Dr. Akhilesh K

About Me

Dr. Akhilesh K., currently serves as Clinical Professor & Senior Consultant in the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi. He has vast experience in the branch of pulmonary medicine with skills in doing interventional procedures like fiberoptic bronchoscopy, bronchoscopic biopsy, medical thoracoscopy, thoracoscopic biopsy and endobronchial ultrasound.
He is well versed in evaluation and treatment of common pulmonary problems like asthma, allergic disorders, COPD, pleural diseases, tuberculosis and other rare lung diseases like sarcoidosis, interstitial lung diseases& other systemic lung diseases. He is very good in communication skills and oriented towards public health aspects of pulmonary diseases. His Key areas of interests include tuberculosis, COPD, pulmonary rehabilitation and sleep medicine. He is having a special training in MDR Tuberculosis, Latent TB, Allergy, Pulmonary rehabilitation (AACVPR) and Smoking Cessation. He is an AACVPR certified Pulmonary Rehabilitation Physician and a Fellow of Asia Pacific Society of Respirology. He is having more than 32 publications till date.

From MBBS to Consultant Pulmonologist / Professor

• 2004: Received medical degree from T D Medical College, Alappuzha, Kerala
• 2011: Completed MD in Pulmonary Medicine at S.C.B. Medical College, Cuttack, Odisha.
• 2011: Joined as Assistant Surgeon in Directorate of Health Services
• 2012: Department of Pulmonary Medicine at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences

Awards & Achievements

Awards

• Young Pulmonologist Appreciation Award:2018( APCCM)
• Young Pulmonologist Award :2019( APCCM)
• Best Oral Presentation ( Consultant):NAPCON 2019

Professional Positions

1. State Task force Vice Chairman, National TB Elimination Program, Kerala
2. Member, Technical Working Group, Latent TB Infection & Management, Kerala
3. Member, State level difficult to treat TB Clinic, Kerala
4. Member, Governing Council, Association of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine
5. Secretary, Cochin Thoracic Society
6. Joint secretary, IMA Madhya Kerala
7. Coordinator, Amrita Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program

Professional Membership

• Indian Chest Society (ICS)
• American College of Chest physician (ACCP)
• Association Of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine (APCCM)
• National college of Chest physicians (India) (NCCP(I)
• European Respiratory Society (ERS)
• Asia Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR)
• Cochin Thoracic Society
• Odisha Chest Society
• IMA Madhya Kerala Branch, Kerala

