Shifa Meharaj - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Shifa Meharaj

Research paper thumbnail of Seroprevalence Of Leptospirosis Among Subjects With Fever In Chennai - A Cross Sectional Study

Biomedical Research-tokyo, 2019

Aim: This study was undertaken to estimate the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among subjects wit... more Aim: This study was undertaken to estimate the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among subjects with fever and to compare three diagnostic methods used in leptospirosis among Chennai population. Materials and methodology: Two hundred and sixty seven patients were included in the study. All the cases had history of fever for five or more days of the total study entrants, all were tested for Leptospira antibodies by MSAT, ELISA as well as MAT and the antigen detection was done using Dark Field Microscopy. The common clinical conditions with which the patients presented were 267 cases of fever, 89 cases of myalgia, headache in 63 cases, jaundice in 10 cases, conjunctival suffusion in 9 cases, diarrhea in 3 cases and nausea/vomiting in 35 cases. Results: Comparison of efficacy of MSAT and MAT was done. 92 cases were positive on Microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and 116 were positive on MSAT. All the MAT positive cases were positive on DFM. Though DFM alone is not a reliable test, it was compared with gold standard ELISA test and the findings shows that all DFM positive cases were also positive for MAT. However the number of positive cases detected using MSAT was higher than that of MAT. On comparing the results of MSAT and ELISA with MAT, there was 82% agreement between the tests.

Research paper thumbnail of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Presentation of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Patients

Journal of evolution of medical and dental sciences, Nov 23, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Comparison of hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers in Intensive care units and wards of COVID-19: A large scale multicentric study in India

American Journal of Infection Control

Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on ... more Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre-including this research content-immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of conducting hand hygiene audit in COVID-19 care locations of India—A large scale national multicentric study – HHAC study

Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology

Research paper thumbnail of A Comparison Study of CBNAAT, Gene Xpert and Line Probe Assays in the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in smear Negative Specimens

Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious and important public health issue to be addressed in India. Timely... more Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious and important public health issue to be addressed in India. Timely diagnosis of the drug resistance in tuberculosis is essential to ensure and initiate appropriate therapy. The detection of drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in cases of smear-negative and clinical diagnosed pulmonary TB. A prospective case-control study was conducted on 473 pulmonary samples received at the tertiary care center from January 2019 to December 2019. All specimens were processed for microscopy and culture. CBNAAT- Gene Xpert and LPA Genotype MTBDRplus (VER 2.0) was used to confirm in smear-negative samples. Among the pulmonary samples, 52% smear-positive, and 48% smear-negative, 183 (43%) were found to be culture-positive by Lowenstein Jensen medium (LJ) and MGIT 960, 267 (63%) were positive CBNAAT and LPA n= 216 (51%) samples positive for the TUB band. The use of CBNAAT-Gene Xpert, Line Probe Assay Genotype MTBDR plus(VER 2.0) can be done from the samples dir...

Research paper thumbnail of Speciation and Antibiogram Pattern of Tribe Proteeae with Special Reference to Extended Specrum Beta Lactamase (Esbl) and Carbapenemase Detection

Background:Proteusis a common uropathogen causing urinary tract infections in catheterised patien... more Background:Proteusis a common uropathogen causing urinary tract infections in catheterised patients and those with urinary tract abnormalities. It may also lead to pyelonephritis, renal stones & bacteraemia. Multidrug resistant Proteeae isolates are major problem in treating nosocomial infections. Beta lactamase production is being increasingly demonstrated in most of the Proteus species. Apart from ESBL, Carbapenemase production is also emerging, thereby limiting the treatment options. Aim: To isolate, speciate and study the antibiotic resistance pattern of the Proteeae isolates. To identify the extended spectrum beta lactamase andcarbapenemase producing strains of Proteeae isolates by employing phenotypic methods. Materials and Methods: A total of 145 isolates of Proteus species isolated from different clinical samples- urine, pus and sputum, were included in this study. Antibiotic sensitivity testing was performed by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Screening tests for ESBL &Ca...

