Indian Journal Watch
23 October 2026
Peer-reviewed microbiology, infectious disease, AMR and infection-control papers from India and South Asia, published or added to PubMed from 21 to 23 October 2026.
Lead articles
AMR · Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Mortality outcomes and their predictors in patients with carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii bacteraemia: a prospective cohort study from South India
Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · doi:10.1093/trstmh/trag129
- What
- Mortality, and the factors that predict early death, in adults with carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) bloodstream infection (BSI).
- Design
- Prospective observational cohort study from July 2021 to December 2023 at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal (Departments of Critical Care, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases). Patients ≥18 y with CRAB bacteraemia were included. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors of 7-d mortality.
- Key findings
- A total of 154 patients were included. The 7- and 30-d mortality rates were 57.1% and 76.6%, respectively. Common BSI sources were hospital-acquired pneumonia (51.3%) and vascular catheters (29.2%). Only 37% received appropriate empirical therapy. Independent predictors of early mortality were type 2 diabetes mellitus (aOR 2.35, p=0.031), inotrope requirement at BSI onset (aOR 3.11 [95% confidence interval 1.28 to 7.56], p=0.013) and higher tigecycline minimum inhibitory concentration in Vitek-2 (aOR 2.50, p=0.040). Vascular catheter–related BSI (aOR 0.25, p=0.003) was associated with lower early mortality.
- Limitations
- The authors state that the association between appropriate targeted therapy (aOR 0.21, p=0.001) and mortality “was interpreted cautiously because of potential survivor bias”. The study was conducted at a single institution.
- Relevance to India
- The study provides prospective outcome data for CRAB bacteraemia from South India. The authors conclude that early mortality is “linked to host factors, severity of illness and antimicrobial resistance”, and that the lower mortality in catheter-associated BSI likely reflects the feasibility of source control.
Stewardship · Frontiers in Public Health
Antibiotic prescribing patterns, antimicrobial stewardship implementation barriers and readiness at primary health care centres in eastern Uttar Pradesh, India
Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1945074
- What
- Paediatric outpatient antibiotic prescribing, classified by the WHO Access, Watch and Reserve (AWaRe) framework, and clinicians’ readiness for antimicrobial stewardship at rural Community Health Centres (CHCs) in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.
- Design
- Cross-sectional study by ICMR-National Institute of Health Research teams (including MRHRU Pali), February to December 2025. It combined a prescription audit of outpatients aged ≤18 years with acute febrile illness, acute respiratory infection, acute diarrhoeal disease or presumptive urinary tract infection at one rural CHC with a questionnaire survey of 40 CHC clinicians across the district.
- Key findings
- Of 602 paediatric prescriptions, antibiotics were prescribed in 98·8% of acute respiratory infections, 100% of acute diarrhoeal disease cases and 86·9% of acute febrile illness encounters. Only 18·8% of prescribed antibiotics were in the Access category (WHO target at least 60%); Watch antibiotics predominated and azithromycin was the most frequently prescribed. Among clinicians, awareness of AMR was 95%, but familiarity with AWaRe (45%) and stewardship concepts (32·5%) was limited. 92.5% considered a facility-level stewardship programme feasible.
- Limitations
- The prescription audit covered a single rural CHC, the clinician sample was small, and the data were summarised descriptively.
- Relevance to India
- CHCs provide first-referral care for much of rural India. Barriers reported by clinicians included limited diagnostic capacity, absence of formal stewardship structures, workforce shortages and high patient workload.