Publications

1. Akhilesh Kunoor, Thitta Mohanty, M.R.Pattnaik, D.P Dash. Yield if induced sputum with 3% Hypertonic Saline in Smear Negative pulmonary Tuberculosis.Int J Pharm Bio Sci 2016 April; 7(2): (B) 583 – 588
2. Akhilesh Kunoor, HarilakshmananPeruvamba, James P.T, Rakesh P.S. Allergen profile of patients from Central Kerala,India. Int J Pharm Bio Sci 2017 Jan ; 8(1): (B) 588-592
3. James P.T, Kunoor A, Rakesh P.S Awareness of Health care workers, patients and visitors regarding airborne infection control-A Descriptive Study from a Tertiary Care Centre in Kerala, Southern India. Indian Journal Of Tuberculosis 2018 April; 65 (2) :168-171
4. Nair P, .James P T, Kunoor A, Rakesh PS. How we ensured 100% TB Notification: experiences from a private tertiary care hospital in India. Public Health Action 2017;7:179-180
5. Kunoor Akhilesh, James P.T, Raj Midhula, Rajesh CT, Nair Prem, Rakesh P S. Outcomes of patients treated with individualised anti-tuberculosis regimens in a tertiary care centre in India.Public Health Action. 2017 Dec 21; 7(4): 308
6. Antony Remya, Krishna Shiva ,James Jini, Kunoor Akhilesh, Vijayan Meenu. Case report on Docetaxel-induced interstitial lung disease. Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research, [S.l.], p. 10-12, sep. 2017. ISSN 2455-3891
7. Iype Madathil Shinu Mary ,Kunoor Akhilesh, K N Anila.A Treatment Dilemma Concerning Immunosupressantuse:A Case Report. Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research, [S.l.], p. 4-6, sep. 2017. ISSN 2455-3891
8. Prabhu B P, Kunoor Akhilesh, Sudhir S, Dutt A, Namboothiri Vrinda, Rakesh P S, S.Sanjeev, Menon Vidya. Antituberculosis treatment stewardship in a private tertiary care hospital in South India. Public Health Action.2018;8:151
9. Nithya Haridas, Akhilesh K ,Neeraj Sidharthan, Arun R Nair, James P.T, Disseminated Tuberculosis with Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia.Pulmon,Vol.18,Issue1,Jan-Apr 2016
10. Kunoor Akhilesh , Susheela Rakesh Purushothaman Bhat, Raj.Midhula, Thankappan Rajesh Chemamarissery, James Ponneduthukuzhi Thomas .Treatment outcomes of patients on non –Revised national Tuberculosis control Programme( Private) antituberculosis regimen from a tertiary care centre,KeralaIndia.Egyptian Journal Of Chest Disease and Tuberculosis.2019 ;68(1)24-27
11. B A Renjini, Kunoor Akhilesh, Pillai R Nithin ,Krishnan G Raveena, George Chelsya, P Spandana, KVishnukarthik, PS Rakesh. Experiences from active case finding for TB in elderly Homes in Kochi corporation ,Kerala ,India. Amrita Journal Of Medicine.2018;14(4):16-19
12. Kunoor Akhilesh ,KR Balasubamoniam, M Deepu, Rajendran Nair Sreeraj, James.P.T. Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma masquerading as ILD. Pulmon. 2018;20(3):117-120
13. ValappilThazhakkottuAswathy ,Mehta AnilkumarAsmitha ,KunoorAkhilesh,Haridas Nithya. Spectrum of parenchymal lung diseases:An Experience from A Tertiary Care Referral centre from South India.Egyptian Journal of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis 2018;67(3):276-280
14. V.Rajesh ,B.Prashantha, K Akhilesh, B H Giridhar. Comparative study of radiological manifestation of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in adults and elderly age group. International Journal of Medical sciences and innovative research.2018;3(4) :20-23
15. Kumar A, Kunoor A, Eapen M, Singh P, Chowdhary A. Blastomycosis Misdiagnosed as Tuberculosis, India. Emerg Infect Dis. 2019;25(9):1776-1777
16. Salam Binil,MehtaA,Kunoor A, Nithya Hardidas,James PT.Awareness of STCI among medical practitioners in Ernakulam District,Kerala,India.International Journal Of Pulmonary and Respiratory Sciences.2020;1(1):18-22
17. Rasmi S Nair,AkhileshKunoor,Immanuel James. Anti-tubercular drugs,predisposing factors and management of drug induced hepatotoxicity:A concise and uptodate review.2020; International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences 11(3):3096-3104
18. George LS, Rakesh PS, Vijayakumar K, Kunoor A, Kumar A. Social stigma associated with TB and HIV/AIDS among Kudumbashree members: A crosssectional study. J Family Med Prim Care 2020;9:4062-6.
19. Vinod S Vaishnavy,GeorgeLS,JoyAleena,Mathew MM,K Vijayakumar,Anilkumar,Kunoor A. Proportion of pulmonary tuberculosis cases diagnosed at different levels of health care across fourteen districts of Kerala. International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health 2020; 7(9):3636
20. George LS,RakeshPS,SunilkumarM,VijayakumarK,KunoorA,AnilkumarV. TB Patient support systems in Kerala: A Qualitative analysis.The Indian Journal of Tuberculosis.2020;11
21. KunoorA,AshokA,MoniM,MehtaAA,ThomasEM.Harikrishnan K. A Case Series on post COVID pulmonary rehabilitation :Early experiences from Kerala,SouthIndia.Indian journal of case report.2020 6(12);672-675
22. Gulati A,R Aiswarya,CMSreehari,ARAdwaith,TKRiza,Kunoor A. Impact of Virtual Medical Education During Covid-19 Pandemic among medical students in Kerala,India.2020.3(6);852-859
23. KunoorA,ThazhakkottuvalappilA,MethaAA,AhmedS,Venkitakrishnan R.ABPA mimicking malignancy.Pulmon.2020;22(3):234-236
24. Jacob Sherin,GeorgeLS,JoyAleena,MathewMM,KrishnapillaiVijaykumar,Anilkumar,Kunoor Akhilesh. Prevalence of diabetes mellitus and HIV/AIDS among tuberculosis patients in Kerala 2020.Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care 9(12)
25. Krishnan VG, Kunoor A, Keechilath P, Mehta AA. Diagnostic utility of pleural fluid carcinoembryonic antigen in patients with exudative pleural effusion. Lung India 2021;38:139-43
26. Mehta AA,KunoorA,AshokA,ShafiTM,HaridasN,Sudhakar N etal.Covid 19 and its effects on occurrence of new tuberculosis cases:An experience from a tertiary care university hospital of southern india.J Adv Lung Health 2021;1:62-4
27. Suresh P,Anilkumar,Biswas R,D Vijayakumar,ThulaseedharanS,AnjaneyanG,KunoorA,Biswas L. Epidemiology of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Infection in Tuberculosis Suspects.The American journal of tropical medicine and Hygiene.2021;DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.21-0095.
28. VenkitakrishnanR,ValsalanPraveen,ARParamez,AhmedSubin,KunoorA,PhilipSophia,Chinda M.Baricitinib : Delineating a New Treatment Option in COVID-19.Journal of the Indian Medical Association.2021.7;119(7):89-93
29. Lakshmi VP,AbhinandhB,KunoorA,MohanT,SugunanA,Jose Jerry. Paradoxical reaction in lymph node tuberculosis presented as shoulder osteomyelitis.Journal of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapeutics.2021;12(3):40 DOI: 10.4103/jpp.jpp_61_21
30. Rajendran A,KunoorA,RaghavanRP,PavitranK.Robociclib-associated organising pneumonia.BMJ Case Reports. 14(12):e245187DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2021-245187
31. HaridasN,MehtaAA,KunoorA,GeorgeR.Young lady with respiratory failure. J Adv Lung Health 2022;2:35-8
32. Rakesh PS, BalakrsihnanS, SunilkumarM, AlexanderKG, VijayanShibu, RoddwarVenkatesh, PramodkumarPP, KailashJyothi, Kunoor A etal.STEPS – a patient centric and low-cost solution to ensure standards of TB care to patients reaching private sector in India.BMC Health Services Research.2022;22(1) DOI: 10.1186/s12913-021-07342-y

