COVID-19: Health ministry issues advisory for aged people

NEW DELHI: Stating that the course of COVID-19 tends to be more severe in the case of the elderly population, resulting in higher mortality, the Union Health Ministry has issued a health advisory, listing some "dos" and "donts" for reducing the transmission of the virus among the aged section.The advisory said globally, COVID-19 has impacted several lives and is steadily increasing its reach....read more

Coronavirus Life on Surfaces

It is always better to wait. I was compiling this data, asked by one of the journalists and WEBMD posted it today. I am sharing the same with all of you....read more

CMAAO IMA HCFI Corona Myth Buster 25

COVID-19 recovered patient can donate bloodNo. There are no guidelines available. Some centers say three months. But if he/she wants to donate plasma for serious COVID-infected cases, it can be done right away.Avoid blood donation in COVID-19 situationNo. Most blood banks have introduced a postponement period of 28 days for donation for donors returning from overseas following updated public health advice that anyone coming from overseas is considered to have returned from a high- or moderate-risk country and should practice social distancing outside of work....read more

CMAAO IMA HCFI Corona Myth Buster 24

You can drink sanitizer alcoholIsopropyl alcohol is commonly ingested intentionally, either as an ethanol substitute or as a means to cause self-harm, or in accidental exposures. It is commonly used as a disinfectant, antifreeze, and solvent, and typically comprises 70 percent rubbing alcohol. When ingested, isopropyl alcohol acts as a central nervous system (CNS) inebriant and depressant. Its toxicity and treatment are similar to that of ethanol....read more

Why do we not offer onions to God?

Anything that grows under the ground is not offered to God. According to Vedic science, anything which is grown under the ground is Tamasik in nature and produces sluggishness, heaviness and extreme aggressiveness. Not only onion, all food products grown under the ground are not offered to God and are not supposed to be eaten during spiritual fasts. People who are spiritually-oriented, like monks, rishis, munis, avoid underground food altogether....read more

How Corona Aware Are You

Health Sutras By Dr K K Aggarwal

Do 80 cycles of pranayama (parasympathetic breathing) in a day with a speed of 4 per minute.

Healthcare News Monitor

Coronavirus destructs most, but some firms are flipping the script

Business Today- Chitranjan Kumar

At a time when most businesses and brands are staring at huge losses due to coronavirus outbreak, sectors such as pharma, FMCG and e-tail have turned unlikely beneficiaries. In the pharma, demand for medical appliances, including masks and gloves, in particular, has gone through the roof and stocks have run dry in most parts of the country. Similarly, health and hygiene products sales spiked and retail stores ran out of stocks as soon COVID-19 started spreading. Masks, PPEs: The shortage of masks, gowns, gloves and other single-use items for medical professionals has resulted in entry of a lot of new players in the segment. To ensure availability of these personal protective equipments (PPEs), the government has fast-tracked manufacturing permission. In less than 7 days, 15 firms received the governments go-ahead to produce PPEs: These include Arvind Mills, JCT Mills Phagwara, Amare Safety, Mumbai-based Sure Safety, Delhi-based Sai Synergy, Manchanda, Shree Healthcare, Chennai, among others. They have been asked to produce surgical gowns, gloves, goggles, hand sanitiser, clinical waste bags, waste bag closure devices, blood and fluid spill kits, mask fit test kits and thermometers. Interestingly, these PPEs were mostly imported from China since very few companies could produce them profitably in India.

Four more from Mysuru pharma firm test positive, officials probe China link

The Indian Express

Four more employees of a pharmaceutical factory at Mysuru in Karnataka have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the number of positive cases connected to the firm to 10. State health officials have hinted at the possibility that the employees of the firm, located in Mysuru’s Nanjangud, were infected while sourcing raw material from Chinese firms. None of the employees of the firm who have tested positive for the infection have a history of foreign travel. The first COVID-19 case at the firm was reported on March 26 when a 35-year-old man tested positive. On Sunday, five more persons tested positive, followed by four on Monday. All those who have tested positive are aged between 21 years and 42 years. On Monday, state health secretary Jawaid Akhtar said the health department is obtaining swabs from packaging material for raw substances that the firm sourced from China. “We cannot conclude yet but the company used to procure material in bulk from foreign countries,’’ he said. “It is not a case of community transmission. The officials in the company used to interact with foreign suppliers who even visited their facilities…,’’ a senior government doctor involved in the treatment of COVID-19 patients said. Besides the four cases from the pharmaceutical firm, one fresh case was reported on Monday from Tumkur district. The total number of cases in Karnataka now stands at 88, with three deaths.

The Economics of General Practitioners: Time for India to lead tech breakthrough in primary healthcare

Financial Express

Family physicians or general practitioners (GPs) are the gatekeepers of our healthcare system. They are the first point of contact for patients for any sickness or preventive visit. India has about 800,000 medical doctors of which about 600,000 are GPs. But more than three quarters of these are in urban centers which make up only about 20% of India’s population. Access to a doctor in urban India is about the same as it would be on average in the United States. However, the ratio of GPs to patients outside these metro areas is about 1 GP for every 7500 patients on average and as low as 1 for every 25,000 people in more remote areas. Most Indian villages don’t have population to sustain GPs: Why is that the case? Although India is densely populated, the economics of being a GP don’t really work unless there is a catchment area of at least a few tens of thousands of paying customers. Moreover, a support infrastructure of labs and pharmacies is also needed. Most villages don’t have the population to sustain a GP, which explains the concentration of GPs in urban and peri-urban India. The gap is filled by over 2 million rural medical practitioners or quacks who have no formal medical education but prescribe medications and are de facto, the healthcare system for much of India. This situation is unlikely to change anytime soon. Even to bring another 200 million Indians under the coverage of a GP using density norms of the World Health Organization, we will have to invest in training another 200,000 GPs, or in effect, increasing the current number by a third. Moreover, simply training more doctors will not solve the problem if the economics of practicing in rural areas is unsound.

Coronavirus in India: Guwahati doctor dies after allegedly taking hydroxychloroquine

India Today- Hemanta Kumar Nath

Guwahati-based doctor who allegedly took anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine amid the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak died at a private hospital in the capital city of Assam. The colleagues of the deceased doctor said that he died due to a cardiac arrest. According to the reports, 44-year-old Dr Utpal Barman - a senior anaesthetist at Guwahati-based Pratiksha Hospital was admitted at Guwahati Neurological Research Centre (GNRC) on Sunday evening following his heart-related complications. Pratiksha Hospital Superintendent Dr Nirmal Kumar Hazarika said that on Sunday he and other doctors of Pratiksha Hospital had rushed to the residence of Dr Utpal Barman and admitted him to another hospital in Guwahati. "He complained of some chest pain and other complications and we immediately admitted him to GNRC hospital. All symptoms have indicated that, it could be marked gum infection," Dr Nirmal Kumar Hazarika said. Dr Nirmal Hazarika said that earlier Dr Utpal Barman took the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine. "Many of doctors have taken hydroxychloroquine, they are having this drug. I came to know that one super specialty hospital in Karnataka had directed the employees to have this medicine. They had also directed to their employees to collect the medicine from their store. Many doctors have accepted this. We know that every medicine has adverse effect," Dr Nirmal Kumar Hazarika said.