Journal of Proteomics & Bioinformatics
Open Access
ISSN: 0974-276X
+44 1223 790975
ISSN: 0974-276X
+44 1223 790975
Raju Ravikumar
National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, India
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Proteomics Bioinform
Streptococcus pneumoniae, commonly referred to as pneumococcus is a Gram-positive cocci. It has been suggested by several studies that S. pneumoniae represents one of the common bacterial etiological agents of acute meningitis, especially in extremes of age group (Pediatric and geriatric). Bacterial meningitis is often under diagnosed and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture diagnostics may yield false negative results. Polymerase Chain Reaction and serological testing have been shown to provide reliable results. Serotyping and genotyping methods have been used for molecular epidemiological study. Previous studies have shown that serotype 1 and 19 are prevalent. The current focus is to develop faster and reliable methodology for diagnosis of pneumococcal meningitis. From the CSF samples received for acute meningitis workup for one year, 13 cultures were positive for S. pneumoniae by conventional method and were confirmed by automated method. Cultures were subjected to MALDI TOF MS {BRUKER-MALDI Biotyper} analysis and the scores for S. pneumoniae obtained were more than 1.900 (1.926 to 2.345) and Vitek 2C (BioMerieux, France) automated identification (ID) indicating good identification confidence. Serotyping showed that 4 of 13 strains as type 1 and two type 9. Other strains belong to Type 22F, 33, 6B, 15B, 7F, 19 and one non typeable strain. Antibiotic Sensitivity Testing (AST) was done using Vitek 2C automated method. The 13 strains tested, 7 were sensitive strains, 3 strains were resistant to co-trimoxazole and 2 strains to erythromycin and one strain was resistant to co-trimoxazole, Erythromycin, Penicillin and Clindamycin. Comparing MALDI TOF MS data between sensitive and resistant strains using CliniProt is useful in identifying resistance pattern.
Raju Ravikumar has completed his MBBS degree and worked as a Senior Research Fellow in Indian Council of Medical Research, Centre for Advanced Research in Virology in Christian Medical College, Vellore from 1980 to 1983. He has obtained his MD degree from Bangalore University in 1985 and then Certificate Course in Immunology from University of London, UK in 1987. He has worked as a Senior Resident in Medical Microbiology at NIMHANS from 1985 to 1990, then at Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology as Lecturer in Virology & Assistant Professor of Immunology from 1990 to 1996. Later he has worked as an Associate Professor in Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad during 1997. Later he has joined as a Professor and Head of the Department of Microbiology at Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences Bellary from 1997 to 2008, Professor and Head of Neuromicrobiology department, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, India from 2008 to 2015 and currently continues to work as Professor in Neuromicrobiology.
Email: ravikumarbly@yahoo.co.uk