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Prestigious Award to PGI Professor
Prof R K Ratho, Head, Department of Virology, PGI has been honored with the Kameshwar Sahai Bhargva oration award, the most prestigious award of the Indian Virological Society, a member of the International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS) for his meritorious contributions in the field of Medical Virology in India for over 2 decades especially elucidating the immunopathogenesis mechanisms behind hepatitis E viral infections. The award was conferred to him on 26 March 2022 in the National Conference of Virology: “Emerging and Reemerging viral diseases: climate change, impacts and mitigation” being organized by AIIMS, Hyderabad. He has recently been bestowed with the prestigious fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences (India) in August 2021.
In India, viral hepatitis contributes a majority of acute liver failure cases of them 23-40% cases are due to viral Hepatitis E. The viral genotype identified in human infections is Genotype 1. Large proportions of naturally infected HEV persons remain sub-clinical. Those developing acute viral hepatitis commonly lead to self limiting disease; however a proportion of cases progress to acute liver failure with increased mortality. In immunocompromised patients and organ transplant recipients, there is possibility of progressing to chronic HEV. Prof. Ratho worked on the role of molecular epidemiology, the genotypes in circulation as well as the immunopathogenesis towards progress of disease from acute viral hepatitis to acute liver failure and more so in pregnant females getting infected during 3rd trimester of pregnancy where the mortality goes to 20-30%.