Research paper thumbnail of Cardiac Biomarkers: A Beneficial Tool in the Diagnosis and Prognostification in Heart Failure- A Focus on Rheumatic Heart Disease

Sujhithra A1, M Chokkalingam2, S Jayanthi3*, Sanjay Andrew Rajaratnam4, D Danis vijay3, SH Shifa ... more Sujhithra A1, M Chokkalingam2, S Jayanthi3*, Sanjay Andrew Rajaratnam4, D Danis vijay3, SH Shifa Meharaj3, R Vidhya3 1Department of Allied Health Sciences, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam,Tamilnadu, India 2Department of Cardiology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India 3Department of Microbiology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India 4Department of Physiology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institue(CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India *Corresponding Author: S Jayanthi, Professor, Department of Microbiology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India. Received: May 20, 2020; Published: July 31, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of A Review of Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention ofNovel Corona Virus (SARS-CoV-2

D Danis Vijay1, SH Shifa Meharaj1, A Sujhithra2, R Vidhya1, R Murugesan2, S Jayanthi1*, N Meenaks... more D Danis Vijay1, SH Shifa Meharaj1, A Sujhithra2, R Vidhya1, R Murugesan2, S Jayanthi1*, N Meenakshi3, Priyadarshini Shanmugam1, Aruna Shanmuganathan3 and A Ruckmani4 1Department of Microbiology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India 2Department of Allied Health Sciences Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India 3Department of Respiratory Medicine, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India 4Department of Pharmacology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India

Research paper thumbnail of Catheter Associated Urinary Tract infections with special reference to biofilm formation in ICU’s

Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Presentation of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Patients

Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Multiplex PCR based detection of mecA, mecC and PVL gene in analysis of prevalence, circulation, transmission of MSSA/MRSA strains in a tertiary care hospital

IP International Journal of Medical Microbiology and Tropical Diseases, 2019

Introduction: Staphylococcus aureus a Gram positive cocci causes major and minor infections in hu... more Introduction: Staphylococcus aureus a Gram positive cocci causes major and minor infections in humans. It is the most important pathogen causing Hospital acquired and community-acquired (CA) infections. The commonest being the Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) which is due to the insertion of SCC mec into methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) lineages. Though, a number of toxins are involved in the pathogenesis of its infections, Panton Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is considered the common virulence factor for community acquired MRSA. Our study aimed to determine the prevalence of mec A and mecC gene and the presence of PVL toxin genes (lukS-PV and lukF-PV) in S. aureus isolates. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in Department of Microbiology at Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute, a tertiary care center for 3 months. A total of 109 clinical isolates of S.aureus were subjected for the study (Wards and Outpatient departments). The identification and antimicrobial sensitivity testing were done by standard microbiological techniques. Multiplex PCR was used to detect mecA, mecC and PVL genes. Results: Out of 109 Staphylococcus aureus isolates, 24(22%) were MRSA and 85(78%) were Methicillin sensitive. Among MRSA strains, 13(54.1%) were positive for mecA, 8(33.3%) were positive for PVL, 3 (12.5%) were found positive for mecC. Among the 85(78%) MSSA isolates, 3(3.5%) were positive mecA gene and only 1(1.1%) isolate had mecC gene. The isolates from hospital environment were negative for both mecA and mecC but was positive for PVL genes. Conclusion: Our study showed high prevalence among community acquired MRSA isolates.

Research paper thumbnail of Characterization of virulence factors, antifungal resistance with ERG-11 gene among Candida species isolated from pulmonary samples

