NIV MAT 34 0 fe (==) areas ea Tad Greetings from ICMR-NIV! Dr. Sheela V. Godbole Director-in-charge Dear Readers, {am delighted to present before you another issue of VIROdesk, the alf-yealy newsletter ofthe ICMIR-National Insitute of Virology (MR-NIV) for2022 ‘As with the previous editions, VIROdesk adds to the visiilty, outreach, and impact of NIV's contributions in public health research. Amongst the many lessons we learned during the past 3 years in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, a major one has been on the importance of accurate scientific communication. The need for media ‘engagement and enhancing communication skills among researchers has become imperative. This digital decade provides opportunities to embrace these novel technologies to enhance our communication capacities Keeping this in mind, an article in this issue highlights the importance of media engagement and ‘communications in health emergencies. Another interesting article discusses about long-COVID which has recently gained alot of medical and scientific attention, ‘Avery momentous event forICMR-NIV in his period, has been the Foundation Stone aying ceremony and Bhumi Pujan ofthe three Zonal ICMR-NIVs by the Honorable President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu in Bengaluru, Dibrugarh and Jabalpur on 27° September, 13" October and 14° October, 2022, respectively, and ofthe ICMR National Institute of One Health in Nagpur, by the Honorable Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi on 11° December, 2022, In the coming years, we look forwardto the establishment and functioning ofthese institutes. The staff and students ofthe Institute enthusiastically observed and celebrated the Independence Day, Hinci Diwas, Vigilance Awareness Week and also hosted outdoor events lke the Fit India Run 3.0 that attracted huge numbers of staff and student participants. Also featured is an interview with one of our student achievers, and | Dr. Sarah Cherian snapshots of severaltrainings and events we hosted during the perio. Dr. Jayali Muck EI Team ‘The year end was a time of mixed emations for the NIV family when Prof, (Or) Priya Abraham completed her | | Dr. Malika Lavania tenure asthe Directorf the Institute, and returned t her parent institute handing over thereigns ofthe nsttuteto | py. Us PT meas an additional charge n additional charg Dr. Himanshu Kaushal ‘With his preface, Ihope you wil enjoy reading this Newsleter and we ook forwardto your feedback. DES SeREaT ESSE JaiHind Dr. Arun TR,VIROdesk ayaa July ~ December 2022 Media Engagement and Communications in Health Emergencies [Dr. S. Cherian, Dr. B.V. Tandale, Dr. P.D. Yadav, Dr. R. Vishwanathan] Public heath emergencies, especially of such a scale and magnitude as the COVID-19 pandemic, call for appropriate information, education and communication plans for engagement with the publi. tt can be achieved through various platforms, tke print media television channels and social media. Public trust is essential for securing individuals’ continued involvement in adopting healthy behaviours and practices for prevention and control measures recommended by health services, including vaccination, Science communication during health emergencies is very different and crtical, dueto the general panic and scare created by such scenarios. tt assumes critical importance, since the early interventions proposed by health authorities tend to be based on limited information and evidence available atthe time, and also face challenges in modia engagement. Scientists are averstressed during health emergencies and need to opine and advise rationally, and urgently, This requires the research community to prepare themselves. in advance and respond timely during health emergencies. With this in view, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Communications Unit organized a workshop on crisis ‘communications at the ICMR-RMRC Field Station in Keylong, Himachal Pradesh, from 15” to 16° June 2022. The experiences of the Communications Unit at ICMR during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the best practices from various Institutes invoWed in the pandemic response, were presented and discussed, The program also included group activities on press releases, social media campaigns, and