Reviewer of The Journals

1. PLOS Global Public Health
2. Journal of Health and Allied Sciences N

Major Conference Papers

1. P.T James , Akhilesh Kunoor ,Rakesh P S .Awareness of Health care workers,patients and visitors regarding airborne infection control-Short Term Research Project,TB Association of India , Presented in NATCON -2016 at Chandigarh
2. SanjeevSingh,VidyaMenon,BinnyPP,AkhileshKunoor,FabiaET,KeithKaye,PayalPatel.Impact of a novel multidisciplinary antitubercular stewardship programme in a tertiay care centre in India.Open Forum Infectious Disease.Session :Antimicrobial Stewardship Global Perspective-IDSAWeek 2018
3. Arun Nair, Subin Ahmed, AkhileshKunoor, Binilsalam A, James PT, Ajith A. Reliability of overnight desaturation index(ODI) in suspected obstructive sleep apnea.European Respiratory Journal 2017 50: PA2306; DOI: 10.1183/1393003.congress-2017.PA2306
   -Poster in ERS Conference 2017
4. Akhilesh Kunoor, DivyaSurendran, ArvindPerathur, Vishnu G Krishnan, Arun Raj Nithya Haridas, AsmitaAnilkumarMehta, P.T.James. Knowledge and perception towards pulmonary rehabilitation by healthcare professionals and barriers.nove2020.chest 158(4)doi:10.1016/j.chest.2020.09.038
5. Akhileshkunoor,RichieGeorge,VishnuGKrishnan,TisaPaul,ArunRaj,NithyaHaridas,AsmitaAnilkumarMehta.Outcome of patients with comorbidity in TB.Nove 2020.Chest 158(4)DOI: 10.1016/j.chest.2020.09.056
6. Akhilesh Kunoor,SanjeevSingh,VidyaMenon,BPPrabhu,PSRaksh. Anti-tuberculosis treatment stewardship in a private tertiary care hospital in India improves standards of TB diagnosis and treatment.Nov2019 November 2019 Conference: 50th World Lung Conference, International Union
7. AkhileshKunoor,BPPrabhu,SubhashChandra,MariamVarshaJoseph,SangeethaSudheer,Vidya Menon ,Sanjeev Singh.Effectiveness of administrative intervention in ensuring standards of TB Care in India.Abstracts:NAPACON.Lung India 2019;36,Suppl S3:92-182.