Microbial Pathogenesis, 2019

Background: Candida is a part of the normal oropharyngeal flora and the upper respiratory tract. ... more Background: Candida is a part of the normal oropharyngeal flora and the upper respiratory tract. Candida albicans(C. albicans), is the predominant species causing respiratory tract infections associated with pneumonia. Resistance to azole antifungal agents among the C. albicans may be due to alteration of the target enzymes, which are encoded in ERG11 gene. The biofilm formation may also be a cause to antifungal resistance. Materials and methods: This study was conducted at Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute. Samples were collected from June 2018-June 2019, for a period of 1 year. After species confirmation, virulence factor among the Candida species were identified by hemolysis test, coagulase test and biofilm formation. Genotypic confirmation of C. albicans and their azole resistance due to ERG 11 gene were done using multiplex PCR. Results: In our study, 31 (55%) C. albicans, 8 (14%) Candida glabrata(C. glabrata) and 10 (17%) Candida tropicalis (C. tropicalis), three Aspergillus flavus(A. flavus), two Aspergillus fumigatous (A. fumigatous), one Aspergillus niger (A. niger) and one Mucor species were isolated. In C. albicans, 31 were positive for Germ tube and Chalmydospore formation. Six of candida species were isolated along with bacterial co infection. Among the Candida isolates, 17 (55%) C. albicans strains were strongly biofilm positive and 14(45%) were negative. The susceptibility pattern of (n = 31) C. albicans were as follows: fluconazole (21(68%) S, 10(32%) R), voriconazole (22(71%)S),9(21%) R) and Amphotericin B 31(100%) S). Among the 19 C. albicans, four were positive for ERG11 gene. Conclusion: The isolation of C. albicans and non-albicans from respiratory specimens should be reconsidered as these organisms are re-emerging pathogens. Speciation is needed due to variation in species pathogenicity and their susceptibility.

Research paper thumbnail of Seroprevalence Of Leptospirosis Among Subjects With Fever In Chennai - A Cross Sectional Study

Biomedical Research-tokyo, 2019

Aim: This study was undertaken to estimate the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among subjects wit... more Aim: This study was undertaken to estimate the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among subjects with fever and to compare three diagnostic methods used in leptospirosis among Chennai population. Materials and methodology: Two hundred and sixty seven patients were included in the study. All the cases had history of fever for five or more days of the total study entrants, all were tested for Leptospira antibodies by MSAT, ELISA as well as MAT and the antigen detection was done using Dark Field Microscopy. The common clinical conditions with which the patients presented were 267 cases of fever, 89 cases of myalgia, headache in 63 cases, jaundice in 10 cases, conjunctival suffusion in 9 cases, diarrhea in 3 cases and nausea/vomiting in 35 cases. Results: Comparison of efficacy of MSAT and MAT was done. 92 cases were positive on Microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and 116 were positive on MSAT. All the MAT positive cases were positive on DFM. Though DFM alone is not a reliable test, it wa...

Research paper thumbnail of Seroprevalence Of Leptospirosis Among Subjects With Fever In Chennai - A Cross Sectional Study

Biomedical Research-tokyo, 2019

Aim: This study was undertaken to estimate the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among subjects wit... more Aim: This study was undertaken to estimate the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among subjects with fever and to compare three diagnostic methods used in leptospirosis among Chennai population. Materials and methodology: Two hundred and sixty seven patients were included in the study. All the cases had history of fever for five or more days of the total study entrants, all were tested for Leptospira antibodies by MSAT, ELISA as well as MAT and the antigen detection was done using Dark Field Microscopy. The common clinical conditions with which the patients presented were 267 cases of fever, 89 cases of myalgia, headache in 63 cases, jaundice in 10 cases, conjunctival suffusion in 9 cases, diarrhea in 3 cases and nausea/vomiting in 35 cases. Results: Comparison of efficacy of MSAT and MAT was done. 92 cases were positive on Microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and 116 were positive on MSAT. All the MAT positive cases were positive on DFM. Though DFM alone is not a reliable test, it was compared with gold standard ELISA test and the findings shows that all DFM positive cases were also positive for MAT. However the number of positive cases detected using MSAT was higher than that of MAT. On comparing the results of MSAT and ELISA with MAT, there was 82% agreement between the tests.

Research paper thumbnail of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Presentation of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Patients

Journal of evolution of medical and dental sciences, Nov 23, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Comparison of hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers in Intensive care units and wards of COVID-19: A large scale multicentric study in India

American Journal of Infection Control

Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on ... more Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre-including this research content-immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of conducting hand hygiene audit in COVID-19 care locations of India—A large scale national multicentric study – HHAC study

Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology

Research paper thumbnail of A Comparison Study of CBNAAT, Gene Xpert and Line Probe Assays in the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in smear Negative Specimens

Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious and important public health issue to be addressed in India. Timely... more Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious and important public health issue to be addressed in India. Timely diagnosis of the drug resistance in tuberculosis is essential to ensure and initiate appropriate therapy. The detection of drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in cases of smear-negative and clinical diagnosed pulmonary TB. A prospective case-control study was conducted on 473 pulmonary samples received at the tertiary care center from January 2019 to December 2019. All specimens were processed for microscopy and culture. CBNAAT- Gene Xpert and LPA Genotype MTBDRplus (VER 2.0) was used to confirm in smear-negative samples. Among the pulmonary samples, 52% smear-positive, and 48% smear-negative, 183 (43%) were found to be culture-positive by Lowenstein Jensen medium (LJ) and MGIT 960, 267 (63%) were positive CBNAAT and LPA n= 216 (51%) samples positive for the TUB band. The use of CBNAAT-Gene Xpert, Line Probe Assay Genotype MTBDR plus(VER 2.0) can be done from the samples dir...

Research paper thumbnail of Speciation and Antibiogram Pattern of Tribe Proteeae with Special Reference to Extended Specrum Beta Lactamase (Esbl) and Carbapenemase Detection

Background:Proteusis a common uropathogen causing urinary tract infections in catheterised patien... more Background:Proteusis a common uropathogen causing urinary tract infections in catheterised patients and those with urinary tract abnormalities. It may also lead to pyelonephritis, renal stones & bacteraemia. Multidrug resistant Proteeae isolates are major problem in treating nosocomial infections. Beta lactamase production is being increasingly demonstrated in most of the Proteus species. Apart from ESBL, Carbapenemase production is also emerging, thereby limiting the treatment options. Aim: To isolate, speciate and study the antibiotic resistance pattern of the Proteeae isolates. To identify the extended spectrum beta lactamase andcarbapenemase producing strains of Proteeae isolates by employing phenotypic methods. Materials and Methods: A total of 145 isolates of Proteus species isolated from different clinical samples- urine, pus and sputum, were included in this study. Antibiotic sensitivity testing was performed by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Screening tests for ESBL &Ca...

Research paper thumbnail of Cardiac Biomarkers: A Beneficial Tool in the Diagnosis and Prognostification in Heart Failure- A Focus on Rheumatic Heart Disease

Sujhithra A1, M Chokkalingam2, S Jayanthi3*, Sanjay Andrew Rajaratnam4, D Danis vijay3, SH Shifa ... more Sujhithra A1, M Chokkalingam2, S Jayanthi3*, Sanjay Andrew Rajaratnam4, D Danis vijay3, SH Shifa Meharaj3, R Vidhya3 1Department of Allied Health Sciences, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam,Tamilnadu, India 2Department of Cardiology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India 3Department of Microbiology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India 4Department of Physiology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institue(CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India *Corresponding Author: S Jayanthi, Professor, Department of Microbiology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India. Received: May 20, 2020; Published: July 31, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of A Review of Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention ofNovel Corona Virus (SARS-CoV-2

D Danis Vijay1, SH Shifa Meharaj1, A Sujhithra2, R Vidhya1, R Murugesan2, S Jayanthi1*, N Meenaks... more D Danis Vijay1, SH Shifa Meharaj1, A Sujhithra2, R Vidhya1, R Murugesan2, S Jayanthi1*, N Meenakshi3, Priyadarshini Shanmugam1, Aruna Shanmuganathan3 and A Ruckmani4 1Department of Microbiology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India 2Department of Allied Health Sciences Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India 3Department of Respiratory Medicine, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India 4Department of Pharmacology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India

Research paper thumbnail of Catheter Associated Urinary Tract infections with special reference to biofilm formation in ICU’s

Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Presentation of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Patients

Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Multiplex PCR based detection of mecA, mecC and PVL gene in analysis of prevalence, circulation, transmission of MSSA/MRSA strains in a tertiary care hospital