differences between regular science communication and crisis communication, The ICMR-NIV case study focused onthe journey of managing disease ‘outbreaks including COVID-19. The communication strategy and media appearances by scientists, along with interviews and sharing of related personal experiences, during these interactions with the media journalists on COVID-19 were also presented. A scientist's perspective in a situation when a Variant of Concern was emerging and queries about the vaccine efficacy, booster doses, mask practices, and aspects of public gatherings were discussed for educating the communicators for future needs. The protocols implemented at ICMR-NIV during the COVID-19 pandemic were presented along with highlights of coverage in print and electronic media, including progress and updates from the Twitterhandle @icmr_niv ‘The ICMR has also recently launched afirstof-its-kind ‘Heath Communications Course (HCC)’. This certificate course has been developed in collaboration with the Centre for Development Management and Communication-Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad (CDMC-MICA) and Global Health Strategies (GHS). Dt. Sheela Godbole, Director-in-charge, ICMR- NIV actively contributed tothe curriculum development for many of the modules of this [Link] course is structured at three levels over a period of four months and includes both contact and ‘online sessions, by leading public health and communication ‘experts from India. In addition, there will be ive virtual interactive sessions and direc interactions wit faculty. Upon completion of ‘he couse, itis expected thatthe participants wil develop skls in risk communication and community engagement for achieving better heath outcomes, along with learning strategies. for communication campaigns. The first batch included 30 participants from 13 ICMR institutes selected through a rigorous blinded screening, subjective and objective questionnaires and an apitude test. Two scientists from ICMR-NIV, Dr. Babasaheb V. Tandale, Scientist” and Dr. Ralakshmi Vishwanathan, Scientist, €:, are curently pursuing this course. The fst contact session of the HCC was held from 14°-18" November 2022 in New Delhi. The session included taks and interactions with leading experts in science communication from diferent field, visits to institutes invoWed in science communication like Vigyan Prasar, Department of Science and Technology and CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (NIScPR), swell as hands-on group actviies for poster designing, press releases and media biefing, This course willhelp scientists ta improve ther heath communication skis Insummary, health communications important for increasing public awareness of different diseases. Appropriate ‘communication can counter misinformation and allay public cconcems. Italso helps o increase awareness about public health programmes and campaigns, and can also be leveraged to Improve community participation in disease prevention and control activities, ‘Workshop on Crisis Communication at ICMR-RMRC Field Staton at Keylong held from 15° to 16" June 2022VIROdesk fevers July ~ December 2022 Perspectives on long-term effects of COVID-19 [Dr. Sreelakshmi P.R., Scientist D, Entomology Group] After more than two years, humankind is beginning to see some light at the end of the dark tunnel of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have learned to lve with the SARS-CoV-2 virus without losing the bale, using strategies like vaccination and other effective public health tactics, We have now managed to reduce mortality and the rates of hospitalization for severe illesses related to COVID-19, It is about time that we give some attention tothe issues that were stacked away forlater considering them as ‘unimportant’. From a broader viewpoint, COVID-19 has developed its into an iceberg phenomenon. It has spread its roots widely in our society across all sectors wit its longer, persistent and debilitating effects. For clinical purposes, the occurrence of residual symptoms beyond +12 weeks of diagnosis of COVID-19is considered as ‘long COVID’ or ‘post-COVID syndrome’. Several agencies including World Health Organization have come up with definitions for this clinical entity, yet itremains il-defined Irrespective of the severity