Major Invited Lectures

• National and State level faculty in Various Conferences including NAPCON and Pulmocon
• Panelist -Severe Asthma updates (Napcon 2021)
• A Novel tuberculosis point-of-care urine liparabinomannan assay for patients with HIV (NAPCON 2020)
• Diagnosis of Extrapulmonary TB from difficult to access site (NAPCON 2019 KOCHI)
• Pulmonary Rehabilitation In Indian Perspective (Workshop, NAPCON 2019 KOCHI)
• Adjunctive Rifampicin for Staphylococcus Aureus bacteremia (ARREST) : a multicentre,randomized ,double blind.placebo controlled trial (NAPCON 2018, Ahmedabad)
• New National Guidelines on Tuberculosis (Pulmocon 2021)
• ECMO ( Workshop, Pulmocon 2019,Thrissur)
• Eosinophilia and the Lungs(When lungs are infiltrated with Eosinophils)( PULMOCON 2018, Kumarakam)
• MDR TB Updates( NTTE online conference-KS Hegde Medical College, Mangalore 2020)
• CT Chest in ICU(Indian Association Of Respiratory Care-1/10/2021)
• Post Covid Pulmonary Rehabilitation ( Indian Association Of Respiratory Care & Yenepoya Institute of Allied Health Science ) -27/10/2021
• Setting up of a pulmonary rehabilitation Unit-Association of Pulmonologist Thrissur & Amala Medical College

Workshop& Conference organized

• Organising Secretary, Amrita PG update January 2020
• Organising Secretary, AIMS Virtual PG Update 2021
• Organising Secretary, COPD Rehabilitation Workshop& PG update 2019
• Organising Secretary, CME on Airborne Infection Control in Health Facility -2019
• Organising Secretary, Updates In Tuberculosis -2017
• Organising Secretary, CME in TB Updates -2021
• Member,Organising Committee NAPCON 2019
• Organising Committee member of Basic Bronchoscopy Workshop 2015
• Organising committee member Pulmocon 2015
• Organising Committee member, Periyar Medfest
• Organising Committee member, IMA AMS Midzone Conference 2018

Major Certifications

1. Pulmonary Rehabilitation Certificate (American Association of Cardiovascular& Pulmonary Rehabilitation& American Association of Respiratory Care
2. Comprehensive Critical care Course (ISCCM)
3. Executive Management Program in HealthCare (Virginia University)
4. Orientation Course in Smoking Cessation( Gujarath University)
5. Programmatic management of Drug resistant TB ( PMDT)-Central TB division
6. Programmatic Management of TB Prevention Treatment (PMTPT)-Central TB Division
7. Certificate Course on Sleep disordered breathing disorder(ISDA)
8. Master Course in Endobronchial Ultrasound (Yashoda Hospital, Hyderabad)

Major Public Health Activities

• Key role in Kerala’s TB Elimination in Private sector mentioned in INDIA SPEND a national Data Journalism initiative in their series regarding Kerala’s fight against Tuberculosis in section of “ How Kerala has enlisted the Private sector in It’s War against TB” ( Link-https://www.indiaspend.com/how-kerala-has-enlisted-the-private-sector-in-its-war-against-tb/)
• Organised “Urangoo Unarvinay” a Public awareness initiative regarding obstructive sleep apnoea among drivers
• Contributed to “TB Free Kochi Initiative”, ”STEPS” and “Antituberculosis drugs stewardship Programs”
• Conducting Awareness classes and camps in various aspects of Pulmonary diseases like Asthma, COPD, Smoking Cessation, Pulmonary Rehabilitation and Tuberculosis”