PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Kamalesh Sarkar

Publications and source records attributed to Kamalesh Sarkar.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Epidemic of HIV coupled with hepatitis C virus among injecting drug users of Himalayan West Bengal, Eastern India, Bordering Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh.

A study was conducted in June 2004 to find out the epidemiology of HIV infection among injecting drug users (IDUs) of Darjeeling District of West Bengal, eastern India. The district headquarter, Darjeeling town, also known as "Queen of Hills," is a beautiful spot situated in Himalayan West Bengal that attracts a large number of tourists each year from all over the world. Another unique feature of the district is that it has international boundaries with three countries, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. Siliguri, the part of the district on plains, acts as a transit station for these countries as well as to the entire Himalayan region of West Bengal and neighboring state, Sikkim. It is also a transit point to all northeastern states of India: Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Tripura. Two hundred twenty-eight study subjects (IDUs) were included in this community-based cross-sectional study from all four subdivisions of the district. Informed consent was obtained, and then personal interviews, followed by blood testing were performed using unlinked anonymous procedure. The study revealed that overall HIV seroprevalence among IDUs was 11.8% (n = 27; 95% confidence interval, 7.9-16.7), whereas seroprevalence of hepatitis C was found to be 47.7% (n = 97). Prevalence of HIV was higher in subjects from hill districts (13.5%) compared with subjects from the plains (9.2%). It also revealed that most IDUs (75.3%) used "brown sugar," an impure form of heroin, as their major addictive substance followed by injection norphine. Sharing of injecting equipment was found to be as high as 67% among IDUs, and sharing of drugs from common ampules was found to be 35.5% of the studied subjects (n = 93). Most subjects (96%) were found to clean their injecting paraphernalia with plain water. Most IDUs (98%) were found to inject intravenously. About 52% of IDUs visited sex workers one or more times within the last 1 year, and 15% of the interviewed subjects (n = 93) reported to suffer from sexually transmitted diseases during the same period. All the IDUs knew about HIV/AIDS. About 69% of the subjects knew that apparently healthy looking person might have HIV infection. HIV was found to be associated significantly with age of the injectors and duration of injecting practices. The study revealed the epidemic of HIV and hepatitis C among IDU populations at this bordering district of West Bengal for the first time that requires urgent intervention at local, national, and international levels.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Phylogenetic analysis of env, gag, and tat genes of HIV type 1 detected among the injecting drug users in West Bengal, India.

A recent occurrence of HIV-1 seropositivity among a group of injecting drug users (IDUs) in Darjeeling, a hilly district in northern West Bengal, revealed overall 11.8% HIV seroprevalence. Our study based on env (C2-V3), gag (p24-p7), and tat (exon-1) genomic regions of HIV-1 detected among this population showed that Darjeeling IDU sequences belonged to subtype C. Interestingly, the IDU sequences from Darjeeling were again found to be closer to the C strains from Manipur, a northeastern state in India, which is linked to the Golden Triangle via the Manipur-Myanmar border, rather than the IDU C sequences from Nepal, a neighboring country of India. The outgroup reference strains from different sites of IDU-driven epidemics in the world like Russia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Spain belonged to the nonsubtype C group and formed separate clusters from the subtype C cluster in our analysis. These results indicate a rapid spread of HIV-1 by possible drug trafficking along international boundaries, which might also help in the invasion of HIV-1 among IDUs of Darjeeling through the Manipur-Myanmar border of India.

Genes, env↗
PubMed2005

Young age is a risk factor for HIV among female sex workers--an experience from India.

OBJECTIVE: A cross-sectional community-based study was conducted among brothel-based sex workers of West Bengal, eastern India, to study the prevalence of HIV and associated risk factors. METHODS: Unlinked anonymous HIV testing was performed on 2076 sex workers. Of these, 558 were interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire to study their risk factors. RESULTS: Overall HIV sero-prevalence was 5.9%. All infections were HIV-1, except that four sex workers from Kolkata were infected with HIV-2. Surprisingly, HIV infection was much higher (12.5%) in younger sex workers (age < or =20 years) compared with older age groups (5.4%) (P=0.002; odds ratio 2.40, 95% CI: 1.29-4.38). CONCLUSIONS: This could be associated with larger areas of cervical ectopy of younger sex workers who are subjected to repeated trauma during sexual intercourse, facilitating higher HIV transmission. Behavioral factors may increase a young sex worker's risk of acquiring HIV infection, including professional immaturity with clients, which might lead to more unprotected sex. HIV status was associated with other sexually transmitted infection in the previous year but was not associated with literacy status, daily income, duration of sex work, number of clients entertained per day, entertaining clients outside a brothel (in a hotel), and reported condom use.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗
PubMed2005

Determination of gag and env subtypes of HIV-1 detected among injecting drug users (IDUs) in Manipur, India: evidence for intersubtype recombination.

