Health

New Delhi: In view of the decline in Covid-19 cases, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led government has decided to extend the timing of the restaurants and shops.

The decision came after Chief Minister Thackeray held a meeting with the state task force.

READ: Breaking News LIVE: Maharashtra Govt Decides To Extend Timings Of Shops & Restaurants, Amusement Parks To Reopen

“CM Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chaired a meeting with the State Task Force today. He advised the Public Health Department to keep in regular touch with GoI regarding updates on the vaccination of children and ensure prompt arrangements once approvals are given to the state,” CMO Maharashtra tweeted.

“Restrictions are being gradually eased as the number of COVID cases is on the decline. Amusement parks, auditoriums, and theaters will be opened from October 22nd. Guidelines for extending the hours of restaurants and shops across the state will be out soon,” CMO Maharashtra said in another tweet.

Meanwhile, CM Uddhav Thackeray has directed officials to prepare guidelines for extending the operational hours for restaurants and shops.

The chief minister also instructed the Public Health Department to coordinate with the Centre on the availability of vaccines for children. He also asked them to prepare a plan for inoculating children once the Centre approves it.

Although the second wave of the pandemic has subsided, the danger of a third wave is still there and it is very important to follow COVID-19 protocols like wearing masks and keeping a safe distance, the CM said, as reported by PTI.

CM Uddhav Thackeray had last month announced that cinema halls and drama theatres can reopen in Maharashtra from October 22 on the condition that they follow all the protocols required to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Earlier in the day,Thackeray said theatres and cinema halls, which will reopen from October 22, should start with proper fire and structural safety checks after meeting the representatives of the Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association.

Earlier on Sunday, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said Chief Minister Thackeray along with the health department and task force will take the decision over more relaxations in Covid-19 restrictions after the festival of Diwali.

ALSO READ: Maharashtra Govt To Consider Relaxations In Covid Restrictions After Diwali: Health Minister Rajesh Tope

“After Diwali, on the basis of Covid positive cases in the state, CM Uddhav Thackeray along with the health department and task force will take the decision to provide more relaxations in Covid-19 restrictions,” he said, ANI reported.

Tope’s remarks came as Mumbai reported zero coronavirus deaths for the first time on Sunday ever since the pandemic struck the nation.

(With Agency Inputs)

New Delhi: Covid Task Force chief V.K. Paul on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government will take a final decision on vaccinating the children and adolescents against coronavirus on the basis of overall scientific rationale as well as the supply situation of vaccines available for those below 18 years.

“We do know that several countries have introduced vaccination for adolescents and children. We will take a final decision based on the overall scientific rationale and the supply situation of the child licenced vaccines, going forward,” he told PTI in an interview.

READ: Covid-19 Update: India Logs Lesser Cases Today, Lowest in 7 Months

Paul also cautioned it will not be fair now to say that the worst is over since many countries have seen more than two waves.

“It is reassuring that the number of Covid cases are now on the decline and the second wave is now subsiding but to say that the worst is over will not be fair because we have seen in other nations, there have been more than two waves,” he said.

Paul cautioned the country is passing through a phase when there are festivals and potential gatherings.

Paul, who has been playing a key role in the government’s efforts in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, said this is a critical phase as the virus can spread again.

“We have seen that even in other countries where vaccine coverage is good, the escalation in the pandemic can happen and has happened,” said Paul.

“Therefore, certainly we should not assume that this situation of the declining trend will continue and definitely we should not think that the worst is over, we have to be ever watchful,” he added.

Underlining that the vaccination programme has picked up huge speed, the Covid Task Force chief said that states, which are for whatever reasons lagging behind must work hard and must push vaccination.

“Now, of course, there is no dearth, no inadequacy of vaccine supply. They are as of today 10 crore doses of vaccines with the state governments for the vaccination programme,” Paul said, adding the states must ensure that they reach out to those who are left out in the vaccination programme.

Three Covid-19 vaccines, including Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V, are currently being administered in the country for those above 18 years of age. All of them are two-dose vaccines.

Zydus Cadila’s indigenously developed needle-free vaccine ZyCoV-D, which has received Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA), is set to become the first vaccine that will be available in India for those in the age group of 12-18 years.

“The preparation for incorporation of Zydus Cadila’s vaccine into the vaccination programme is proceeding well, training is already being held. NTAGI advice for the best use of the vaccine is explored. So soon, this will be rolled out,” Paul said.