of acute infection, more than 50% of individuals report persistent or new symptoms after GOVID-19. The most commonly reported symptom is excessive fatigue. Beyond simply feeling tired, people feel worn out limiting them in their daily chores. Thetis intolerance to exercise and generalized body aches. Anincreased heart rate of 10-15 beats higher than the baseline values is commonly experienced by these individuals. Shortness of breath, giddiness and sharp variations in blood pressure restrict their actives considerably. Another frequent problem encountered brain fog’. People use this terminology to describe combinations of neurological symptoms of forgetfulness, confusion, inattentiveness, lack of sleep and headache. While the older age group is at higher risk for this syndrome, it is worrying to see the high rates of diseases like labetes, heart attack and stroke among the younger individuals after COVID-19. While men were a higher risk of contracting the ‘more severe form of the disease during its acute phase, studies, document female gender as an independent risk factor for long- cov. ‘As mysterious as the clinical symptoms isthe pathophysiology of long-COVID. n an attempt to describe this, several theories have been hypothesized. Experts say that some parts of the virus that remain in the body get re-activated periodically and can produce long-term heath issues. Another perspective is that these symptoms are resulting from an excessive inflammatory response resuting in endothelial injury Producing micro clots which compromise blood flow to organs tke the heart, lungs, bran, ver and kidney causing diffuse damage to them. Auto-immuniy is another proposed hypothesis here the body falls to recognize is own proteins as selt-proteins due to the structural resemblance with the viral particles Autoantibodies thus produced cause tissue damage. These are some clues tothe possible mechanisms of long COVID but the definitive pathway is yettobe unveiled. The long-term effects of COVID-19 have made the pandemic ‘enduring. The post-COVID phase has problems which are deeper tan what is seen on the surface. The constelation of symptoms affecting muttiple organ systems makes the matter complicated, warranting care that is interdisciplinary. At present, there is no panacea for ths illness but researchers and clinicians across the lobe have prioritized this syndrome and are hopeful of devising remedies inthe near future Scient Relhan V, Sahay RR, Shete AM, Yadav PD, Sahoo B, Patil DY, Kumar 8, Premachandran Syamaladevi KS, Dar L, Mohandas S, Abraham P. Clinical presentation, viral kinetics, and ‘management of human monkeypox cases from New Delhi, India 2022..J Med Virol. 2022 Oct 21..doi:10.1002/jmv.28249. [Summary: Investigators described the clinical and demographic characteristics, virological follow-up, and management of five confirmed monkeypox cases from New Delhi, India without any international travel history. The viral load kinetics and viral clearance were estimated in oropharyngeal swabs (OPS), nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS), EDTA blood, serum, urine, and various lesion specimens on every fourth day of follow-up ranging ‘rom 5 to 24 post-onset day (POD) of illness. All five cases, presented with mildto moderate-grade intermittent fever, myalgia, and lesions on the genitals, oroins, lower limb, trunk, and upper fic Desk limb. Four cases had non-tender firm Wymphadenopathy. No secondary complications or sexually transmitted infections were recorded n these cases except forthe presence of viral hepatitis B infection marker hepatitis B virus surface antigen in one case. All the cases were mild and had a good recovery. A higher viral load ‘was detected lesion fluid (POD 9), followed by lesion roof (POD. 9), urine (POD 5), lesion base (POD 5), and OPSINPS (POD 5). The monkeypox virus (MPXV) DNA was detected in clinical ‘samples from the 5 to 24” POD. These monkeypox cases without international travel history suggest the underdiagnosed ‘monkeypox infection inthe community This emphasizes the need {or active surveillance of MPXV in the high-risk population such as, men having sex with men and female sex workers. Yadav PO, Mohandas $, Shete A, Sapkal G, Deshpande G, Kumar A, Wakchaure K, Dighe H, Jain R, Ganneru B, Yemul JVIROdesk ayaa July ~ December 2022 Gawande P. Vadrevu KM, Abraham P Protective efficacy of COVAXIN® against Delta and Omicron variants in hamster model. iScience. 