The majority of HIV-1 transmission in Manipur, one of the northeastern states of India, is through the sharing of needles and syringes among the injecting drug users (IDUs). A total of 28 HIV seropositive samples were used to determine the HIV-1 subtypes with respect to both gag and envelope genes. The specific regions within gag and envelope genes were amplified from PBMC DNA by nested PCR using appropriate primers. These amplicons were used in heteroduplex mobility assay followed by DNA sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequences of respective regions showed that 89% of samples (25/28) were infected with subtype C with respect to both gag and envelope genes; however, 11% of the samples (3/28) showed subtype discordance with respect to the envelope (C2-V3) and gag (p24-p7) genomic regions. Simplot analysis of the discordant samples showed the presence of intersubtype recombination between subtype C and Thai B; two samples were found to be subtype C in envelope but Thai B in gag, whereas, one sample was found to be subtype Thai B in envelope and 'C' in gag region.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Determination of gag subtypes of HIV type 1 detected among female sex workers in Calcutta, India.

HIV-1 subtyping is important to study the changing scenario of genetic variation. The gag-based heteroduplex mobility assay (gag-HMA) was developed and evaluated as a powerful and reliable technique for identifying the HIV-1 group M subtypes A to H and the circulating recombinant forms (CRFs). To study the subtype distribution of HIV-1 strains from the eastern part of India, we used the gag-based HMA, followed by the sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Blood samples from HIV-1-seropositive female sex workers in Calcutta were subjected to gag-HMA. The most prevalent subtype was found to be the C type, among which the C4 subsubtype was prevalent. However, a number of nontypable C strains were found in gag-HMA. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the discrete nature of the C strains and no monophyletic cluster was noticed. This result might indicate a growing tendency of variations among the HIV-1 type C strains circulating in eastern India.

Female↗
PubMed2005

Evaluation of sexually transmitted diseases/human immunodeficiency virus intervention programs for sex workers in Calcutta, India.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The Sonagachi Project in Calcutta, India, organized sex workers to improve working conditions. GOAL: To compare rates of sexually transmitted diseases between the Sonagachi Project and other areas in which only the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) interventions were implemented. STUDY: A cross-sectional survey of randomly selected female sex workers. RESULTS: There was no difference in the prevalence of all STDs between the 2 areas; both were lower than reported in other surveys in 1992. Analysis using propensity scores also failed to demonstrate any difference. The number of preventive activities was similar in the Sonagachi and NACO-only areas but was more prevalent than in 1992. Sex workers in the Sonagachi area had better treatment-seeking behavior and attitudes. Both the Sonagachi and NACO strategies have resulted in lower STD rates, but the Sonagachi Project also increased the proportion who had an optimistic attitude and increased prevention and treatment-seeking behavior.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Phylogenetic analysis of the p24-p7 region of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 gag gene to determine subtype distribution among female sex workers in Calcutta, India.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype C, based on the envelope region, has been reported to be predominant in India. We sequenced the p24-p7 gag region from 51 HIV-1 seropositive female sex workers in Calcutta, India, for more-detailed molecular characterization. Subtype C was found to be prevalent, although no strong monophyletic cluster was observed.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Role of oral rehydration therapy in controlling epidemic of cholera and watery diarrhoea.

Oral rehydration therapy (ORT) is basically oral administration of liquid containing various electrolytes in specific proportions to prevent and treat dehydration. This treatment facilitates safe and optimal absorption of water and essential electrolytes such as sodium chloride, sodium bicarbonate and potassium chloride in dehydrated patients. Successful ORT was experienced in cholera patients in Kolkata and Dhaka which was followed by the development of oral rehydration salt (ORS). This procedure can be safely implemented at home. ORT reduced mortality rate both in cholera and non-cholera watery diarrhoea. The various health authorities must support preparedness before pre-positioning of adequate stocks of ORS packets for emergency situations. Health workers should have been the knowledge to prepare ORS solutions.

Cholera↗