An expert panel of the country’s central drug authority has recommended granting EUA to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for the children and adolescents in the 2-18 years age group with certain conditions.

Covaxin, if approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), will be the second vaccine after ZyCoV-D to get EUA for use among those below 18 years.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus In India: 15,981 Fresh Cases Registered Along With 379 Fatalities, Recovery Rate At 98%

The Covid Task Force chief said Covaxin is a part of the adult vaccination programme and how to provision the vaccine, if at all for children, has to be also examined in the totality of the requirements of the vaccination programme.

“A pragmatic decision (on vaccination of children and adolescents) can be taken (only) by balancing the supply and the potential eligibility,” he said.

Check out below Health Tools-
Calculate Your Body Mass Index ( BMI )

Calculate The Age Through Age Calculator

By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: A middle-aged Tanzanian man, who had in the past received a kidney transplant, underwent a rare and complicated heart surgery at a private hospital in the national capital. The patient was suffering from breathlessness, fatigue and palpitations, which were diagnosed as being caused by a major heart valve (aortic valve) leakage and enlargement (aneurysm) of the ascending aorta.

The condition of the patient was so serious that he could face sudden death. The seven-hour-long, complicated, and extremely rare heart surgery was performed by a team of doctors led by Dr Gaurav Gupta, senior consultant and head of cardiovascular surgery, PSRI Hospital.

“Open heart surgery was the only option as the patient’s major heart valve (aortic valve) was leaking and the aorta, which supplies blood to the entire body, became enlarged and could have lead to rupture and sudden death. Keeping this in mind we decided to perform Bentall operation, which is a high-risk procedure but provided the best option,” said Dr Gupta.

The Bentall operation is one of the biggest and most risky surgery of the heart. It involves replacing a major part of the heart with an artificial graft. Aortic valve and ascending aorta (major vessel supplying blood to the whole body) are replaced and coronary arteries (vessels supplying blood to the heart itself) are replanted on the new artificial aorta.

According to the hospital, this patient had higher serum creatinine. However, with adequate fluid and medical management his kidney function remained stable and even improved after the surgery. The successful operation sends a positive message to kidney transplant patients that it is possible to get treated for other serious heart ailments safely.

New Delhi: US-based search engine giant Google has announced that it is rolling out continuous scrolling in Search on its mobile platform retiring the page-based user interface.

This new Search experience is starting to gradually roll out for most English searches on mobile in the US. “While you can often find what you`re looking for in the first few results, sometimes you want to keep looking. In fact, most people who want additional information tend to browse up to four pages of search results. With this update, people can now seamlessly do this, browsing through many different results, before needing to click the `See more` button,” the company said in a statement.

Now, at the bottom of a set of results, the search engine will automatically load the next page, allowing users to continuously scroll until they find the particular website they are looking for.

“Scrolling through a wider range of results may show you tons of options you hadn`t considered, like no-carve pumpkin decor ideas for Halloween, pumpkin seed recipes that make your pumpkin worth carving and more ideas for how to make the most out of your gourd,” the company added.

Meanwhile, Google earlier this week announced the formation of a premier `Cybersecurity Action Team` to support the security and digital transformation of governments, critical infrastructure, enterprises and small businesses, as nation-state hacking incidents grow. Also Read: 7th Pay Commission: Central employees to get bumper gifts before Diwali, could get bonuses from 3 places

The Google Cybersecurity Action Team has already formulated a security and resilience framework that delivers a roadmap for a comprehensive security management programme. Also Read: Apple removes Quran from App Store in China on Beijing’s request

More and more young people are using e-cigarettes, which are marketed as a safer option than traditional smoking. This can be however, grossly misleading as vaping aerosols contain nearly 2,000 chemicals, the vast majority of which are unidentified, including industrial chemicals and caffeine.

According to a recent John Hopkins University research, even though cigarette contaminants are much lower in e-cigarettes, and it is marketed as a safer option to cigarettes as they operate at temperatures below combustion, there is no clear evidence to suggest that vaping is more healthy than smoking cigarettes. It underlined that people who vape are using a product whose risks are yet to be fully determined and could be exposing themselves to chemicals with adverse health effects.

