There is always a confusion about definitions of moderate vs heavy drinking. In India one standard drink is 30 ml but in US it is 45 ml. Moderate drinking means in women and aged 65 or more <2 drinks per day, Men <3 drinks per day ( one drink is 45ml of 40% whisky)  

Heavy drinking is in women > 7 drinks per week or three drinks per occasion and Men >14 drinks per week or four drinks per occasion (one drink is 45ml of 40% whisky) 

Binge drinking in women is four or more drinks in one drinking occasion and in Men Five or more drinks in one drinking occasion (one drink is 45ml of 40% whisky) 

To manage the menace of AMR we must revisit our antibiotic policy. All of us know that testing Streptococcus pyogenes for susceptibility to penicillin is not routinely performed because isolates that are not susceptible to penicillin have not been reported. Also susceptibility testing of first and second generation cephalosporins against Salmonella and Shigella spp is not recommended due to the poor correlation between in vitro susceptibility testing results and clinical outcomes. 

Kindly note two dates “ this year Perfect Health Mela will have All India inter medical college fashion show competition on the theme “ year 2015” and Dr Mahesh Verma is organising “5th Global American Academy of Implant Dentistry Conference 2019” from 1st – 3rd March 2019 at New Delhi.  You can contact Dr Verma at dpmaids@gmail.com 

It’s a fact that if you do it the law makers will do.  If the news is true the doctors association should be the first one to cancel the membership of offenders. Gayatri Nursing Home in Hyderabad has been found guilty of PNDT MTP acts and female infanticide. 

As per ANI in Shahjahanpur Bhedpur Village in UP, a 70 years woman was carried to the hospital for treatment on a cot and then the cot by a truck due to alleged unavailability of an ambulance for lack of fuel.  Allegation was that the ambulance refused to come. The question is if there was no fuel how would have the ambulance come?  It is an administrative failure and not medical negligence. Nobody will purposefully not fill fuel to avoid calls. 

As per a report of Kerala State Aids Control Society one of the 48 blood donors to the 9 years old leukaemia girl who developed HIV last year was HIV positive acquired due to being in window period – the time between potential exposure to HIV, and the point when the test will give an accurate result. Remember no blood is safe and a proper informed consent to this regard should be the rule. 

Four confirmed cases of ZIKA last year in India. Will this year we will see more? At Pune’s National Institute of Virology, scientists have shown how Indian mosquitoes, when infected with African strain of the zika virus can easily transmit the infection to suckling mice. The study is published on March 29 this year in Intervirology.