IP International Journal of Medical Microbiology and Tropical Diseases, 2019

Introduction: Staphylococcus aureus a Gram positive cocci causes major and minor infections in hu... more Introduction: Staphylococcus aureus a Gram positive cocci causes major and minor infections in humans. It is the most important pathogen causing Hospital acquired and community-acquired (CA) infections. The commonest being the Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) which is due to the insertion of SCC mec into methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) lineages. Though, a number of toxins are involved in the pathogenesis of its infections, Panton Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is considered the common virulence factor for community acquired MRSA. Our study aimed to determine the prevalence of mec A and mecC gene and the presence of PVL toxin genes (lukS-PV and lukF-PV) in S. aureus isolates. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in Department of Microbiology at Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute, a tertiary care center for 3 months. A total of 109 clinical isolates of S.aureus were subjected for the study (Wards and Outpatient departments). The identification and antimicrobial sensitivity testing were done by standard microbiological techniques. Multiplex PCR was used to detect mecA, mecC and PVL genes. Results: Out of 109 Staphylococcus aureus isolates, 24(22%) were MRSA and 85(78%) were Methicillin sensitive. Among MRSA strains, 13(54.1%) were positive for mecA, 8(33.3%) were positive for PVL, 3 (12.5%) were found positive for mecC. Among the 85(78%) MSSA isolates, 3(3.5%) were positive mecA gene and only 1(1.1%) isolate had mecC gene. The isolates from hospital environment were negative for both mecA and mecC but was positive for PVL genes. Conclusion: Our study showed high prevalence among community acquired MRSA isolates.

Research paper thumbnail of Characterization of virulence factors, antifungal resistance with ERG-11 gene among Candida species isolated from pulmonary samples

Microbial Pathogenesis, 2019

Background: Candida is a part of the normal oropharyngeal flora and the upper respiratory tract. ... more Background: Candida is a part of the normal oropharyngeal flora and the upper respiratory tract. Candida albicans(C. albicans), is the predominant species causing respiratory tract infections associated with pneumonia. Resistance to azole antifungal agents among the C. albicans may be due to alteration of the target enzymes, which are encoded in ERG11 gene. The biofilm formation may also be a cause to antifungal resistance. Materials and methods: This study was conducted at Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute. Samples were collected from June 2018-June 2019, for a period of 1 year. After species confirmation, virulence factor among the Candida species were identified by hemolysis test, coagulase test and biofilm formation. Genotypic confirmation of C. albicans and their azole resistance due to ERG 11 gene were done using multiplex PCR. Results: In our study, 31 (55%) C. albicans, 8 (14%) Candida glabrata(C. glabrata) and 10 (17%) Candida tropicalis (C. tropicalis), three Aspergillus flavus(A. flavus), two Aspergillus fumigatous (A. fumigatous), one Aspergillus niger (A. niger) and one Mucor species were isolated. In C. albicans, 31 were positive for Germ tube and Chalmydospore formation. Six of candida species were isolated along with bacterial co infection. Among the Candida isolates, 17 (55%) C. albicans strains were strongly biofilm positive and 14(45%) were negative. The susceptibility pattern of (n = 31) C. albicans were as follows: fluconazole (21(68%) S, 10(32%) R), voriconazole (22(71%)S),9(21%) R) and Amphotericin B 31(100%) S). Among the 19 C. albicans, four were positive for ERG11 gene. Conclusion: The isolation of C. albicans and non-albicans from respiratory specimens should be reconsidered as these organisms are re-emerging pathogens. Speciation is needed due to variation in species pathogenicity and their susceptibility.

Research paper thumbnail of Seroprevalence Of Leptospirosis Among Subjects With Fever In Chennai - A Cross Sectional Study

Biomedical Research-tokyo, 2019

Aim: This study was undertaken to estimate the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among subjects wit... more Aim: This study was undertaken to estimate the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among subjects with fever and to compare three diagnostic methods used in leptospirosis among Chennai population. Materials and methodology: Two hundred and sixty seven patients were included in the study. All the cases had history of fever for five or more days of the total study entrants, all were tested for Leptospira antibodies by MSAT, ELISA as well as MAT and the antigen detection was done using Dark Field Microscopy. The common clinical conditions with which the patients presented were 267 cases of fever, 89 cases of myalgia, headache in 63 cases, jaundice in 10 cases, conjunctival suffusion in 9 cases, diarrhea in 3 cases and nausea/vomiting in 35 cases. Results: Comparison of efficacy of MSAT and MAT was done. 92 cases were positive on Microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and 116 were positive on MSAT. All the MAT positive cases were positive on DFM. Though DFM alone is not a reliable test, it wa...