The study identified six potentially harmful substances, including three chemicals never previously found in e-cigarettes. This includes stimulant caffeine in two of the four products. It further noted that Caffeine has previously been detected in e-cigarettes but only in caffeine-oriented flavours like coffee and chocolate. This may be due to manufacturers adding it intentionally, without disclosing, to give smokers an extra kick. Besides caffeine, researchers found three industrial chemicals, a pesticide, and two flavourings linked with possible toxic effects and respiratory irritation.

The research found thousands of unknown chemicals in the vaping liquid, and the number of compounds increased significantly in the aerosol. Furthermore, condensed hydrocarbon-like compounds, typically associated with combustion were also detected which manufacturers claimed is not happening during vaping. In traditional cigarettes, the condensed hydrocarbons generated during combustion are toxic.

John Hopkins University`s research on e-cigarettes is different from earlier studies that have looked specifically for evidence of the hazardous chemicals found in traditional cigarettes. The new research involves a non-targeted analysis to explore the full range of chemicals both in the vaping liquid and the aerosols.

The research involved testing vape samples with chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry, a chemical fingerprinting technique more commonly used to identify organic compounds in wastewater, food, and blood. It tasted like tobacco-flavoured liquids sold by Mi-Salt, Vuse, Juul, and Blu for consistency even though vaping products are available in hundreds of flavours.

Live TV

PUNE: ZyCoV-D, the first vaccine to be approved for use in children above the age of 12 in India, will be also be made available to private sector hospitals across the country.

The Centre’s supply principle in the ratio of 75:25 for public and private vaccination will remain applicable for this vaccine too.

“If there are buyers, up to 25 lakh doses of the ZyCoV-D would be made available to private sector hospitals every month as the initial monthly vaccine availability will be 1 crore doses,” N K Arora, chairman of the Centre’s Covid-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) told TOI on Sunday.

However, 75% of the available doses would be reserved for vaccination of eligible adolescents at public vaccination centres for free, Arora clarified.

The needle-free ZyCoV-D vaccine, manufactured by Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila, has received emergency use authorization for being administered to children aged 12 years and above in India.

The three-dose vaccine is to be administered with a 28-day gap between each dose. ZyCoV-D is going to be introduced in the country’s Covid vaccination programme by October 20.

“The biggest hurdle or challenge about this vaccine is its slow production. Initially, the manufacturer can only make available one crore doses every month. Private hospitals can procure 25% of the monthly production of ZyCoV-D from the manufacturer,” Arora said.

However, he added that the private sector had not shown much interest in vaccine purchases after the new guidelines about Covid-19 vaccine supply in the ratio of 75:25 came into effect a few months ago.

Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers in India keep the central government informed about their production plan in advance. This helps the government better plan the procurement and distribution.

The Centre also knows about a consolidated demand from the private sector, as state governments collate the demand and indicate it to the authorities.

Dhananjay Kelkar, medical director of Pune-based Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital said, “Private hospitals will purchase the ZyCov-D vaccine, but this time they would be cautious in their approach. Initially, the purchases are likely to be smaller in size to assess the response. Again, the vaccine cost in private hospitals will also determine its uptake.”

Sanjay Lalwani, medical director of Bharati Hospital in Pune, said, “The private hospitals’ purchases of the ZyCoV-D vaccine is likely to be slow initially. It is a three-dose vaccine, hence the vaccination cost is likely to be high which may also negatively impact purchase in the private sector.”

MUMBAI: The Covid-19 pandemic and its effect on mental health led a record number of people—3.5 lakh—to seek counselling and treatment from the public health system in Maharashtra in 2020-21.

In Mumbai, another 80,000 people have called up BMC-Mpower helpline for Covid-related grief since April 2020.

“In 2020, we counselled many migrants who were leaving the state due to Covid and we also held special OPD counselling clinics, resulting in a higher outreach,” said Dr Sadhana Tayade, state deputy director of health services. The growth in state services can be judged from the fact that only 1.3 lakh reached out to the state district mental health network in 2016-17. In 2021 so far, 1.19 lakh have been helped. “These numbers don’t include the patients with chronic diseases under treatment at state government hospitals for long,” said a state official.

Activists said the pandemic has demonstrated the need to upgrade mental health services within the public health system. “Covid has disrupted lives. An online support group for those in grief caused by Covid has seen steady members for the last few months,” said psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty, who is partnering with NGO Mpower for the initiative.

The group has parents, siblings and colleagues who lost someone to Covid. “People attending the support group meetings want solace and support. While face-to-face counselling is the best, under the circumstances we have been able to help people support each other through grief,” said Dr Sapna Bangur of Mpower.