2022 Oct 21;25(10):105178. dot 10.1016) isci.2022.105178. [Summary: The immunity acquired ater natural infection or vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2 tends to wane with time. Here, we compared the protective efficacy of COVAXIN® following two- and three-dose immunizations against the Delta variant and also studied the efficacy of COVAXIN® against Omicron variants in a Syrian hamster model. Despite the comparable neutralizing antibody response against the homologous vaccine strain in bath the two-dose and three-dose immunized groups, considerable reduction in the lung disease severty was observed in the 3-dose imunized group after the Delta variant challenge. Inthe challenge study using the Omicron variants, i¢,, BA.1.1 and BA.2, lesser Virus shedding, lung viral load and lung disease severity were ‘observed in the immunized groups. The present study shows that administration of COVAXIN® booster dose will enhance the vaccine effectiveness against the Delta variant infection and give protection against the BA 1.1 andBA.2 variants bed) Interview In this issue, we feature a student achiever, Mr. Anurag Singh, who secured an All India Rank of $1 in the CSIR-JRF/NET examination conducted in June 2022, Q: stmust have been a big task to balance the rigorous course work of [Link]. Virology and your preparations for CSIR-JRFINET. How was your experience in this? ‘A: The MSc. Virology curriculum at ICMR-NIV covers a very specialised domain, whereas the CSIR-NET/JRF examination requires comprehensive knowledge of life science discipline as a whole, It became quite hectic at times but the motivation was stronger. There ‘were days when | failed to follow my daly plans, but | tried to make sure that at bedtime | had acquired more knowledge than the day before Q: What were the difficulties and problems that you faced in achieving your target, and how did you go about ‘them? Can you identify any common problems students face that need to be overcome toreach their goal? ‘A: Time management was one ofthe biggest hurdles that faced. ‘As | could not afford missing [Link]. Virology classes, | came up with my own strategy for preparation, One thing that | learned in this process, is to never blindly follow someone else's schedule. We should identity our strengths and limitations, prepare accordingly and be consistentin the process. Q: Tellus the study habits that helped you secure a top rank in the JRF examination. ‘A: followed standard reference books rather than readymade handbooks for preparation. In my opinion, to ace CSIR-JRF examination, or any other competitive examination for that matter, one must always trust their basics. We all have that within ourselves, we only need to channelize. Instead of going for the whole syllabus (which is really vast), | identified and ranked the Mr. Anurag Singh MSc. Virology student 2022 batch topics accordingto my stronghold, things which! know and can annex, and others which would require much more of my time. This strategy really helped my preparation, Q: in your opinion, how could one prepare effectively for the JRFINET examinations? AA: Everyone has their own style of studying. | believe that solving and analysing the previous years’ question papers can be helpful. Moreover, the section A of the question paper, whichis often neglected, is actually very scoring and equally importantfor acing this examination, Q: Any thoughts yet on the broad area you would like to choose for your Ph.D., and the motivation behind it? Alf given chance | would lke to wark on vralimmunology. Mare specifically | wish to study the immune correlates of protection of viruses which induce latent infection. Viruses such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus have been around us for decades but their immunopathogenesis stil remains elusive, Such studies ‘would be pivotal in vaccine development against HIV. Q; We wish you all the very best and a very exciting scientific journey ahead! ‘A: Thankyou very much! oJuly ~ December 2022 VIROdesk ayaa @® Awards wer Ww EH ‘Winners of the NIV Research Foundation Awards 2021 along with the Chief Guest Air Cmde Dr. SP Singh, Director, ICMR-NIV, Prof.