Abbott launches new vaccine for wide protection against influenza

Globally approved, this 3rd generation quadrivalent vaccine, offers wide coverage protection against four flu virus strains for children and adults vs. three strains in previous generation

NEW DELHI, India; February 24, 2020 — Abbott recently launched a new inactivated quadrivalent vaccine for influenza, the first of its kind sub-unit vaccine offering protection against four virus strains, in India. It is the only 0.5 ml quadrivalent flu vaccine in India that has been approved for use in children below 3 years....read more

New Cholesterol Drug

The US FDA has approved the once-daily oral pill bempedoic acid for decreasing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels as an adjunct to maximum-tolerated dose of statin therapy.

Bempedoic acid is now indicated for individuals who have heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) or established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and require additional lowering with hypercholesterolemia. Bempedoic acid is an oral adenosine triphosphate (ATP) citrate lyase inhibitor from Esperion Therapeutics that reduces cholesterol and fatty acid synthesis in the liver....read more

The word corona has been with us since the anatomy days

Coronavirus is one word and not corona virus. The word Corona has been used in many situations

CORONA trial CORONA trial, involving 5011 patients (mean age 73 years) with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II to IV ischemic systolic HF (mean left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] 31%) evaluated the role of rosuvastatin 10 mg daily or placebo....read more

Is corona the disease X mentioned by WHO in 2018?

On 6th September 2018, I wrote an editorial blog about Disease X mentioned by WHO in its list of eight priority diseases. WHO said, “Disease X represents the knowledge that a serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease, and so the R&D Blueprint explicitly seeks to enable cross-cutting R&D preparedness that is also relevant for an unknown “Disease X” as far as possible,”....read more

Cases in patients outside China with no contact with a confirmed case; 624 cases in Korea; 33 countries affected; 22% (691) on ship got infected, with 36 serious; 4205 likely deaths, 8 new deaths outside China

COVID-19 SUTRA COVID-19 virus possibly behaves like SARS; causes mild illness in 82%, severe illness in 15%, critical illness in 3% and death in 2% cases (15% of admitted serious cases, 71% with comorbidity); affects all ages but predominantly males (56%) with median age 59 years (2-74 years, less in children below 15); with variable incubation period days (2-14; mean 3 based on 1,324 cases, 5.2 days based on 425 cases, 6.4 days in travellers from Wuhan); mean time to symptoms 5 days, mean time to pneumonia 9 days, mean time to death 14 days, 3-4 reproductive number R0 (flu 1.2 and SARS 2), epidemic doubling time 7.5 days (Korea 1 day probably due to super spreader), has origin possibly from bats, spreads via large droplets and predominantly from people having lower respiratory infections and hence, standard droplet precautions are the answer for the public and close contacts and airborne precautions for the healthcare workers dealing with the secretions....read more

How to Finish Your Pending Work?

• This involves principles of time management and some Vedic principles.
• The first thing to do is to make a checklist of all the pending work by writing it down and re-categorizing them depending upon the urgency and importance....read more

How Corona Aware Are You

Health Sutras By Dr K K Aggarwal

Do not ignore fever and cough of more than 2 weeks duration.

Healthcare News Monitor

Limited immediate risk from Covid-19 to India pharma sector

Outlook India - IANS

The immediate risk to the Indian pharma industry from the supply shortages of key raw materials from China due to coronavirus outbreak is limited, a market report said on Monday. However, according to the HDFC Securities report, in the event of an extended shutdown, the industry faces risk of supply disruption and increased input cost. "Most companies have inventory of 3-4 months and are closely monitoring the situation," the report said. "It is difficult to ascertain specific impact at this stage but a prolonged shutdown will impact the entire supply chain which could have knock on effect on the cost of goods produced globally." At present, Indias pharma industrys dependence on China for key starting materials (KSM) or active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) is "very high". As per DGCIS data, share of China in bulk drug and intermediates imports was 67 per cent at $2.4 bn in FY19. "We believe over a longer term the Indian API industry would stand to benefit as regulators encourage investments and incentivise the API industry to reduce dependence on China," the report said. "Also, the cost arbitrage has narrowed between Indian and Chinese manufacturers given stricter environmental and compliance regulations in addition to increased labour cost in China."