In Mumbai, where 16,000-plus have died due to Covid, the BMC-Mpower helpline has seen maximum calls from people in the 18 to 40 age group. “Millennials were the most impacted, as most callers (53%) were between 26 and 40 years,” said an official.

On the occasion of World Mental Health Day on Sunday, WHO has asked countries to strengthen services to meet the increased need. “Majority of people living with mental health problems in low-and middle-income countries do not get adequate treatment,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, regional director WHO South-East Asia region.

By Shreyans Mehta

In the past two decades, technology has taken every business sector to newer heights. It has impacted the lives of millions of people and many industries have embraced its potential in automating their business processes. Similarly, the healthcare sector has also adopted progressive technology models to redefine the way it functions and improve outcomes. With this, telemedicine has become one of the biggest transformations in the industry which has connected small towns to doctors located in urban cities.

Majorly, the rapid technological adoption in the industry is the result of the pandemic-induced lockdown. This also created the space for pharmacies to undergodigital transformation and position themselvesas an attractive model in the healthcare industry.The country faced a large-scale disruption in e-commerce services with people ordering groceries online during the pandemic. It necessitated people to adopt social distancing and order medicine without stepping out. As a result,retail pharmacies became the forerunner to fight against coronavirus infection.

Local pharmacies providing last-mile access
India has a diverse population scattered from rural to urban areas. Considering the traditional retail pharmacy model, a person living in a small town or rural area has to travel to the nearby town or city to get appropriate medicines. On the other hand, the pandemic-induced lockdown made the country realize the need for local medical stores reaches the last mile. In fact, the government also classified the pharma business as an essential service and provided relaxation during the lockdown to deliver the medicine to the consumers’ doorstep. As a result, retail pharmacies demonstrated their critical role in not only fighting the infection but also alleviating the challenges in ensuring efficient, affordable and trusted healthcare.

Presently, close to 100 crore Indians today are living in tier-2 & tier-3 cities. In such areas, the local pharmacy becomes the go-to place for all healthcare services. Furthermore, statistics show that for every 1700 people, there is one pharmacy available. Since many doctors are not able to reach people living in tier-2 & tier-3 cities, local pharmacies can become huge healthcare support by going online and providing quick, trusted, & efficient healthcare solutions. In addition, setting up online doctor consultations for their customers, delivering medicines in minimum time and also creating Digital Health IDs for their customers can ultimately contribute to Aayushman Bharat Digital Mission.

As per the estimates – the retail pharmaceutical market was valued at 25 billion USD in 2017 and projected to reach 59 billion USD by 2013. This clearly indicates there is ample space for retail pharmacies to expand their reach by tying up with customers and deliver the medicines at their doorstep.

Digitally driven retail pharmacies to improve community health

A digitally driven retail pharmacy has the ability to show remarkable benefits in many large economies. With widespread technology adoption, India is no more behind the race of connecting rural and urban pharma.The intervention of intermediaries, health-tech firms and government has triggered the transformation of retail pharmacies in all terms in the country. Further, it helped retail pharmacies in overcoming traditional retail challenges such as selling substandard medicines, stockouts, efficient and affordable delivery of medicines toensure holistic improvement in community health.

In 2017, WHO also founded that 10.5 percent of medicines sold in low- or middle-income countries including India are substandard. Other recent surveys in India state that about 3 percent of the total drugs sold are substandard, while 0.28 percent were found to be fake. This indicates that the country has the problem of substandard drugs than fake ones. Since the adoption of e-commerce or at-home delivery models, traditional retail pharmacies have shifted their focus towards safer drug supply by sourcing directly from the manufacturers or licensed vendors. This in turn helps pharmacies gain customers’ trust and save huge costs with an efficient supply chain.

The medical needs of the rural or small-townpopulation are usually underserved. They have limited access to pharmacies and authorized pharma sellers. With the expansion of logistics networks due to the boom in the E-commerce industry and digitization in the past decade, it has opened several avenues for retail pharmacies to address the unmet needs of people belonging to Tier 2 and 3 cities.

Digitally driven pharmacies are indispensably combating the challenges of traditional retail pharma with affordable and easy availability of medicines. Normally, an offline pharmacy stocks upto 6,000 to 8000 SKUs. However, if an offline pharmacy gets itself registered online, it can compete with e-pharmacies and can feature upto 50,000 SKUs as per the public demand while not limiting to demographic reach. Further, the integration of new-age technologies has automated the process of inventory management that results in avoiding stockouts in retail medical stores. This also gives an impetus to promote community health with national inclusion.

