Two COVID-19 antibody therapies are no longer recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), on the basis that Omicron and the variant’s latest offshoots have likely rendered them obsolete. www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-strongly-advises-against-use-two-covid-treatments-2022-09-15/? The two therapies – which are designed to work by binding to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 to neutralise the virus’ ability to infect cells […]
National
Could cancer become a notifiable disease?
India’s current cancer figures are currently based on estimates, with just a minority of cases of the condition actually recorded in cause of death reports. The true burden may be far higher than current figures suggest. The parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare submitted a report entitled “Cancer Care Plan and Management: […]
TB Free India programme launched
India’s President Droupadi Murmu on Friday launched the Prime Minister’s TB Free India programme and urged Indians to work collectively towards elimination of the disease. www.livemint.com/news/india/president-murmu-launches-tb-elimination-program-urges-indians-to-help-patients-11662719403399.html President Murmu also launched the Ni-kshay Mitra initiative to ensure additional diagnostic, nutritional, and vocational support to those undergoing TB treatment, and encouraged people to come forward as donors […]
New viral infection referred to as tomato flu, first detected in children in Kerala in May, has spread to two other states of India
An outbreak of a new viral infection referred to as tomato flu that was first detected in children in the southern Indian state of Kerala in May has spread to two other states of the country. www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/23/tomato-flu-outbreak-in-india-spreads-to-two-more-states? According to an article in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 82 children aged under five had been diagnosed with […]
First Asian monkeypox death occurs in India
India has reported Asia’s first monkeypox related death, just the fourth death to occur as a result of the current global outbreak. A young man in the state of Kerala was confirmed as of Saturday to be the first death to occur in India. Kerala’s revenue minister told reporters that the government had isolated 21 […]
Four monkeypox cases now reported in India
India has reported its fourth case of monkeypox. While the cases still remain low, the key concern over the most recently reported case is that the individual had no record of international travel. All three previous cases had been reported in Kerala. The fourth case occurred in a 31-year-old man in Delhi. The man had […]
Monkeypox, is India at risk of an outbreak?
India has now reported its second case of monkeypox, with both cases occurring in the state of Kerala. As the world now deals with new COVID-19 strains causing fresh outbreaks, can India expect an outbreak of monkeypox to add to its healthcare burden? The government of Kerala issued standard operating procedures for the isolation, sample […]
Is India heading towards a fourth wave of COVID-19?
COVID-19 cases in India have risen to surpass 8,000 new cases per day for the third day in a row, sparking fears that a fourth wave could occur in the coming weeks. Experts have been quick to dismiss these fears. They have said that the “new wave” is likely not a potential fourth wave […]
Doctors estimate forty percent suffer from non-alcoholic liver disease
Marking International NASH (Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis) Day 2022 doctors in India have claimed that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) may be present at some stage of the disease in around forty percent of the population. While the claim seems bold, NAFLD is thought to be present in around 25 to thirty percent of the global […]
Are Long-COVID and NCDs another Pandora’s box?
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) have been increasing at an alarming rate in India in the last few decades, overtaking infectious diseases as India’s most common causes of death. Now, some speculate that NCDs coupled with long-COVID could open up a Pandora’s box in the country. Government data shows that the proportion of deaths due to NCDs […]