Indian Journal Watch
25 October 2026
Peer-reviewed microbiology, infectious disease, AMR and infection-control papers from India and South Asia, published or added to PubMed from 23 to 25 October 2026.
Lead articles
AMR · BMC Pediatrics
Geographic and genomic determinants of antimicrobial resistance in Indian children: a systematic review and meta-analysis
BMC Pediatrics · doi:10.1186/s12887-026-07389-y · PubMed 42919271
- What
- Magnitude and regional variation of antimicrobial resistance in bacterial isolates from children (≤18 years) in India, with genomic data on resistance determinants.
- Design
- Systematic review and meta-analysis following PRISMA 2020 and Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines. PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to December 2025. Stratified random-effects meta-analyses were performed by geographic zone for key resistance phenotypes.
- Key findings
- Forty-seven studies met the inclusion criteria, of which 23 contributed to the quantitative synthesis. Carbapenem resistance among neonatal intensive care unit isolates ranged from 12% (95% CI 8-18) in Central India to 80% (70-88) in North India. Extended-spectrum β-lactamase production was 60-80% across most regions but 38% in Central India. MRSA prevalence ranged from 35% (26-44) to 61% (49-72). Fluoroquinolone resistance exceeded 85% in North, South and East/Northeast regions, whereas colistin resistance remained ≤8% nationally. Genomic data showed widespread dissemination of blaCTX-M-15 and regional clustering of carbapenemase genes (blaNDM, blaOXA).
- Limitations
- Only 2 to 8 studies contributed to each pooled estimate, and heterogeneity (I²) ranged from 19% to 79%, reflecting clinical and methodological differences across pathogens, antibiotic classes and settings.
- Relevance to India
- The authors report up to five-fold regional differences in carbapenem resistance among Indian children and conclude that the findings support region-specific empirical treatment guidelines, paediatric-focused antimicrobial stewardship and integrated phenotypic-genomic surveillance.
Tuberculosis · Indian Journal of Medical Research
Characterization of pyrazinamide resistance among presumptive multidrug-resistant tuberculosis cases by targeted sequencing
Indian Journal of Medical Research · doi:10.25259/ijmr_3572_2025
- What
- Prevalence of pyrazinamide (PZA) resistance among presumptive multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients in New Delhi, and its genotypic characterisation by targeted DNA sequencing.
- Design
- A total of 2,631 smear-positive, presumptive MDR-TB patients were tested by line probe assay (LPA). A subset of 534 samples (MDR/RR-TB, isoniazid-mono-resistant, and rifampicin- and isoniazid-sensitive by LPA) underwent MGIT culture and PZA drug susceptibility testing. PZA-resistant isolates (n=83) underwent targeted sequencing of resistance-associated genes. The study was led by the National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, New Delhi, with the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad.
- Key findings
- PZA resistance was 45.6% among RR-TB/MDR-TB isolates compared with 5% among rifampicin- and isoniazid-sensitive isolates, a significant association (P<0.001). On pncA sequencing, 72 isolates were mutant (10 carried the silent mutation S65S) and 3 were wild type. The 13 pncA wild-type and S65S isolates were also wild type for panD and rpsA.
- Limitations
- Some PZA-resistant isolates had no resistance-associated mutation in the three genes examined, and the authors state that further studies are needed on other genes that may be associated with PZA resistance.
- Relevance to India
- The authors conclude that the high frequency of PZA resistance underscores the need for routine PZA resistance testing, preferably by genotypic DST (targeted sequencing), which offers a short turnaround time.
