Simpler methods of saliva test being employed for coronavirus testing

Washington D.C: Several simpler methods apart from nasopharyngeal swab technique are being used to conduct coronavirus testing that may help flatten the transmission curve in order to prevent a sharp spike in cases.One such test is at-Home COVID-19 Saliva Test which is simpler as well as for those who may not be able to go to one of the drive-up testing sites....read more

CMAAO Coronavirus Facts and Myth Buster 95: CDC ICMR WHO

(With inputs from Dr. Monica Vasudev)835: CDC and WHO differences are harmful to the societyCDC: “Everyone wear cloth face coverings when leaving their homes, regardless of whether they have fever or symptoms of COVID-19.”WHO: “Currently there is not enough evidence for or against the use of masks (medical or other) for healthy individuals in the wider community. WHO continues to recommend that medical masks be worn by individuals who are sick or those caring for them. WHO is actively studying the rapidly evolving science on masks and continuously updates its guidance." ....read more

World COVID Meter 13th May: Living with COVID 1.0: Building new set of social norms and culture: End social pandemic of fear before the medical pandemic.

212 Countries affected, Crosses 4.34M, Nearly 85,000 cases and 5000 deaths per day, Minimum Likely Deaths 299759, Deaths to Cross 300,000 by 15th May and total number 5 M by 23rd MayNearly controlled in China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.Countries Spared: Asia: North Korea, Turkmenistan; Africa: Lesotho; Oceania: Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tonga, Samoa, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Palau, Vanuatu, Federated State of Micronesia ....read more

You look at people the same way as you are

Honest people regard everybody as honest and dishonest people regard everybody as dishonest. It all depends on the type of people you interact with. If you do not take bribe, nobody will come and offer bribe to you and you will feel everybody is honest. If you take bribe then everybody will come to you to offer bribe and you will feel that everybody in the society is dishonest....read more

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Nebulized medications in COVID Era

Healthcare News Monitor

Gilead ties up with 4 generic drugmakers in India, to supply COVID-19 drug remdesivir in 127 countries

Times Now

Gilead Sciences Inc, an American biopharmaceutical company tied up with a total of 5 generic drugmakers based in India and Pakistan to expand the supply of remdesivir, a drug that has shown promise in early trials for the treatment of COVID-19. On Tuesday, the company signed non-exclusive licensing pacts with these five drugmakers, four of which are from India. The companies included in the pact are – Jubliant Life Sciences Ltd., Cipla Ltd, Hetero Labs Ltd, Mylan NV, Ferozsons Laboratories Ltd. These companies will make and sell the drug in 127 countries, according to a Reuters report. The 127 countries to which the drugs are likely to be supplied are nearly all low-income or lower-middle-income countries. They also include several upper-middle and high-income countries. Afghanistan, India, North Korea, Pakistan and South Africa are some of the countries where the drug will be supplied. Gilead has also given the licensees autonomy in deciding their own prices for the generic product that they produce. These licenses will be royalty-free until the public health crisis and emergency caused due to COVID-19 is declared over by the World Health Organisation, or until a drug other than remdesivir/ a vaccine is produced to treat or prevent the coronavirus infection. Remdesivir, an antiviral drug produced by Gilead had shown promise in trials conducted to treat COVID-19. According to one study, more than 68 per cent of COVID-19 patients showed improvement when treated with remdesivir. The drug was also approved by the USFDA for emergency use to treat COVID-19 patients. Currently, no specific treatment or vaccine exists for COVID-19. More than a hundred vaccines, around the world, are under development and various drugs including those used for HIV treatments are being tested for COVID-19. More than 4 million people around the world have been infected with the virus, and the deadly virus has claimed at least 2,92,000 lives till now.

Covid-19: 10 hospitals across India to conduct phase III clinical trial of Favipiravir drug

The Indian Express

Ten government and private hospitals across India have been shortlisted to undergo a phase III clinical trial of Favipiravir drug for mild and moderately ill Covid-19 patients. Favipiravir is an anti-viral that prevents viral duplication in body by inhibiting the enzyme that drives the viral replication. It is commonly used as an anti-influenza drug in Japan and China. In India 150 patients will be undergoing the trial, a 14 day dosage will be administered on patients. The phase III trial results are expected by July-August period this year. The drug was first manufactured by Japanese Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Ltd. In India Glenmark Pharmaceutical is manufacturing the generic version apart from Strides Pharma that started manufacturing and exporting it to other countries. Glenmark got approval for the clinical trial by Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) in April end. A clinical trial involving 340 patients in China found the Favipiravir “effective”, the viral load was reduced in four days as compared to the other arm that was not administered the drug. The other arm took 11 days to test negative for coronavirus.

