FDA issues first emergency use authorisation for COVID-19 pool testing

Washington D.C: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Saturday (local time) issued an emergency use authorisation (EUA) to Quest Diagnostics that allows pool samples from up to four individuals to test for COVID-19.The Quest test is the first COVID-19 diagnostic test to be authorised for use with pooled samples, Xinhua news agency reported.Sample pooling is an important public health tool as it allows for multiple people to be tested quickly using fewer testing resources, the FDA said.The samples are collected and are then tested in a pool or "batch" using one test, rather than running each individual sample on its own test. ....read more

Every Breath You Take...

Reproduced from: India Legal, https://www.indialegallive.com/special-story/every-breath-you-take, published July 6, 2020The need of the hour during the Covid-19 pandemic is a medical oxygen plant that can replace oxygen cylinders. This will avert India’s oxygen shortage crisis and help those with lung problemsCovid-19 is here to stay. Even as it subsumes all countries, its insidious way of entering the body has set alarm bells ringing. However, new forms of supplying oxygen to patients have given a ray of hope. ,One of the fallouts of the virus is silent hypoxia or walking dead—a condition where the person develops low blood oxygen levels but is conscious and has no confusion or altered consciousness. This silent hypoxia, if not treated in time....read more

CMAAO Coronavirus Facts and Myth Buster: Viral Load

With inputs from Dr Monica Vasudev992: DG alert: Non-hospitalized patients with COVID-19, with less severe symptoms, have been found to have a higher SARS-CoV-2 viral load (VL) compared to hospitalized patients with more severe symptoms in a study published in The American Journal of Pathology .In a cohort of 205 patients treated at a tertiary care center in New York City who had been tested using both qualitative RT-PCR and quantitative RT-PCR to obtain diagnostic SARS-CoV-2 VL at initial presentation, investigators noted that diagnostic VL was significantly lower in hospitalized patients compared to those who had not been hospitalized, after adjusting for age, sex, race, body mass index, and comorbidities. ....read more

Astik Vs Nastik

Traditionally, people believe that Nastik are people who do not go to temples or related places of worship. They also do not believe in God. To differentiate between Astik and Nastik, we need to first understand the concept of Sanatan Dharma and Arya Samaj Dharma. People who believe in Sanatan Dharma consider God as separate from the self and worship him in the form of an idol. They believe in Dualism theory. Arya Samaj followers do not do idol worship and believe in non-dualism and treat God and self as one. Arya Samajis, therefore, will not go to a temple where the idols of Gods are placed....read more

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Differences between dengue fever and COVID 19

Healthcare News Monitor

Golden moment for India in key sectors including pharma over next 10 years: Venture capitalist

Express Pharma

The next 10 years is going to be India’s ‘golden moment’ in key sectors like technology, pharmaceutical, e-commerce and manufacturing, said a top venture capitalist from Silicon Valley, pointing at the $20 billion foreign direct investment in the country amidst the coronavirus outbreak.“Coronavirus is sweeping the world, especially the US and India. In spite of that, the amount of investment going into India is mind-boggling,” Silicon Valley’s top venture capitalist, entrepreneur and philanthropist MR Rangaswami told PTI in an interview.“I think the next 10 years is the golden moment for India to shine; using digital and technology — whether it’s medicine, telemedicine, e-commerce, logistics — in every segment of the market. It is the golden moment that India should seize,” Rangaswami, the software business expert said.

DCGI queries Glenmark Pharma on claims of FabiFlu use for COVID-19 patients with comorbidities

Zee News

New Delhi: Indias drug regulator DCGI has sought a clarification from Glenmark Pharmaceuticals over its alleged "false claims" about the use of anti-viral FabiFlu on COVID-19 patients with comorbidities. Also, the "pricing" of the drug is in question after a Member of Parliament complained about the same.The letter was issued by the office of Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Dr V G Somani on July 17 drawing attention to the false claims and over pricing of tablet FabiFlu (favipiravir). A clarification was sought for taking further necessary action in the matter.

Telangana: Denied admission in hospital, woman delivers baby under tree

India Today

Awoman delivered a baby under a tree outside a hospital in Telangana after she was refused admission. According to ANI, the woman was denied admission even after she complained of labour pains. The incident occurred at Jangaon .Fatima Bee, mother of the pregnant woman Sheikh Bee told ANI that they came to the hospital at 10 am. "We were consulting the doctor since the beginning but still he asked us to take her to a hospital in Warangal. We did not even get an ambulance. Later my daughter fainted and finally delivered a baby outside the hospital under a tree," she said.

Central team tells Bihar to manage its hospitals better, increase capacity amid Covid-19 surge

HT

A three-member Central team has asked the state to ensure better management of its hospitals and increase their capacity given the recent spike in Covid-19 cases in the state.Citing Bihar’s case doubling rate, which was around 12 days, the team cautioned the state to prepare itself to admit new cases in hospitals as they were rising alarmingly.Bihar with 26,379 cases, after 1,412 new infections were added on Sunday, could be looking at touching 50,000 cases in the next 12 days and 1 lakh in the next 24 days from now if the case doubling rate remained the same.The Central team asked the state government to brace up for this challenge by creating capacity in hospitals to accommodate a rising number of patients while also improving its patient pick-up system through ambulances.