Asthma patients less likely to die from virus; new test better at telling who is still infectious

By Nancy Lapid- The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for Covid-19, the illness caused by the virus. Asthma patients appear less likely to die from Covid-19, Patients with asthma who become infected with the new coronavirus appear to have no higher risk of hospitalization or need for mechanical breathing assistance compared to Covid-19 patients without asthma - and the asthma patients are less likely to die from the disease, a new study suggests. Researchers at a Boston healthcare system studied 562 asthma patients with Covid-19 and 2,686 similarly-aged Covid-19 patients without asthma. The two groups were hospitalized at similar rates (18% to 21%) and had similar need for mechanical ventilation (3% in the asthma group vs 4%). But the asthma patients were 70% less likely to die from the virus, researchers reported. None of the 44 patients with severe asthma died. "Although the factors underlying these findings are not yet known, important considerations include: possible biologic mechanisms ... and possible protective effects of asthma medications (such as corticosteroids)," the researchers said in a report posted on Monday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. ....read more

Obesity and COVID-19

Obesity increases the risk of Covid-19. True or False? To know the answer, join us today at 7 pm on Medtalks with Dr K K Aggarwal Just click on www.facebook.com/drkkaggarwal or https://perfecthealthmela.com/vevent/general-webinar.php

CMAAO Coronavirus Facts and Myth Buster: Asthma and Masks

With input from Dr Monica Vasudev 1102: Masks and asthma patients1Exempting respiratory patients from compulsory face mask regulations cannot be medically justified, and doing so would place this already susceptible population at greater risk for COVID-19. 2.Beginning in May, the Spanish government made face masks mandatory in open- and closed-space public places; however, it exempted people with respiratory problems, or those who cannot wear masks for other health reasons. ....read more

World COVID Meter 7th October: Acute manageable immunogenic thrombogenic inflammatory viral disease pandemic

Cases: 1M April 2, 2M April 15, 3M April 27, 4M May 8, 5M May 20, 6M May 30, 7M June 7, 8M June 15, 9M June 22, 10M June 29th, 11M July 4, 12M July 8, 13M July 13, 14M July 17, 15M July 23, 16M July 25, 17M July 29, 18M August 1, 19M August 6, 20M August 10, 21M August 16, 22M August 19, 23M August 21, 24M August 27, 25M August 30, 26M September 3, 27M September 7, 28M September 10, 29M September 14, 30M September 18, 31M September 21, 32M September 23, 33M September 28, 34M October 1, 35M October 4 Ground Zero: Wuhan - in live animal market or cafeteria for animal pathogens: 10th January; Total cases are based on RT PCR, 67% sensitivity Coronavirus Cases: 36,033,001,Deaths: 1,054,036,Recovered: 27,140,033,ACTIVE CASES 7,838,932 ....read more

Signs of Spiritual Awakening

• More experiences of telepathy.
• More experiences of reverse telepathy.
• More spontaneous fulfilment of desires.
• Tendency to let things happen and not trying to make them happen. Work done with the least effort....read more

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COVID 19 FAQ 4: All about home isolation

Healthcare News Monitor

How pharma sector can contribute to contain the “Superbugs” menace in India

health.economictimes

Dr. Gajendra Singh, Public health expert India has one of the world’s highest number of bacterial infections; tuberculosis, cholera, typhoid, pneumonia and a host of them. In fact, the country has the highest number of tuberculosis patients in the world, accounting for one-fourth of all TB patients in the world. Multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis cases are increasingly reported. Antibiotic-resistant neonatal infections claim the lives of 60,000 newborn babies each year in India, according to the review on an Antimicrobial Resistance paper published in 2016. In a country like India, where 22% of the population still lives below poverty line, increased cost reduces the probability of people getting proper treatment, which leaves the infection uncured. With TB being an airborne disease, one infection left uncured could propagate to many such infections and lead to an epidemic. This becomes more concerning in case of MDR and XDR TB, resulting in an incurable TB epidemic.

Over 93,500 data science jobs vacant in India, maximum vacancy from Bengaluru: Report

Zee News

New Delhi: Nearly 93,500 data science jobs were reported to be vacant in India at the end of August 2020. As per a study on jobs and hiring trends in analytics and data science domains by the edtech company Great Learning which was published on Wednesday (October 7, 2020). While the data analytics sector did witness a slight decrease in vacancies (from 109,000 vacancies in February), the demand has continued to be fairly consistent across key industry sectors, th report revealed. Bengaluru continues to create the maximum number of jobs, contributing around 23 per cent of analytics jobs, a marginal increase from last year, followed by Delhi-NCR at 20 per cent and Mumbai at approximately 15 per cent.

Mother, baby die during quack-assisted delivery in Noida, bodies dumped

dnaindia.com

A woman and her baby both died during the delivery in a quack’s clinic in Mamura area of Noida on Monday night. The clinic owner dumped the bodies outside the facility and ran away in fear of being caught. A case of causing death due to negligence has been registered against the woman and the police are taking all necessary steps to nab the culprit said Ankur Aggarwal, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Noida. The incident took place on Monday (October 5, 2020) at a private clinic. According to the police the clinic is located in the Mamura area of Noida and the medical registration of the clinic is yet to be verified.

Telemedicine eases suffering of elderly in pandemic times

newindianexpress.com

KOCHI: Even in the difficult times of Covid, when patients requiring palliative care struggled to access medical care and advice, telemedicine and consulting facilities offered by hospitals and organisations came as a boon. The facility was helpful particularly for children of elderly, who could not reach their homes to take care of their parents, due to Covid restrictions. In August this year, the elder daughter of a 60-year-old woman contacted the telemedicine facility in Aster Medcity, Kochi, from London, following the distress her mother was going through. Her mother, who was staying with her younger daughter in Bengaluru, was a cardiac patient and was also diagnosed with breast cancer. However, she had decided not to go for any active treatment.