Hyderabad: Private lab offers Covid-19 risk test, CCMB chief sceptical

HYDERABAD: If you are worried about Covid-19, then a diagnostic company now promises to provide DNA-based ‘immunity report’ — a Genomepatri — to check whether you are at risk of contracting it.City-based personal genomics company Mapmygenome claims to have studied seven lakh markers and, based on that data, they issue the immunity reports. But experts are sceptical about the efficacy of such tests, saying it was too early for such risk assessment as scientists are still struggling to understand the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). ....read more

CMAAO Coronavirus Facts and Myth Buster 83

With additional inputs from Dr Monica Vasudeva778: Universal Face Shields for COVID-19The CDC has recommended that all Americans should wear cloth masks in public to check the transmission of COVID-19 coronavirus, but another form of personal protective equipment - plastic face shields - might be a better idea.A JAMA Viewpoint recently published by Eli Perencevich, MD, of the University of Iowa, and colleagues discussed how face shields for the community may be a viable alternative. ....read more

CMAAO Coronavirus Facts and Myth Buster 82

With additional inputs from Dr Monica Vasudeva788: COVID-19 pandemic: Doctors sue French government for criminal negligenceAmid thousands of dead and 29,155 confirmed COVID-19 cases in France, thousands of infected healthcare professionals, and six doctors already dead of the disease, anger is rising against the government among workers and medical staff. The French government downplayed the disease and deliberately withheld critical information from the public. ....read more

Music as a Drug

Our body is the largest pharmaceutical group in the world and has the capacity to heal each and every disease. The very fact that there is a receptor for every drug in the body means that the body has the capacity to produce that drug. Music is one such modality which can heal by initiating various chains of chemical reactions in the body.Chanting vowels produces interleukin-2 in the body, which works like a painkiller....read more

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Why Kanica Kapoor did not spread corona virus to other people

Healthcare News Monitor

Lockdown: Pharma sales slump 19% month-on-month in April as demand hit

Mint- Leroy Leo

Sales of medicines fell about 19% in April from a month ago due to disruption caused by the lockdown, imposed to curb the spread of novel coronavirus pandemic, according to preliminary data collated by market research firm AIOCD-AWACS. The data, which compared stockists’ inventory levels and sales, showed that sales in April were only 81% of levels seen in March. The decline in sales led to a 30% month-on-month jump in inventories with stockists in April, the data showed. Stockists across the country had inventory worth 43 days at the end of April compared with 33 days worth a month earlier. “This is the preliminary data. The final sales data will be out later this week. This data shows there is less demand for antibiotic medicines and other short-term therapies. If people are at home and do not eat from outside plus take precautions to avoid airborne diseases, they are less likely to get infections, and so such segments will be down," Ameesh Masurekar, director AIOCD-AWACS, told Mint. In fact, sales in the infective segment fell the most, down 41%, with inventory levels reaching 71 days from 39 days a month earlier. In the last two weeks of April, panic buying of chronic medicines seemed to have improved, with inventory level of anti-diabetic and cardiac care drugs at 26 and 31 days respectively. The two had the healthiest sales among all therapeutic segements. The worst hit among the top 20 companies was Cipla, whose sales fell by around 28%, while that of Zydus Cadila, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories were down by a fourth each.

India sends drugs, medical supplies to 13 nations as govt shifts Covid aid focus to Africa

The Print- Himani Chandna & Nayanima Basu

The Narendra Modi government has shifted its focus to Africa, and is sending critical drugs and medical devices to 13 African countries as a part of India’s humanitarian aid to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, ThePrint has learnt. In a meeting between senior officials from the external affairs ministry and department of pharmaceuticals and Invest India held last Friday, the government decided to send some of the poorer African countries medical equipment. An extensive list of 17 products, including essential drugs, injections and medical devices, was drawn up to send to each country. On it are 500 units of thermometers, one lakh units each of chloroquine, paracetamol and ibuprofen, and two lakh units of antibiotic azithromycin. Further, several other antibiotics, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, anti-asthmatic and cardiovascular drugs, injections are also being sent. Medical consignments India, which has been a major exporter of medicines even before the coronavirus pandemic, is sending these drugs and medical devices on a humanitarian basis. “Last month, we have sent crores of hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol tablets across the globe as a symbol of India’s friendship. We are known as “pharmacy to the world” and it is our duty. We will continue to send medical products across the world while keeping the domestic status under check,” said a senior government official who was part of the meeting. A consignment of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine is going to Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar, Zambia, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Congo, Egypt and Comoros. Consignments of paracetamol will be going to Zambia, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Congo, Egypt, Eswatini, Chad, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. According to sources, some of these shipments have already been sent out.

For every 10 Covid-19-related deaths, 90 recoveries, says govt

Hindustan Times- Rhythma Kaul

The ratio of number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases recovering in relation to the number of people dying of the viral infection has improved with the current Union health ministry data showing the outcome ratio to be 90:10. So for every 10 deaths, 90 people have recovered from the disease. “We determine the outcome ratio by analysing our cases that are closed in terms of people in hospitals who recovered proportional to those who died of the infection. This also indicates the clinical management status of a hospital,” said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary, health ministry, adding that the outcome ratio has improved been April 17 and May 4. “On April 17, the ratio was 80:20, wherein 80 people had been discharged after recovery and 20 patients could not make it. The current outcome ratio, however, has improved and stands at 90:10,” he added. On Monday, the country also reported the highest number of recovered patients to date. “A total of 1,074 patients have recovered in the past 24 hours, which is the highest to date, taking the total number of patients cured of Covid-19 in the country to 11706. It has also improved India’s recovery rate that now stands at 27.52%,” he said. With 2,553 new Covid-19 cases reported in the past 24 hours, the total number of infected patients in the country is 42533, with 1389 deaths, according to the health ministry’s data (which lags the data in the HT dashboard). “So far we have been fortunate that India has not seen an exponential growth in cases like other affected countries. However, people need to be extra careful now that the lockdown is being eased in a staggered manner, so as to not throw away the gains made. The focus will continue to remain on rigorous containment measures in areas from where maximum cases are being reported and strictly implementing infection control practices,” said Agarwal.

Coronavirus update: Indias recovery rate improves to 27.52 per cent, says Health Ministry

Times Now

The Central government on Monday informed that at least 1,074 patients were cured of the highly contagious novel coronavirus disease in the last 24 hours. This has taken the recovery rate in the country up to 27.52 percent. Till now, 11,706 people have been cured. In the last 24 hours, 1,074 people have been cured. This is the highest number in terms of cured patients noted to date. Our recovery rate is now 27.52%. The total number of Covid-19 cases is now 42,533, says Lav Agrawal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry. The health ministry has warned that the infection can increase when the lockdown is eased. "In pandemics such as Covid-19, historically it has been noted that if social distancing is not respected when social mobility is allowed, chances of disease transmission increase rapidly once restrictions are eased," Agrawal said. The Joint Secretary also informed that the doubling time of Covid-19 cases has improved from 3.4 before lockdown to 12 days today as the lockdown and containment efforts are yielding results. "Our challenge now is how to further improve these results, to further increase doubling time," he said. The total number of coronavirus cases in the country has mounted to 42,533. According to the latest data updated on the official website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), there are 29,453 active cases in the country as of 8 am on Monday. While 11,706 people have been discharged/ cured so far, the death toll stands at 1,373. To curb the increasing spread of the Covid-19, the six-week lockdown, which was supposed to end on Monday, has been extended for another two weeks till May 17, with a few relaxations.