Rajkot: Pregnant woman slaps female doctor

The Times of India

Hospitals forced to shut down after patients and health workers contracted the novel coronavirus are set to resume services. While Charnock Hospital off VIP Road, the first private hospital in the city to close on April 15, will reopen on Thursday, Peerless Hospital, which went into a closure on May 4, could reopen next week. Both have sanitized the premises and will resume their Covid units. Insittute of Neurosciences Kolkata, which had restricted services after its CEO and a staffer tested positive in April, is scaling up operations. While the 300-bed Charnock Hospital will resume services with 50 beds, including a 20-bed Covid isolation unit, Peerless has set up a new 30-bed Covid unit, including an eight-bed ITU. The beds will be spread across its three buildings with the Covid unit being housed in a separate building that will have no other patient. While the non-Covid sections of Peerless will function normally, it has revamped its Covid unit with more measures. “We have set up a new suction plant that will maintain negative pressure and prevent air from the Covid unit from reaching other parts. It will be cut off the from the rest of the hospital,” said Peerless medical superintendent Sudipto Mitra. Four Peerless doctors had tested positive and are now in home quarantine. Several other health workers who had tested positive have recovered. “Barring a few, our entire workforce will be on duty,” he said. Charnock, too, is getting most of its health workers—several had tested positive and more than 50 were quarantined—back in service. The hospital has a 1,000-strong workforce. “Apart from sanitization, we needed to make sure we have enough doctors, nurses and health workers fit to work. We now have enough of them, though we are still not in a position to resume full-scale operations. But we are scaling up our services,” said Charnock MD Prashant Sharma. A dialysis (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/dialysis) patient at the hospital had tested positive last month and several health workers were infected. The hospital shut its dialysis unit for a couple of days. “We are treating around 100 patients at the dialysis unit a day, though the rest of the hospital has been shut,” added Sharma.

Iraqi doctors fight with virus lays bare a battered system

Outlook India

Dr. Marwa al-Khafajis homecoming after 20 days in a hospital isolation ward was met by spite. Someone had barricaded her family homes gate with a concrete block. The message from the neighbors was clear: She had survived coronavirus, but the stigma surrounding the disease would be a more pernicious fight. The young physician was catapulted into the front lines of Iraqs battle with the virus in early March. The Associated Press followed her tale from inside a squalid quarantine room to her return to the streets of her childhood, where she found piercing glares had displaced greetings. Her struggles mirror those of Iraqs battered health system, laid bare by the pandemic: Hospitals without supplies, medical staff intimidated by an unknown disease, and widespread stigma associated with infection. Fear of stigma — driven by religious beliefs, customs and a deep mistrust of the health system — has been a main driver of the pandemic in Iraq, doctors say, as people hide their illness and avoid seeking help. At least 115 people have died among more than 3,030 confirmed coronavirus cases across Iraq, according to Health Ministry statistics. The daily rate of cases jumped after curfew hours were shortened for the holy month of Ramadan, from 29 on April 22 to 119 on Wednesday. Officials fear a flare-up would be catastrophic. Iraqi officials described the ministrys response as adequate and said Iraq was spared the exponential rise in cases seen in neighboring Iran and Turkey. Ministry spokesman Saif al-Badr blamed the spread on people who had symptoms or came from an affected country and "didnt disclose these facts due to arrogance.” But Khafajis story, as well as interviews with half a dozen doctors and nurses, reveal a haphazard response with no comprehensive strategy from a hobbled government that until recently had only caretaker status. “Inside quarantine, the future felt uncertain,” Khafaji said. “Outside its no different.” In mid-March, Khafaji, 39, grew alarmed when her elderly mother, Dhikra Saoud, showed signs of respiratory distress. The virus had just started to hit Iraq and had yet to leave its mark on the city of Karbala where she lives.