US health official says development of new vaccine to fight coronavirus is progressing well

Experts have also explained that the deadly virus may transmit through direct contact between humans or aerosol transmission.

Washington D.C. (USA): A US health official has said that the development of a new vaccine to fight the coronavirus is progressing well, with "no glitches."

During a press briefing at the Department of Health and Human Services on Friday, Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that work is underway with biotech company Moderna to develop the vaccine, Xinhua news agency reported....read more

Saroglitazar approved for diabetes

Saroglitazar Mg (Lipaglyn) is now approved in the treatment of type 2 diabetes as an add-on therapy with metformin. The drug was had been approved in 2013 in India for the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia and diabetic dyslipidemia.

The drug is an effective insulin sensitizer. The recommended dose of the drug is one 4 mg tablet once daily. Saroglitazar has less potential for hypoglycemia. While no major serious adverse events have been reported with the drug, long-term cardiovascular safety still needs to be established. One tablet costs 30 Rs....read more

Spiritual Prescriptions: Satsang

Satsang is a common household word and is often held in many residential colonies. Traditionally, Satsang means the regular meeting of a group of elderly or women of an area with a common intention of attaining inner happiness or peace through Bhajans or devotional songs for a particular God or Gods. In Satsang, people realize that it is the Self, communing with Self....read more

How Corona Aware Are You

Health Sutras By Dr K K Aggarwal

Chest pain which can be pinpointed by a finger is not a heart pain.

Healthcare News Monitor

Granules Pharmaceuticals, Inc gets USFDA nod for Colchicine tablets

ET Healthworld – PTI

Granules India on Thursday said its wholly owned foreign arm has received US health regulators approval for Colchicine tablets, used in the treatment of familial mediterranean fever. Familial mediterranean fever is a genetic disorder that causes recurrent episodes of fever that are typically accompanied by pain in the abdomen, chest, or joints. "The US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) has approved the Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) filed by Granules Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a wholly owned foreign subsidiary of Granules India Ltd for Colchicine tablets USP, 0.6 mg," the company said in a regulatory filing. The filing further said that "it is bioequivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD), Colcrys tablets, 0.6 mg, of Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc." Shares of Granules India were trading at Rs 159.55 a piece on BSE, up 3.74 per cent from the previous close.

‘End purchase of medicines through Haffkine Inst’

ET Healthworld– Chaitanya Deshpande

The issue of procurement of medicines and medical devices for government medical colleges and hospitals attached to the Department of Medical Education and Research (DMER) through a third-party agency is once again in the limelight. An outfit of unorganized workers, attached to the Congress party, has demanded that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government discontinue the third-party system and introduce the earlier open bidding system for every institute. At present, it is mandatory for all medical colleges and hospitals attached to state government’s DMER to purchase medicines, medical equipment and other related items only from Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd. Alleging that this system is creating problems for hospitals and encouraging corruption, the All India Unorganized Workers Congress has demanded that new government should end this practice. The state coordinator of unorganized workers Congress and president of State Medical College Employees’ Association Trisharan Shahare has requested CM Uddhav Thackeray to end the obstacle of Haffkine and restore the earlier procedure of purchasing medicines and devices. “GMCs in state are facing a major crisis of medicines, chemicals, glassware, diagnostic kits, surgical items, and disinfectants. They must register their demand with Haffkine and then wait for a long time to get the required devices. Many times, Haffkine sends medicines other than those ordered,” said Shahare.

Is whistleblower doctor who reported coronavirus outbreak dead? hospital says no

Mint- Mari Yamaguchi , Elaine Kurtenbach

A Chinese doctor who got in trouble with authorities in the communist country for sounding an early warning about the deadly coronavirus outbreak lay in critical condition with the illness Friday, a hospital said amid conflicting reports about his fate. “In the fight against the epidemic of the new coronavirus pneumonia, Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist of our hospital, was unfortunately infected. He is currently in critical condition and we are trying our best to rescue him," Wuhan Central Hospital said in a social media post just after midnight. Late Thursday, Chinese media reports said the 34-year-old Li had died. And the World Health Organization tweeted: “We are deeply saddened by the passing of Dr Li Wenliang. We all need to celebrate work that he did" on the virus. Li was reprimanded by local police for “spreading rumors" about the illness in late December, according to news reports. The outbreak, centered in Wuhan, has now infected over 28,200 people globally and killed more than 560. The hospitals social media post received nearly 500,000 comments in the first half-hour afterward, with many people hoping Li would pull through. One wrote: “We are not going to bed, we are here waiting for a miracle." Meanwhile, a newborn became the youngest known person infected with the virus. China finished building a second new hospital Thursday to isolate and treat patients and moved people with milder symptoms into makeshift quarantine centers at sports arenas, exhibition halls and other public spaces. And testing of a new antiviral drug was set to begin on patients.

How to protect hospital assistants from coronavirus? Use robots

The Print- Kari Lindberg

The deadly coronavirus outbreak, which has pushed the Chinese medical community into overdrive, has also prompted the country’s hospitals to more quickly adopt robots as medical assistants. Telepresence bots that allow remote video communication, patient health monitoring and safe delivery of medical goods are growing in number on hospital floors in urban China. They’re now acting as a safe go-between that helps curb the spread of the coronavirus. Keenon Robotics Co., a Shanghai-based company, deployed 16 robots of a model nicknamed “little peanut” to a hospital in Hangzhou after a group of Wuhan travelers to Singapore were held in quarantine. Siasun Robot and Automation Co. donated seven medical robots and 14 catering service robots to the Shenyang Red Cross to help hospitals combat the virus on Wednesday, according to a media release on the company’s website. Keenon and Siasun didn’t reply immediately to requests for comment. JD.com Inc. is testing the use of autonomous delivery robots in Wuhan, the company said in a statement. Local media has also reported robots being used in hospitals in the city as well as in Guangzhou, Jiangxi, Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin. The rapid spread of the coronavirus has left provincial hospitals straining to cope and helped accelerate the embrace of robots as one solution, turning the gadgets into medical assistants. These bots join China’s tech-heavy response to the coronavirus outbreak, which also includes airborne drones and work-from-home apps. The jury remains out on how effective these coping tactics will be.