(Dr) Priya Abraham and Mis. Shibi Jacob, SAO, atthe felicitation program during the Independence Day celebrations held on 15° August 2022. © Dr, Rima R Sahay, Scientist C, Maximum Containment Facilty won the Late Shri Tarachand Mourya and Late Smt. Sushilabal Mourya Memorial Achiever of the year award for Scientists. ‘© Dr, Rajlaxmi Jain, Technical Officer, Maximum Containment Facility won the Or. S. N. Ghosh Memorial Achiever of the year award for the Technical Stat. ‘© Mis. Priyanka Aher, Section Orficer (Accounts) Won the Mohan Singh Chaddha Memorial Achiever of the year award for the Administrative Staft ‘© Mr, Mayur Mohite, Technical Officer, Maximum Containment Facility won the Et, Darshane Achiever of the year award for the Engineering Sta New Deli Winners of the awards at VIROCON 2022 conference held at Shor Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences, Srinagar, Kashmir. Fromleftto right are: Mr. Abhranil Gangopadhyay. won the First Prize for poster presentation in Viral Genomics and Pathogenesis. Dr, Rima R. Sahay won the Young Scientist ‘Award, in Medical Virology. Dr. Mallika Lavania and Dr. Gururaj N. Deshpande shared the Fist Prize for oral presentations on COVID-19, Mrs. Rashmi Gunjikar secured the Fist Prize in poster presentation on COVID-19, Mrs, Supriya Hundekar secured the Second Prize in poster presentation on Viral epidemics, host pathogen interaction, diagnostics and epidemiology Mrs. Rashi Srivastava secured the Second Prize inposter presentation on COVID-19. Dr. Sreelekshmy Mohandas secured First Prize in ‘oral presentation on Viral Genomics and Pathogenesis (not featured nthe photo). Dr. Pragya Yadav, Scientist F, Maximum Containment Facility, ‘was honored in the Traveling Exhibition on “Vaccines Injecting Hope” on 15” November 2022, atthe National Science Centre,VIROdesk July ~ December 2022 NEWSLETTER. Farewell to Prof. (Dr.) Priya Abraham “Great is the art of beginning but greater is the art of ending.” We bi farewell our beloved Director, Prot. (Dr) Priya Abraham in November 2022, after her successful completion of her tenura a the Director of ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune. Prat Abraham joined the ICMR-NIV on 18” November 2019, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. She spearheaded and stered the institute through the toughest times of the pandemic with her exceptional leadership skls, ICMR-NIV reached newer heights of lory during her tenure, supporting the nation’s fight agains the COVID-19 pandemic, from designing diagnostics, establishing and supporting national testing capacity and eventually in the successful development of an indigenous vaccine. During her tenure, ICMR-NIV bagged awards from several organizations for the exemplary services rendered in the preparedness and fightback against COVID-19, Prof. Abraham received several accolades and awards; a few among them were the ‘Business Excellence & Innovative Best Practices Academia Award-2020' ‘rom the New Delhi institute of Management, Integrated Health & Wellbeing Council Janani Award’ for Medical Research Leadership, 2021 and the ‘Rotary Vocational Excellence Award’ in 2022, She will be remembered as an exceptional leader of action and example to every NiVian, and we wish her many more successes ahead Our new Director-in-Charge Dr. Sheela V. Godbole, Director, ICMR-National AIDS Research Institute, Pune, delghtedly accepted the additional responsibilty of holding the reigns ofthe institute as the Director-in-Charge, ICMR-NIV, Pune. We heartily welcome Dr. Godbole othe ICMR-NIV familyJuly ~ December 2022 Prof. Dr Balram Bhargava, Hon'ble Secretary, DHR & DG, ICMR, Scientists and Director of ICMR-NIV with the grandchildren of Dr. launching the new website of ICMR-NIV. CG Pandit (Founder Director, who was instrumental in establishing the erstwhile Virus Research Centre) during their visit to the Institute Scientists of ICMR-NIV in the “ICMR Health Communication Conclave: Connect and Collaborate’ held in Deli on 27° July 2022. ‘Aworkshop on Heath Technology Assessment was conducted for scientists and researchers trom various medical colleges in Pune at ICMR-NIV from 28° to 29° July 2022, (From left to right: Dr. Yogesh Gurav, Dr. Srikanth Tripathy, Dr Sarah Cherian, Or. Bhavani