Study reveals rising cases of serious harm to children involving strong pain killers

Washington D.C.(USA), Dec 22 (ANI) According to recent research in the US, the cases of poisoning among children due to high strength pain killer and their emergency admissions in hospitals have markedly gone up.

The results of research reflect that in terms of numbers the cases of poisoning involving the young have gone down since 2005, but their severity has clearly increased.....read more 

Most Popular Videos

Pioppi New Reversal Diet - Dr Aseem Malhotra 

Healthcare News Monitor

Pending dues hit Delhi private hospitals

The New Indian Express

Major corporate hospitals have threatened to withdraw services under the Central Group Health Scheme and the Ex-Servicemen Health Scheme, saying that the Union government owes over Rs 700 crore to them. In a press conference on Thursday, representatives of hospitals and private healthcare professionals said hospitals were on a verge of collapse. “The Indian Healthcare industry is passing through a crisis. Thousands of crores are due to be paid by CGHS/ECHS to private hospitals. The outstanding are pending for past several months,” said a joint statement by the Association of Healthcare Providers of India and Indian Medical Association. Max Healthcare, Fortis Healthcare, Medanta, Narayana Health and HCG group of hospitals are among such affected private healthcare facilities. Repeated attempts by hospitals and associations have not yielded any response, they rued. “Non-payment of legitimate dues by the government is taking a toll on day-to-day functioning of the hospitals. Hospitals are unable to pay salaries to the employees. Many hospitals have begun to cut down the operations by closing certain wards and beds.” Hospitals are constrained to lay off the employees, they said. “If the situation is allowed to persist, it is feared that lakhs of hospital employees may lose jobs. The hospitals having been pushed to the brink of unsustainability, will be constrained to suspend cashless services for the beneficiaries of CGHS/ECHS.” Reimbursement rates for medical procedures under CGHS were not revised since 2014, said the Associations. The Associations warned that while the PM had stressed on the need for opening of new hospitals in Tier-II and III cities, the current scenario will adversely affect effectiveness of Ayushman Bharat scheme. “Considering that 70 per cent of OPD and 60 per cent of IPD patients are being taken care of by private healthcare providers, the likely disruption of health services due to financial crunch is going to impact the national healthcare scenario more so in tertiary care where private sector provides more than 85 per cent of such services,” they said.

Study finds mechanism for mother-child transmission of immunity to chickenpox

DownToEarth- Sunderarajan Padmanabhan

Women who been infected by chickenpox may transmit the DNA of the disease-causing virus to their babies during pregnancy, stimulating their immunity against the infection and protecting them, a study found. This mother-to-child transfer of viral DNA may be responsible for long-lasting protection against chickenpox infection seen during childhood, researchers from National Institute of Immunology and St Stephens Hospital, Delhi, said. Their study was published in journal Viral Immunology. The new finding takes the understanding on how babies are protected against infections such as chickenpox to a new level. Currently, it is understood that mothers provide babies protection against a variety of common infections by transferring readymade antibodies to them. The protection lasts for 12-15 months; if a baby catches an infection during this period, it gets ill in a mild form and develops its own long-lasting immunity for that disease. The new study led by Jacob Puliyel from St Stephens Hospital showed that it was, however, different in the case of chickenpox. Scientists found that mothers developed subclinical viremia and the viral DNA was transferred to their babies. The study was done in 350 mothers and their newborn babies. “The babies of mothers, who had chickenpox earlier in their life, develop a long-lasting active immunity with the transfer of chickenpox DNA from mothers, instead of the short-term passive protection provided by the transfer of readymade antibodies. It is likely that the antibodies are developed actively in the foetus,” researchers said. “Several studies have already shown that chickenpox can get reactivated due to stress following surgeries and space travel. But, subclinical reactivation of chickenpox, induced by the stress of pregnancy, is being reported for the first time,” they added.