More from the journals
Antimicrobial resistance & stewardship
- SASPI survey of 17 Indian tertiary-care institutions against the 42-point Integrated AMS statement: overall mean compliance was 66.32%. Diagnostic stewardship (81.76%) and IPC (80.12%) scored highest, while AMS-specific practices showed markedly low adherence (37.06%).Journal of Antimicrobial Stewardship Practices and Infectious Diseases
- Two tertiary centres in North India (Jammu and Amritsar), 2019-2022: among 427 MDR Gram-negative bacilli from ICU urine samples, carbapenem resistance was 70% overall; 40.9% were ESBL producers and 13.81% carbapenemase producers. blaCTX-M was detected in 100% and blaNDM in 48%.Annals of African Medicine
- Bangladesh: antimicrobial use patterns, risk determinants and farmer typologies in commercial poultry production, analysed under a One Health framework.Preventive Veterinary Medicine
- THSTI Faridabad: adaptive laboratory evolution showed that K. pneumoniae became sensitive to meropenem while developing colistin resistance (collateral sensitivity). Twelve candidate proteomic biomarkers were identified.Frontiers in Microbiology · PubMed 42920597
- CSIR-CDRI Lucknow: β-sheet peptides built from repeats of a 5-mer melittin segment (“WIKRKâ€) showed antibacterial and antimycobacterial activity with negligible haemolysis, and in vivo efficacy against E. coli infection in mice.Journal of Medicinal Chemistry · PubMed 42917950
- ICCBS Karachi: molecular dynamics and LiGaMD simulations of New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) conformational dynamics and ligand binding kinetics, aimed at inhibitor design.The Journal of Physical Chemistry B · PubMed 42915344
- AIIMS New Delhi editorial on antibiotic prescription for non-urinary tract infections and precision medicine.Indian Journal of Urology · PubMed 42910367
Tuberculosis
- ICMR-NIIRNCD Jodhpur protocol: a CyTB skin test and Android app-assisted screening model for latent TB infection among household contacts in Rajasthan; recruitment runs from December 2025 to December 2026.JMIR Research Protocols · PubMed 42914104
- NUMS Rawalpindi: a protocol for extracting DNA from QuantiFERON-TB Gold tubes, with no differences in quantity, quality or PCR and sequencing performance compared with EDTA blood.Clinica Chimica Acta · PubMed 42918590
- AIIMS Deoghar systematic review of seven studies: machine-learning models predicting TB treatment adherence and loss to follow-up in LMICs had a pooled AUC of 0.84 (95% CI 0.76-0.90). Heterogeneity was substantial and most studies were at high risk of bias.Annals of African Medicine
- Case report, Chennai: intestinal TB in a 76-year-old woman mimicked metastatic colonic malignancy, with false-positive PET-CT findings. Colonoscopic biopsy showed granulomas and acid-fast bacilli.Annals of African Medicine
Diagnostics
- Aga Khan University, Karachi: TaqMan array card testing on blood culture broths in 146 febrile neutropenia patients. Sensitivity was 23.5% for E. coli and 19.6% for K. pneumoniae, with specificity above 98%. The panel did not detect the Candida tropicalis found by blood culture.BMC Infectious Diseases · PubMed 42919227
- Tertiary care hospital in central India: cross-sectional study of Helicobacter pylori in patients with gall bladder diseases.Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology
Virology
- Manipal, 2013-2017: among 1,280 people living with HIV (2,157 admissions), AIDS-defining illnesses accounted for 45% of admissions and tuberculosis was the most common (18%). ART for ≥9 months was associated with lower odds of AIDS-defining hospitalisation (aOR 0.78, 95% CI 0.61-0.99).AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses · PubMed 42920290
- Kavaratti, Lakshadweep (2022): community measles IgG serosurvey of 299 residents. Negative or equivocal results clustered among younger participants.Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology · PubMed 42918547
- icddr,b study protocol: clinical progression, viral load dynamics and immune kinetics of Nipah virus infection, using Bangladesh’s ongoing Nipah surveillance platform.Current Protocols
- Bangladesh: epidemiological patterns of COVID-19 from national case-based surveillance data, March 2020 to December 2022.IJID Regions
- Maharashtra and Kerala: explainable machine-learning forecasting of district-level COVID-19 cases. LSTM performed best (R² nearly 0.8 in Maharashtra and 0.6 in Kerala), with mobility variables dominant.BMC Infectious Diseases
- Case report, Lahore: severe influenza A pneumonia complicated by acute non-necrotising mediastinitis.BMJ Case Reports · PubMed 42919607
Vector-borne, zoonotic & NTDs
- Central University of Himachal Pradesh: a mite-rodent-human transmission model of seasonal scrub typhus fitted to Mizoram incidence data (2021-2022). Infection peaked during the monsoon season.Journal of Microbiological Methods · PubMed 42918311
- Pune, 110 dengue patients (2025): of eight patients with dengue shock syndrome, six (75%) had a positive troponin I, and 87.5% had raised CK-MB, compared with 42.3% in dengue haemorrhagic fever and 39.5% in dengue fever.Annals of African Medicine
- Case report, Nepal: cutaneous leishmaniasis in a four-year-old boy from Dolpa with a 10-month non-healing cheek ulcer, diagnosed by FNAC showing Leishmania donovani bodies.International Journal of Research in Dermatology
- Dibrugarh University: seven synthesised 1,2,4,5-tetraoxane derivatives inhibited chloroquine-resistant and chloroquine-sensitive Plasmodium falciparum in vitro, with KD-7 the most potent.Natural Product Research · PubMed 42912485
Other
- Case report, Mangalore: maxillary sinusitis due to Burkholderia cepacia mimicking fungal sinusitis.Tropical Doctor · PubMed 42920278
- Case report, Bengaluru: incomplete Mycoplasma pneumoniae-induced rash and mucositis mimicking early Stevens-Johnson syndrome in a child.BMJ Case Reports · PubMed 42914200
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.