WHO does not recommend BCG vaccination for Covid-19

Geneva: The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday played down studies suggesting that the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine may be effective in the prevention of the highly contagious coronavirus infection.BCG vaccination prevents severe forms of tuberculosis in children and diversion of local supplies may result in neonates not being vaccinated, resulting in an increase of disease and deaths from tuberculosis....read more

CMAAO Coronavirus Facts and Myth Buster 49

What are ICMR testing resultsICMR was earlier conducting tests only on suspected patients, i.e., those who had travelled abroad, those who had come in contact with them and were symptomatic. Only 3% of them tested positive for coronavirus.ICMR then started a sentinel surveillance program from 15 February to 19 March at over 50 major hospitals in India. Representative samples were collected from all cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI), like pneumonia. In this study, 2 out of 965 samples tested positive for COVID-19....read more

An empty mind is the devils house

It is an old saying that "Khali dimag shaitan ka ghar".Empty mind means when you are doing nothing and Shaitan means negative thoughts. In terms of Vedic science, negative thoughts mean absence of positive thoughts and they are often equated to darkness, which is absence of light....read more

CMAAO Coronavirus Facts and Myth Buster 47

Can COVID-19 recurThe WHO confirmed that it is investigating reports of some recovered coronavirus patients who have tested positive for the illness after initially testing negative.Why WHO is investigating reinfections:The move has come as a response to a report from South Korea that 91 patients who had been cleared of COVID-19 and were being prepared for discharge tested positive again. Officials have stated that rather than being reinfected, this may be a reactivation of coronavirus....read more

Health Sutras By Dr K K Aggarwal

Dont touch face, mouth and nose

Healthcare News Monitor

Glenmark Pharma’s asset sales take some pressure off its stock

Mint- Clifford Alvares

High net debt and R&D (research and development) expenses had been a worry for shareholders of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. However, its recent steps to address leverage and alleviate the R&D burden have rekindled investor interest. The stock, which had plunged from the ₹1,200 levels in August 2015 to ₹188 in March 2020, is seeing a change in its fortunes. It surged sharply by 21% on Monday even as it ratcheted up sizeable gains of 43% this past month. The company is expected to shrink some of the excess leverage with the recent sale of its female hygiene brand VWash to Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL). The brand is small and the sale price to HUL was not disclosed. However, market estimates peg it at ₹150-200 crore. Last quarter, Glenmark saw its net debt reduce marginally. The company also received tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for diabetes drug dapagliflozin, a generic version of Farxiga, which has a $1.8 billion market in the US alone, according to IQVIA data. The brand will add some revenue to its US business, even assuming substantial price erosion and new competition.

Pharmaceutical stocks rally yet again: Cipla shares hit all-time high; Cadila Healthcare, Lupin jump

Financial Express

Even after a three-day break from trading, the story for pharma shares such as Cipla, Cadila Healthcare and Lupin remains the same -- hitting fresh highs and moving up, defying the benchmark indices which have been unable to exit the red on Monday. Indian pharma’s dependence on China for APIs is also something that the Centre must keep in mind. While BSE Healthcare index hit a fresh 52-week high, Nifty Pharma was the only sectoral index to spend the day moving higher and higher. Even after a three-day break from trading, the story for pharma shares such as Cipla, Cadila Healthcare and Lupin remains the same — hitting fresh highs and moving up, defying the benchmark indices which have been unable to exit the red on Monday. While BSE Healthcare index hit a fresh 52-week high, Nifty Pharma was the only sectoral index to spend the day moving higher and higher. Even as businesses across the country continue to face a demand problem, pharmaceuticals is the one sector that has neither stopped manufacturing, is not facing any logistical challenges, instead sales, both domestic and international are going strong. The long term outlook for the sector remains strong. “We believe COVID-19 will not have any structural impact on the pharmaceutical industry over the long term considering its growth visibility coupled with its relatively defensive nature of the business,” said ICICI Securities in a research report. ICICI Securities picked Cipla as the top choice among the pharma peers, the stock hit a fresh 52-week high on Sensex, going up over 2.5% to trade at Rs 608 per share.

39 doctors, staff at Delhi’s Max Hospital quarantined after 2 patients test Covid-19 positive

India Today- Tanushree Pandey, Ankit Yadav

Thirty nine staff members, including doctors and nurses, of the Max Hospital in Delhi’s Saket were asked to go on self-quarantine after two patients tested positive for coronavirus. The 39 people also include ward boys and other employees of the private hospital. The hospital said in a statement, "Two patients admitted for cardiac treatment tested positive for Covid-19 a few days ago. 39 healthcare workers, who were contact traced, have been quarantined with in a separate and isolated wing at Max Hospital, Saket." Sources say they came in contact with two patients who were admitted at the hospital for heart-related procedures, but later tested positive for coronavirus. Now the authorities have asked all those who came in contact with the two, to go into self-quarantine. The group of 39 staffers is being tested for Covid-19. The hospital also said, "All 39 individuals are asymptomatic and will be tested on the 5th day of exposure, which is tomorrow 14/04/20." "There are 154 employees deployed in shifts in the Covid ward of Max Hospital, Saket. None of these employees has had any exposure to the virus," the hospital added. Earlier, around 30 healthcare workers including doctors, nurses and technicians at the Cardio-Neuro Centre in AIIMS Delhi were advised to undergo quarantine in a similar move. The move came after a 72-year-old man who visited AIIMS with neurological problems tested positive for Covid-19. Several doctors and other medical staff across Delhi hospitals have tested positive for coronavirus earlier, including some mohalla clinics.

Coronavirus in Mumbai: More staffers of Bhatia hospital test positive

India Today- Mustafa Shaikh

Eleven more staffers of Mumbais Bhatia hospital have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. With this, a total of 25 staff members of the hospital have tested positive for Covid-19. Samples of 150 staffers at Bhatia hospital were tested on Sunday. Out of the 150 new samples, 11 tested positive and 139 tested negative for the new coronavirus, a spokesperson from the Bhatia hospital said. "All the 25 staff member have been quarantined in the ICU unit and their health is being monitored round-the-clock. They are doing well and there are no serious cases," the Bhatia hopspital said in a statement: The hospital further stated that the 139 staffers who have tested negative have been divided in two groups -- High-risk and Low-risk group. "The other 139 staff members who have tested negative have been divided into two groups. Of them, those who belong to the Low-risk group have been released from the hospital. But, they have been strictly asked to quarantine themselves in their homes. The others who have tested negative and are considered to be in the High-risk group are still in quarantine in the hospital itself," the statement from Bhatia Hospital read. Bhatia hospital, a private hospital in Tardeo area of Mumbai, was exposed to the novel coronavirus after four patients at the hospital tested positive. Currently, no new admissions are allowed at the Bhatia hospital as it has been sealed and declared as a containment zone. Bhatia hospital has emerged as the second-worst medical facility in the city after Wockhardt Hospital, where 52 staffers tested positive for Covid-19.