What’s next?

Nowadays, traditional retail pharmacies have geared up with features that align with national development objectives to promote community health. By leveraging the internet, ordering genuine medicines from a trusted pharma store has become easier for the general public. Besides this, the reach of digitally-driven retail pharmacies fulfils the unmet pharma needs of the population scattered in Tier 2 and 3 cities, further resulting in a holistic healthcare development of the nation.

By Shreyans Mehta, Co-Founder, SehatSathi

(DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and ETHealthworld.com does not necessarily subscribe to it. ETHealthworld.com shall not be responsible for any damage caused to any person/organisation directly or indirectly.)

Drug firm Gland Pharma on Friday said it has received a tentative nod from the US health regulator for generic Sugammadex injection, which is indicated for reversing the effects of the muscle relaxants rocuronium bromide and vecuronium bromide given to patients during surgery. The company “has received tentative approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Sugammadex injection, 200 mg/2 mL (100 mg/mL) and 500 mg/5 mL (100 mg/mL) single-dose vial…”, Gland Pharma said in a regulatory filing.

The product is the generic version of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp’s Bridion injection, 100 mg/mL, it added.

The company will launch the product through its marketing partner on receipt of final approval, Gland Pharma said.

According to IQVIA, the Sugammadex injection, 200 mg/2 mL and 500 mg/5 mL single-dose vial had US sales of about USD 615 million for 12 months ended April 2021, it added.

Sugammadex injection is used to reverse the effects of the muscle relaxants rocuronium bromide and vecuronium bromide given to patients during surgery, the filing said.

Shares of Gland Pharma Ltd on Friday closed at Rs 3,851.55 per scrip on the BSE, down 0.82 per cent from its previous close.

New Delhi: A new study of about 5,000 Israeli health workers, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, has found that there is a continuous decrease in protective antibodies during the six months after the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine is administered. 

The research states that boosters are necessary, because the immunity wanes significantly within months. Men were found to have less protection compared to women, due to less antibody counts, both at the peak and at the end of the study.

The study participants had taken Pfizer and BioNTech shots. 

Decrease in antibody levels after second dose

At first, there was a sharp decline in the levels, followed by a moderate decline.

One of the authors of the study, Gili Regev-Yochay, said that studies to identify the critical threshold of antibodies necessary to prevent coronavirus infection are important because this will help assess risk levels and find protective measures.

According to the study conducted by Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, older people had lower antibody levels in their blood compared to younger people. Also, the antibody levels in immunosuppressed people were less compared to the healthy population. 

According to a report in Bloomberg, Regev-Yochay said in an online press briefing that the research helped them understand the cause of breakthrough infections in people who had received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. She added that the US is likely to follow Israel’s decision to offer a third dose to everyone.

She said that she would be more than surprised if a lot of breakthrough infections do not occur in the United States. Also, the country has restricted booster recommendations for the older community and vulnerable groups.

Another study conducted in Qatar, published in the same journal, found the efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot to fade over a similar time period. During the first month after the second dose, the protection level was found to be 77.5 per cent. Five to seven months after the second dose, the protection fell to 20 per cent.

However, the strength of prevention of severe and fatal infections was 96 per cent in the first two months, and remained at roughly this level for six months, the research found.

Study co-author Laith Abu-Raddad said that the data is consistent, and that protection against hospitalisation and death is very strong, and more durable than protection against infection, mentions the Bloomberg article. He added that a third booster shot would help optimise the protection from the vaccine.

Other related studies

The Bloomberg article also mentions other studies from Israel published in the same journal, which state that there are certain cases of people suffering from heart inflammation after vaccination. Cases of young male recipients experiencing myocarditis after receiving the vaccine were reported, which were mostly mild, according to one study. However, one of the young male recipients died due to this inflammation.

Estimated incidence of myocarditis was found to be 2.13 cases per 100,000 persons, with most cases being mild or moderate, according to a study conducted by the Clalit Health Services, which is the largest health-care system in Israel.

Male patients aged between 16 and 29 showed the highest incidence.

Check out below Health Tools-
Calculate Your Body Mass Index ( BMI )

Calculate The Age Through Age Calculator