More from the journals
Antimicrobial resistance & stewardship
- Pakistan, systematic review and meta-analysis (54 studies, 9,039 neonates): the pooled prevalence of Gram-negative bacteria among neonates with sepsis was 57% (95% CI: 50–64). Resistance was highest to ampicillin (61.3%) and amoxicillin (50.8%).BMC Public Health
- North India tertiary hospital: 31 Morganella morganii isolates from 30,124 specimens (0.10%; 95% CI: 0.07-0.15%). Nineteen isolates (61.3%) were multidrug-resistant.Microbiology Independent Research Journal (MIR Journal)
- Kerala, diabetic foot infections: 68/112 (60.7%) had an MDR infection. WGS identified E. coli ST131 and K. pneumoniae ST258, and strong biofilm production was linked with healing failure (adjusted OR 3.81, 95% CI 1.92-7.55).Journal of The Association of Physicians of India · PubMed 42902637
- Retrospective study of diabetic foot ulcers: Gram-negative organisms accounted for 70.3% of isolates.Journal of The Association of Physicians of India · PubMed 42902668
- Survey of 907 final-year veterinary students from 7 countries on antimicrobial use, resistance and stewardship: Indian students were less likely to have good knowledge (aOR: 0.144, 95% CI: 0.063 – 0.343).Frontiers in Veterinary Science · PubMed 42904086
- Islamabad, in vitro: at 1×MIC, Eucalyptus camaldulensis essential oil reduced biofilm formation by 40-85.71% in 24 clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates.Future Microbiology · PubMed 42902604
- D. Y. Patil Medical College, Pune: review of efflux pump inhibitors as adjuncts to antibiotic therapy.Journal of The Association of Physicians of India · PubMed 42902651
- IISER Pune review: how gene regulatory mutations confer antibiotic resistance, viewed through the Gene Expression Demand Theory.GENETICS · PubMed 42904942
- Manipal University Jaipur review of molecular mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance in ESKAPE pathogens.Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Tuberculosis
- Bengaluru, 200 adults receiving TB treatment: the prevalence of moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms was 56.5% (95% CI:50.2-63.1).Dialogues in Health · PubMed 42904170
- North Indian referral institute, tuberculous meningitis: hyponatremia was seen in 57% of patients.Journal of The Association of Physicians of India · PubMed 42902663
- LLRM Medical College, Meerut (162 TB patients): the prevalence of diabetes was 21.6%. Mean PSQI fell from 8.64 to 5.55 (P < 0.001) after 1 month of antitubercular therapy.NMO Journal
Vector-borne, zoonotic & NTDs
- Chhattisgarh malaria elimination: net ownership covered 93.3%, IRS acceptance was 30.1%, and 28.8% of confirmed cases ceased radical cure prematurely due to symptom resolution.Journal of Vector Borne Diseases
- Dengue outcome prediction model: admission WHO classification, platelet count, NLR and warning sign count predicted clinical outcome (optimism-corrected C-index of 0.820).Journal of The Association of Physicians of India
- AIIMS Patna, scrub typhus (69 patients): eschar was identified in 10.1% and thrombocytopenia was present in 82.6%.Journal of The Association of Physicians of India · PubMed 42902639
- Acute leptospirosis, retrospective study: coinfections were identified in 52.6% of cases, most commonly dengue (17.9%) and scrub typhus (14.1%).Journal of The Association of Physicians of India · PubMed 42902662
- Pondicherry–Tamil Nadu border: Angiostrongylus cantonensis was detected in three of 60 rodents, described as the first molecular confirmation in definitive hosts from India.Zoonoses and Public Health · PubMed 42904524
- AIIMS Bibinagar, 33 leprosy cases: S100 enabled nerve visualisation in 18% of cases where nerve fibres were difficult to identify on H and E alone.Annals of African Medicine · PubMed 42904343
Mycology
- Candidaemia in ICU and non-ICU settings: Candida species were isolated in 68/1207 (5.6%) positive blood cultures.Journal of The Association of Physicians of India · PubMed 42902669
- Ranchi, Jharkhand: 95 of 985 positive blood cultures were Candida species (9.64%), and 83.15% were non-albicans Candida.Annals of African Medicine · PubMed 42904370
Infection prevention & HAI
Virology
- Public awareness and regional readiness for Nipah virus following the 2026 outbreak in India (Mahidol University authors).Journal of Travel Medicine
- AIIMS Rishikesh case report: West Nile virus with haemorrhagic encephalomyelitis, necrotising myopathy and suspected infection-related glomerulonephritis.BMJ Case Reports
- Sri Lanka, 80 adults: 67.5% demonstrated good knowledge, 63.8% good practices and 70.0% a positive attitude towards COVID-19.Ceylon Journal of Science
Diagnostics
- Galgotias University-led study: a drone-based lateral flow biosensor detected dengue virus antigen with an LOD of 0.91 µg/mL within 5 s.Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
Other
- Amoebic liver abscess: under a simplified protocol, early catheter removal was achieved in 36 patients (90%) without procedure-related complications or mortality.Journal of The Association of Physicians of India · PubMed 42902670
- LV Prasad Eye Institute review of recent advances in ocular surface infection.British Journal of Ophthalmology
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.
