmed measles admitted to four dedicated measles treatment hospitals in Dhaka between 15 and 25 April 2026, using caregiver interviews and hospital records, with multivariable logistic regression.
- Key findings
- 74.6% were unvaccinated, 18.8% partially vaccinated and 6.5% fully vaccinated. Age below 9 months was associated with lower odds of vaccination (aOR 0.09, 95% CI 0.03-0.268) and household income at or above the median with higher odds (aOR 3.983). Complications developed in 31.1%, most often respiratory. Absence of exclusive breastfeeding (aOR 2.336) was associated with complications, and unvaccinated children had higher odds of complications than vaccinated children (aOR 5.729, 95% CI: 2.363-13.889).
- Limitations
- Cross-sectional design over an 11-day enrolment window in Dhaka hospitals; vaccination status relied partly on caregiver report.
- Relevance to South Asia
- The authors conclude that restoring immunisation coverage and equitable health services in Bangladesh is needed.
More from the journals
AMR & antimicrobials
- West Bengal: Salmonella in 32.7% of 300 slaughter-poultry samples from 20 slaughterhouses; MDR in 91.9% (34/37) of confirmed isolates, with gyrA Ser83Leu, qnrS and sul1 detected.Brazilian Journal of Microbiology · PubMed 43013205
- Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam: 23 of 85 clinical and environmental Acinetobacter baumannii were MDR; an environmental XDR strain clustered with the GC1/ST1 clinical clade on WGS.World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology · PubMed 43013236
- Karachi: MDR Salmonella Typhi spondylodiscitis with vertebral collapse after enteric fever, initially suspected as tuberculosis or metastasis (case report).Future Microbiology · PubMed 43013364
- SRM Chengalpattu: systematic review of four nafithromycin studies in community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, including the Phase 3 trial in India versus 7-day moxifloxacin.BMC Infectious Diseases · PubMed 43009825
TB & mycobacteria
- Bangladesh: Bayesian model of district-level TB incidence, missed cases and treated fraction, 2008-2017; poorer districts had lower fractions of treated cases.Tropical Medicine & International Health · PubMed 43012326
- Bangladesh Medical University, Dhaka: in 22 ultrasound-guided synovial biopsies for monoarticular ankle arthritis, tissue GeneXpert MTB/RIF sensitivity was 60.0% (3/5) and specificity 100.0%.Cureus · PubMed 43012037
Mycology
Viral, vector-borne & parasitic
- Bengaluru: whole-genome sequencing of eight Aedes aegypti from dengue-endemic Southern India shows insecticide-resistance markers and localised genetic differentiation.Parasites & Vectors · PubMed 43010077
- East Point College, Bengaluru: heterophile antibody positivity in 9 of 131 (6.9%) HIV-positive adults, all with CD4+ counts <350 cells/mm3.Current HIV Research · PubMed 43012275
- Yenepoya, Mangalore: in silico docking of 80 coumarin-triazole derivatives against the Chandipura virus RdRp.Scientifica · PubMed 43011803
- Manipal: proteogenomic re-annotation of Trypanosoma evansi (surra) identifies 24 novel protein-coding genes.Acta Parasitologica · PubMed 43013183
IPC & vaccines
- SRM Chengalpattu: in 100 perianal surgery patients, surgical site infection was 6% with povidone-iodine sitz bath vs 18% with silver-based spray (p = 0.048).Langenbeck’s Archives of Surgery · PubMed 43009686
- Article on the global measles resurgence in 2026 with a focus on India and subnational interventions.Infectious Diseases · PubMed 43013718
- WHO EMRO: Big Catch-Up immunisation in six countries including Afghanistan and Pakistan reached 3.5 million zero-dose children (Q4 2024 to Q1 2026).International Journal for Equity in Health · PubMed 43009985
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.
