PM to launch National Animal Disease Control Programme for Foot and Mouth Disease and Brucellosis

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be launching National Animal Disease Control Programme for Foot and Mouth Disease and Brucellosis on 11 September 2019 in Mathura. He will also launch National Artificial Insemination Programme during the event. National Animal Disease Control Programme for Foot and Mouth Disease and Brucellosis is a 100% centrally funded programme, with a total outlay of Rs.12,652 crore from 2019 to 2024. It aims to control Foot and Mouth Disease and Brucellosis by 2025 with vaccination and eventual eradication by 2030… (PIB, Sept. 6, 2019)

Healthcare News Monitor

First Malaria Cell Atlas Could Help Researchers Develop Drugs And Vaccines Against the Mosquito-Borne Disease

News18

Malaria kills nearly half a million people, including a child every two minutes, annually across the world. With more than 200 million new cases reported every year, Malaria remains to be one of the deadliest mosquito-borne diseases. The scientific community has long stressed for a concerted treatment of malaria, dengue, zika, chinkungunya and other mosquito-borne diseases. Now those calls may finally be answered as the non-profit Wellcome Sanger Institute and its collaborators have created a Malaria Cell Atlas. This will help researchers develop drugs and vaccines against the mosquito-borne disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite that spreads to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes. The endeavor provides the first detailed map of the behaviour of individual malaria parasites. The Malaria Cell Atlas was developed by using advanced single cell RNA sequencing techniques to isolate individual parasites and measure their gene activity.

FDA Authorises New Diagnostic Test That Can Detect Signs of Zika Infection Within 12 Weeks

News18

Like other mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria, Zika virus can be hard to detect with most patients developing no symptoms during the initial stages. Worse, Zika virus in pregnant women can cause infants to be born with microcephaly and other congenital malformations, known as congenital Zika syndrome. But now a diagnostic test, granted market authorisation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), promises to resolve this problem. Developed by InBios International and based in part on technology licensed from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the test can detect signs of Zika infection in serum samples within 12 weeks of infection. “Pregnant women living in or visiting places where Zika is endemic will want to know if they have been exposed to the virus,” said Dr. Michael S. Diamond, a co-inventor of the technology that underlies the test. “This test, along with another that detects viral genetic material at very early stages of infection, will help women and their doctors make informed health-care decisions,” Diamond said in a press release issued by Washington University School of Medicine. He is Herbert S. Gasser Professor of Medicine and a professor of molecular microbiology and of pathology and immunology at the School of Medicine.

Don’t sell medicines without prescription, says Chittoor Collector

United News of India

Bharat Narayan Gupta, the district Collector, on Friday directed drug inspectors in the district to take measures for not to sell medicines in medical Shops without prescription. In a review meeting with Drug Inspectors in the district at Collectorate on Friday, Gupta wanted the Drug Inspectors to see not to sell a single medicine in shops having no prescription and he also strictly warned the medical shops owners for not to run shops without licenses which comes under crime. Listing out ‘donts at medical shops, the Collector said the shops should be maintain by the pharmacist only, not to attach clinics in the shops, not to sale government supply medicines at shops etc and he also warned the Medical Shops owners to be cancelled their license and may face imprisonment if they exceed these conditions.

Mumbai: Now, OPD patients take a rain check

Free Press Journal

The steady downpour on Wednesday had a trickle-down effect on patient inflow at hospitals, with most choosing to stay away. Outpatient departments (OPDs) at major civic and state-run hospitals recorded a 35-40 per cent drop in footfall, while there was a 5-10 per cent drop in minor and major surgeries. According to a doctor, the fear of being stranded by rains kept people away. “Hundreds of patients, especially those who live in distant suburbs, had to cancel their plans. Usually, on a daily basis, JJ Hospital receives around 4,000 patients for OPD and 250-300 patients for IPD,” he said. Sanjay Surase, Chief Medical Official (CMO), JJ Hospital, said due to the incessant rain on Wednesday, only 1,664 patients visited the hospital’s OPD department and only 100 admissions took place.

Mosquitoes Can Carry Both Chikungunya and Dengue Viruses, Warns Thai Doctor

News18

A doctor in Thailand has warned that chikungunya virus has mutated allowing the Aedes mosquito to be the carrier of both chikungunya and dengue viruses. Chikungunya which shares some clinical signs with dengue and zika can be misdiagnosed in areas where the two latter mosquito-borne diseases are common, according to World Health Organisation.Taking to Facebook on August 21, Dr Manoon Leechawengwongs, a respiratory and critical care specialist at Bangkok’s Vichaiyut Hospital, said that the healthcare facility had treated 13 chikungunya patients in the past 30 days compared to none last year. The doctor cited the case of a “generally healthy” 33-year-old Bangkok resident, who suddenly developed a high fever, headache, muscle and joint pain as well as red eyes, The Nation Thailand reported. Two days later the woman developed a rash and her white-blood cell count dropped to 1,900 as a lab test confirmed she had chikungunya, the doctor added.