NPPA tells chief secys to keep tabs on API availability

The Economic Times - Teena Thacker

Delhi: India’s drug pricing regulator has asked state governments to closely monitor availability of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and formulations as part of efforts to ensure that there is no shortage of bulk drugs in the backdrop of the coronavirus outbreak. In a letter to the chief secretaries, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has asked them to ensure that there is no violation to the provisions of the Drug Pricing Control Order (DPCO) with regard to compliance of selling price. “In that case, necessary action will be taken,” the letter dated February 20 said, reflecting the government’s determination to curb possible black marketing and hoarding. ET has reviewed the letter. The regulator has also asked chief secretaries to closely monitor availability of APIs as a measure of public health preparedness in respect of APIs, intermediates and key starting materials which are imported from China. APIs are the key raw materials used for making pharmaceutical formulations like tablets, capsules and syrups. On February 19, government think tank Niti Aayog had held a meeting with top drug makers and policy makers to discuss options for domestic manufacturers of critical APIs in which India is dependent on imports. To attain self-sufficiency in bulk drugs and reduce dependence on China, it was suggested that production capacity should be built for 58 APIs on which India is significantly dependent on China.

20 new ventilators at GMCH Trauma Centre

The Times of India - Chaitanya Deshpande

Nagpur: Adding to its capacity, the Trauma Centre of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) has received 20 new ventilators (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/ventilators) on Monday. After calibration, the 90-bed Centre will have life support on 37 beds. A senior doctor at Trauma Centre told TOI new ventilators will be functional in a week. Trauma Centre at GMCH was started in 2016. It is equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from traumatic injuries like falls and accidents. Being a joint project of Central and state government, all patients get free treatment here. Emergency patients are getting speedy treatment as the facilities such as intervention radiology, CT Scans, MRI and others are available under one roof. It has two operation theatres, one surgical ICU ward, two ICU wards, and one general ward apart from a drugstore. Additional 20 ventilators will be a major boost for the Centre. A senior official informed that 17 beds having ventilator support in the Centre always remained occupied. Apart from this, all 90 beds here remain occupied most of the times as the Centre receives patients from Nagpur and other cities and states as well. As per the data, 4,161 patients were admitted to the Centre in 2019 and 1,218 major surgeries were performed. Average mortality rate of Centre remained under 21% in 2019. In January 2020, the Centre treated 563 patients and conducted 164 surgeries. Interestingly, 56 of these were neurosurgeries. Mortality rate so far this year is down to 10.83%.

Sunni Board to build mosque, hospital on five-acre Ayodhya site

The New Indian Express- Namita Bajpai

In a major development, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board (UPSCWB) decided to accept the five-acre alternative land allotted to it by Uttar Pradesh government at Dhannipur village under Sohawal tehsil in Raunai township on Lucknow-Ayodhya highway. The land allocated to UPSCWB is just 20 km away from the temple town. The decision to accept the land was taken at the meeting of the Board here on Monday. After confabulations in the meeting, the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board arrived at the consensus to build a mosque on the allocated land. It also decided to set up a trust to oversee the construction of the proposed mosque on five-acre land. Moreover, the board also decided to construct a charitable hospital, a library and an Indo-Islamic Cultural Centre besides the mosque and other public utility facilities on the land allocated to it on February 5, this year. The Board, which was one of the main litigants in the Ayodhya title suit, comprises of eight members from different fields. However, only six members including board chairman Zafur Farooqui, Adnan Farooq Shah, Junaid Siddiqui, Sayyad Ahmad Ali, Abrar Ahmad and Juneed Ahmad attended the meeting. Remaining two members including Abdul Rajjak Khan and Imran Mabood boycotted the Monday meeting. “The UP Sunni Central Waqf Board has decided to accept the five-acre land allocated to it in compliance of Supreme Court’s November 9, 2019 decision,” said board chairman Zafur Farooqui.