Shankara) Visit of officials from the Directorate of Medical Education and Research, Govt of Maharashtra, to ICMR-NIV on 10" August 2022.Ere July ~ December 2022 jeme Nt Mian fain my Independence day celebrations, 2022 at ICMR-NIV. Air Cmde Dr. [Link], from the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune was the Chief Guest onthe occasion, and addressed the staf of CMR-NIV, BR ua Sku ar wt niet 774 Hon'ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, unveiled the foundation stone of Zonal ICMR-NIVS at Bengaluru (on 27° ‘September 2022), Dibrugarh (on 13" October 2022) and Jabalpur (on 14" October 2022) (Clockwise from top left: Bhoomi pujan ceremony at Bengaluru Top tight: Director, ICMR-NIV with other staff a the ceremony in Dibrugarh Bottom lft: Scientists and staff of CMR-NIV at JabalpurJuly ~ December 2022 (Oe Dt. Yogesh Gurav (Scientist E& Group Leader, Health Technology ‘Assessment Group), giving a tak during the Heath Technology Assessment workshop held during the SYMRESEARCH 2022 Conference held at Symbiosis international University, Lavale, Pune on "November 2022. (ey Fitlndia Freedom Run 3.0 [from ICMR-NIV, Pashan to Balewadi Stadium, Pune] organized on Chief Guest Shr, Maruti Ackar (Olympian 5 November 2022. Wrestler, Munich Olympics,1972] along with the winners of the Fit India Freedom Run 3.0. Hon'ble Prime Minister of Inia, Shr. Narendra Modi, inaugurating the Bhumi Pujan and Foundation Stone laying ceremony ofthe ICMR National Institute of One Health, Nagpur, on 11* December, 2022.July ~ December 2022 PTE TM Teed ICMR was awarded the ‘Best stall in Medicine and Health Research’ in the Shining Maharashtra exhibition conducted at AKluj, Solapur, Maharashtra, from 22" to 24” December 2022. Trainings Biosafety & Biosecurity Trainings on ‘Biosafety Practices during Disaster Management’ under the CBRN course held forthe NDRF trainees from NORFSBN, Sudumbare, Pune on 16" September, 18° November and 13" December 2022VIROdes! July ~ December 2022 NEWSLETTER. Training on ‘Biosafety Practices during Disaster Management’ Training for‘ Working inside the Mobile Biosafety Level-3"forthe Under the CBRN course were held for the QRMT Paramedical trainees (5) from ICMR-RMRC, Gorakhpur was held at ICMR-NIV Personnel rom AFMC, Puneon 13° September2022 atICMR-NIV. from 07"to 11” November 2022. Orientation Workshop on ‘Biosafety, Biosecurity & laboratory preparedness’ for staff (10) from the upcoming Zonal ICMR-NIVs and the ICMR-National AIDS Research Insttute, Pune was held. at ICMR-NIV from 13° to 16" December, 2022. Hands-on Training on Whole Genome Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 using JON Torrent S5 Studio anc lumina Nextseq2000 platforms and the use of Bioinformatics tols in data analysis was held during 27° June-2" July 2022 for 28 participants from 14 VRDLS/ICMR Institutes, and during 17°-24" September 2022 for 21 participants from selected medical colleges, across the country, Representative photographs ofthe trainings are shown above, 1VIROdesk July ~ December 2022 fevers Dr. Shilpa Tomar Scientist B, Hepatitis Group Ocean: "Sometimes in the waves of change we find ‘our true direction.” oa i. » Pansies: “Theres strength in your softness.” Superannuated staff Mr, Ankayya Thimanpalli Laboratory Assistant, Animal House ‘Autumn: "Every momentis a fresh beginning.” (1992-2022)VIROdesk July - December 2022 NEWSLETTER ICMR-NIV in news 2 years and counting, NIV fights yt trial run of mobile biosafety pandemic battle from virus to Vax jah underway at Pingori village Monkeypox virus in Indian patient is milder west African clade: NIV NIV develops Nipah, virus antibody test kit ore prOTOwS IV confirms second nonkeypox patient "The, Masha. beat see prone AE NVREVEALS ren eat MONKEYPOR RUS macs Rawson OR STRAIN A2 IN TWO kersia The fr patent ‘cr even tested neg UAE-RETURNED —ficsotemsane ap ‘TRAVELLERS NIV says three dengue virus types ‘emaeise, present in Pune; 2are dangerous “= "=" Corer wanton HINI spike seasonal, won't; act like corona: ICMR-NIV ‘Week Cod deaths ly to crop by 25%July ~ December 2022 ICMR-National Institute of Virology 20/A, Dr. Ambedkar Road, Post Box No. 11, Pune 411001, Maharashtra, INDIA [Link]. : 91-020-26127801 / 91-020-26006290 Fax No. : 91-020-26122669/ 91-020-26126399 E-mail: [Link]@[Link]