10 things to know about coping with stressors following a disaster

1.Strong reactions and feelings -such as loss of interest in daily life, sadness, irritability, and confusion, as well as difficulties concentrating- are common and understandable.

2.With time and support, these difficulties can be overcome.

3.Take care of yourself, so you can help others. Even during difficult times, try to reestablish your daily routines such as sleeping and eating regularly and try to take time to do things you enjoy.

4.If you feel overwhelmed or like you cannot cope, visit a health clinic. Do not be ashamed to accept or ask for help from others.

5.Helping others and getting help from others is one of the best ways to cope with difficulties. Listen to others and participate in regular social activities.

6.Work with others to organize community and social activities such as religious ceremonies, community meetings, sports, arts, clean-up efforts, and other community endeavors.

7.Take particular care of, and reach out to, those that are the most affected, including people that have been injured, elderly people, people with disabilities, and those that have lost loved ones.

8.Children need extra attention and care after a difficult situation. Keep them safe, listen to them, speak kindly, spend time with them and provide them with opportunities to share their concerns.

9.Avoid using alcohol and drugs. These substances make it more difficult to overcome painful feelings and anxiety.

10.Most people will feel better over the coming months. If your distress does not decrease or gets worse, then it is important to seek help and support from a trusted colleague, friends or health professionals.

(Source: PAHO)

Healthcare News Monitor

Government steps in to deal with penicillin shortage

The New Indian Express- Priyanka Sharma

NEW DELHI: An acute nationwide shortage of penicillin that is a must for prevention of Strep A bacterial infection — which causes a type of sore throat in children — has now forced the Centre to procure the crucial antibiotic for three years and make it available across the states. Strep A infection in kids, when untreated, leads to serious complications like rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease that kills thousands of children and adolescents in India every year. Officials in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said after penicillin was put in the list of essential medicines by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, thereby reducing its market price significantly, most manufacturers stopped manufacturing and supplying the crucial antibiotic in last one year. “This has resulted in a situation that penicillin is neither available in government hospitals nor open market. It has made it immensely difficult to treat strep throat in children,” said a senior official. The authorities were alerted about it and have got in touch with some pharma companies to ensure supply of the medicine for at least three years.”

Scientists Are Just One Step Away From Curing HIV AIDS 100% Using CRISPR Gene-Editing

IndiaTimes - Gwyn DMello

CRISPR has been all the talk of the medical research field lately, and with good reason. The cutting-edge gene-editing technique has to potential to fix everything from blindness to cancer, to heart disease. And now, there may be a chance it can cure HIV. Chinese scientists have just published a report describing how they attempted to cure a 27-year-old man who is HIV-positive using gene-edited cells. Its the first attempt to study something like this in a live human specimen. The scientists werent successful however, and say they werent able to eliminate the AIDS virus from his body. However, they and other researchers are still calling it incredibly promising, because it at least seems to indicate that precise DNA changes in adult humans are possible, without adverse side effects.

Unani, Siddha medical centres inaugurated at Safdarjung hospital in Delhi

ET Healthworld- ANI

New Delhi: Union Minister of State for AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Naik on Friday inaugurated an UnMedical Centre and Siddha Clinical Research Unit at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi. Both the centres have been established by the Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) and Siddha medicine (CCRS). Speaking on the occasion, Naik said, "The Government of India is taking special care of the people through AYUSH systems of medicine." The Ministry of AYUSH will cater to 1.5 lakhs health and wellness centres across the country as part of Ayushman Bharat, Naik said. The central government has set a target of setting up 12,500 AYUSH health and wellness centres across India, out of which 4000 will be set up this year, he added. Naik voiced hope that the research unit will provide holistic healthcare to the patients visiting Safdarjung Hospital from different parts of the country. On this occasion, Additional Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH Pramod Kumar Pathak said that the Ministry of AYUSH has a mandate to ensure optimal development and propagation of AYUSH systems and is working on their mainstreaming by promoting their use in National Public Health System.

Dengue Cases in Karnataka Up by 138% Since 2018, Govt Data Reveals

News18

The southern state of Karnataka is reeling under dengue with 10,524 cases registered so far in 2019. This is a 138% jump from 2018 when 4,427 cases were reported in the entire year. Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection causing a severe flu-like illness and, sometimes causing a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue. This monsoon season disease has increased 30-fold over the last 50 years. Up to 50-100 million infections are now estimated to occur annually in over 100 endemic countries, putting almost half of the world’s population at risk. The Karnataka government data released on September 9 shows six deaths due to the mosquito-borne disease. This is up from four fatal cases recorded last year. TOI reported that 61% of the dengue cases — 6,515 — were from Bengaluru alone, which is governed by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). In the first week of September alone, 322 cases of dengue have been registered in the BBMP area.