20-Sep-2020: HIV/AIDS Patients in India

As per the latest HIV estimates report (2019) of the Government, India is estimated to have around 23.49 lakh people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) in 2019. The HIV epidemic has an overall decreasing trend in country with estimated annual New HIV infections declining by 37% between 2010 and 2019.

HIV infection in India is mainly caused by engagement in high risk behaviours. The main high-risk behaviours identified for HIV infection in India includes unprotected heterosexual behaviour, unprotected homosexual behaviour, and unsafe injecting drug use behaviour.

There are no dedicated hospitals for the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients. However, under the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) of the Government, as on July 2020, there are 570 Anti-retroviral treatment (ART) Centers and 1264 Link ART Centers.

State/UT-wise details of people living with HIV/AIDS in 2018 and 2019 as per the latest HIV estimates report (2019) is at Annexure.

Annexure

Statement on State/UT-wise people living with HIV/AIDS in 2018 and 2019 (In lakh)

19-Sep-2020: 5 killed in scrub typhus outbreak

The outbreak of scrub typhus has claimed the lives of five people in Nagaland’s Noklak district and more than 600 others have tested positive for the disease.

Scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus, is a disease caused by a bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi. Scrub typhus is spread to people through bites of infected larval mites. The mites are found in grasslands, forests, bush areas, wood piles, gardens, and beaches.

Scrub Typhus can also be transmitted through unscreened blood transfusions and unhygienic needles. It does not spread from person to person. The most common symptoms of scrub typhus include fever, headache, body aches, and sometimes rash.

8-Aug-2018: Scrub Typhus is responsible for Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in Uttar Pradesh

Outbreaks of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) have been occurring in Gorakhpur Division, Uttar Pradesh for several years.

Three years of data from Gorakhpur’s Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College has confirmed that the majority of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) patients admitted to the hospital between August and October each year have scrub typhus. This finding is important, given that scrub typhus can be treated easily if detected early. The first indication of scrub typhus’ role came during a 2014 study at BRD by researchers from Karnataka’s Manipal Centre for Viral Research. But there was much skepticism about this hypothesis then.

In the following years, however, other researchers reported similar findings. In 2015, a team led by the director of Chennai’s National Institute of Epidemiology, Manoj Murhekar, found that out of 370 AES patients tested during September-October, 63% had antibodies to scrub typhus. The findings were reported in the Journal of Infection. In 2016, out of 407 AES patients during the same period, 65% had the illness.

Also, when all AES patients were given azithromycin, a treatment for scrub typhus, 35% of non-scrub-typhus patients died, while only 15% of scrub patients died, indicating that azithromycin was effective. These findings were published in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal in May this year. Finally, in 2017, over 50% of patients admitted to BRD in August-September were positive for scrub typhus, according to data shared with The Hindu by the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Study of mites: Further evidence for the role of scrub typhus comes from a study of trombiculid mites in eastern Uttar Pradesh by Chennai’s Vector Control Research Centre (VCRC). They found that the mites carried Orientia tsutsugumashi, the bacterium which causes scrub typhus. While this study was published in Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases in July 2018, P. Jambulingam, VCRC Director, also told that unpublished research has shown an increase in infestation of rodents by trombiculid mites during August-October. This explains why scrub typhus incidence peaks during monsoon.