COVID-19 symptoms, outcomes in children decoded

LONDON: Most children with COVID-19 may exhibit only mild symptoms, if any, requiring only supportive care, with good prognosis and full recovery possible within one to two weeks, according to a review of studies, which presents the clinical manifestation of the disease in the young people.The research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, assessed 18 studies with a total of 1065 participants from China and Singapore, who were mostly pediatric patients with the novel coronavirus infection....read more

CMAAO Coronavirus Facts and Myth Buster 68

(With regular inputs from Dr Monica Vasudev)COVID-19 Neurological manifestationsFive more cases of Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) in association with COVID-19 have been reported. The cases from Italian researchers are reported a little more than 2 weeks following the first reported case of COVID-19 presenting as GBS. The article, with lead author Gianpaolo Toscano, MD, IRCCS C. Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy, was published online April 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine. ....read more

World COVID Meter 21st April

210 countries affected, over 2.48 M cases, Deaths cross 200,000 with current trend with minimum expected deaths over 178938, 21.9 deaths per million populationApril 9 US: 9,282 healthcare workers, 723 hospitalizations and 27 deaths. India doubling time 7 days1st 100,000 cases in 67 days, 2nd in 11 days, 3rd in 4 days, 4th in 3 days, 5th in 2.5 days, 6th in 2 days, 7th in 2 days, and subsequent in 1.5 days....read more

Positive Attitudes

All those out there who feel you are at your wits’ end wondering how things don’t ever work out for you, can now relax and dwell on all those failures that life has taken you through and turn failure into success.1.Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure. It means you haven’t succeeded yet.2.Failure doesn’t mean you have accomplished nothing. It means you have learned something....read more

Health Sutras By Dr K K Aggarwal

Corona infection spreads through direct contact with Covid 19 positive patient

Healthcare News Monitor

Covid-19: Logistics, shortage of manpower major challenges for pharma industry, says Laurus Labs chief

The Hindu Business Line- G Naga Sridhar

Disruption of logistics and scarcity of workers are among the major challenges being faced by the pharmaceutical industry in the wake of the coronavrius (Covid-19) pandemic, according to Satyanarayana Chava, Founder & CEO, Laurus Labs. Speaking to BusinessLine on the impact of Covid-19 and subsequent national lockdown, he said there were various forms of disruption in the industry, though there were individual variations among the drug makers. “Logistics are taking longer and freight rates have gone gone up. Apart from supply chain issues, this is also leading to shortage of manpower,” he said. In pharmaceuticals and other manufacturing industries, work from home is not possible given the nature of operations. “There is shortage of staff, including chemists and other workmen. Because of the lockdown, many have gone to their home towns and are unable to return. I am sure that no company in the industry is now working at full capacity,” he said. Maintaining business continuity: To ensure business continuity and operations, Laurus has taken a slew of measures. The Hyderabad-based drug maker is now operating at 60 per cent of its capacity. “We have put in place a very extensive sanitation program. Every employee has to undergo protocols, and overcrowding is being avoided,” he said. The company is also monitoring the body temperature and medical and travel history of all its employees.

Our pharma firms will play key role in fight against COVID-19: Indian envoy to US TS Sandhu

The New Indian Express- PTI

Indian pharmaceutical companies, the well-known for producing affordable low-cost medicines, will play an important role in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic that has affected over 2.5 million people across the world, Indias top diplomat here has said. Indias Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu also underlined that as global strategic partners, India and the US are prepared to face this public health crisis together. India, one of the largest producers of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, has seen a spurt in demand in recent weeks. ndia has sent the drug to over 50 countries over the last few days, including the United States, he said on Tuesday. Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York. "Indian pharmaceutical companies are global leaders in producing affordable low-cost medicines and will play an important role in the fight against this pandemic," Sandhu said in his virtual conversation with Asia Society Policy Institute Senior Fellow Puneet Talwar. In fact, India and the US have robust partnership in the area of health and scientific research, which will be critical in the fight against this disease that has killed over 171,000 people and affected over 2.5 million globally. "Perhaps the most successful tangible example of our successful bilateral cooperation in recent years was the development of the rotavirus vaccine, which saves thousands of lives every year," he said.

COVID ward home now, Lucknow hospital staff meet challenge head on

The Indian Express- Asad Rehman

Coronavirus (COVID-19): For the last several weeks, the medicine ward of King George’s Medical University (KGMU) has become home for 120-odd employees, including doctors and other staff. “We look out for each other. It is challenging for us because we have not been in a situation like this before where everyone is staying at the hospital after their shift,” says Dr Farman Khan (26), junior resident at the medicine ward, which has been turned into the COVID-19 ward. The ward has till now had 11 positive cases out of which 7 have been discharged. It was established in the first week of March after the hospital received its first suspected case. Dr Khan says everyone is battling issues back home but is trying their best to not let it show while working. “My 65-year-old father, who suffers from high blood pressure and heart problems, is stuck in Rampur since the lockdown started. I am worried about him, but I can’t be distracted while on duty,” says Khan.

India ready with 4 lakh beds in 400 districts to tackle Covid-19

India Today- Dipu Rai

The central and state governments have joined hands with private health players at the micro level to handle community spread of the deadly coronavirus. As part of the process, hospitals, guesthouses and hostels have been converted to dedicated three-layer Covid-19 health centres in more than 400 districts in India. Nearly four lakh isolated beds have been added in these health centres. One-third of these beds are in the worst-affected states of Maharashtra, followed by Tamil Nadu (8 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (8 per cent) and Rajasthan (7 per cent). As of April 22 morning, India reported nearly 20,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and almost 650 deaths. Maharashtra alone accounted for roughly one-fourth of the total cases and one-third of the deaths. India Today Data Intelligence Unit (DIU) has found that one in 10 isolated beds or nearly 40,000 beds in these specialised hospitals are in intensive care units to handle severed Covid-19 patients. Tamil Nadu has 17 per cent of these ICU beds, followed by Maharashtra (11 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (10 per cent), Rajasthan (8 per cent) and Telangana (7 per cent).