Page 18 - Coronavirus Vaccine

Serum Institute tops profit charts among unlisted firms amid Covid war

Surge in demand for Covishield led to a huge spike in its revenues and profits

XBB.1.16 variant could be driving recent rise in Covid case: AIIMS director

As India witnessed the highest number of Covid cases in over four months, former AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria on Wednesday said the new XBB.1.16 variant could be driving the recent rise but emphasised there was no need for panic as long it does not cause severe illness and deaths. New variants will keep coming as the virus keeps on mutating over the time and the XBB 1.16 is sort of a "new kid on the block", Guleria told PTI in an interview. "... As long as they don't lead to severe illness, hospitalisation and deaths, it is alright because it helps in giving some degree of immunity to the population if they have mild illness," the renowned pulmonologist, who was part of the national Covid task force, said. His comments come on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting to review the Covid situation and also took stock of the public health preparedness. India recorded 1,134 new coronavirus cases, the highest in 138 days, while the active cases increased t

Co-infection with 'superbug' spikes Covid virus replication 15-folds

Researchers have identified a protein found in superbugs that enhances SARS-CoV-2 replication by 10- to 15-fold

Pregnancy-related deaths rising, Covid in reproductive-age women to blame

Following the emergence of the highly contagious Delta and Omicron COVID-19 variants, pregnancy-related mortality rates in the United States increased faster in 2021 than the previous year, according to a new study (UMD).The study by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and the University of Maryland School of Public Health.Published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, the findings on pregnancy-related mortality are consistent with rising COVID-19-related death rates among reproductive-age women, and the results follow the team's previously published research that also revealed alarming spikes in maternal mortality rates during the first year of the pandemic in 2020.The staggering data captures the worsening burden of pregnancy-related mortality in the United States during the pandemic, which includes deaths during pregnancy through one year postpartum. Mortality rates increased most among racial and ethnic minorities, and the study adds COVID context to a new ..

Lung cancer patient who died recently in Haryana, had tested H3N2 in Jan

A 56-year-old man from Haryana, a lung cancer patient who died recently, had tested positive for the H3N2 virus in January, a health department official said on Friday. "As per preliminary information, patient, 56-year-old male, resident of Jind district, died on 08-02-23 at home, was a lung cancer patient. He had tested positive for H3N2 virus in January at PGIMS hospital in Rohtak," the official said. The official said the patient had tested positive for the Influenza A subtype H3N2 virus on January 17.

H3N2 influenza: Symptoms, spread, prevention, what do experts say?

Common symptoms of seasonal influenza include a sudden fever, a cough (usually dry), a headache, muscle and joint pain, a sore throat, and a runny nose

Saving lives and livelihoods during Covid-19 pandemic

A Stanford University report assesses economic impact of India's vaccination and related measures

IMA advises against antibiotic use amid rising H3N2 flu cases in India

"Whenever there will be a real use of antibiotics, they will not work due to the resistance," the IMA wrote

Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 accounts for nearly 90% new Covid cases in US

The highly transmissible Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 now accounts for nearly 90 per cent of all Covid-19 cases reported in the US

Low breastfeeding rates in infants born to mothers with Covid-19: Research

An international investigation found that during the height of the pandemic, breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact rates were low

India saved over 3.4 mn lives during Covid through vaccination: Mandaviya

Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday hailed India's response to the COVID pandemic and said that the country was able to save over 3.4 million lives by undertaking the nationwide vaccination campaign at an unprecedented scale.The Health Minister lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership during the pandemic and said that he initiated a "preemptive response" much before COVID-19 was declared a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020, by the WHO.The remarks of the Minister came while delivering a keynote address virtually at Stanford 'The India Dialog' session on the Economic Impact of Vaccination & Related Matters on Friday."India was able to save more than 3.4 million lives by undertaking the nationwide vaccination campaign at an unprecedented scale. Under the PMGKAY, the government focused on ensuring that no one slept hungry and free food grains were distributed to 800 million people," he said."The report "Healing the economy:

Moderna's Q4 profit tumbles to 70% as Covid-19 vaccine sales fall

Moderna's fourth-quarter profit tumbled 70per cent as COVID-19 vaccine sales fell and the drugmaker caught up on a royalty payment. Moderna said Thursday that its cost of sales jumped nearly a billion dollars to USD 1.9 billion in the final quarter of 2022. That included a USD 400 million payment to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases tied to a new license agreement started in December. The drugmaker's profit fell to USD 1.46 billion, or USD 3.61 per share. Total revenue dropped 29 per cent t o USD 5.08 billion. Analysts expected earnings of USD 4.60 per share on USD 5.02 billion in revenue, according to FactSet. Moderna's Spikevax is the company's main source of revenue, outside of grants and money from collaborations. The company had said last month that it recorded USD 18.4 billion in sales from its COVID-19 vaccine last year, and it expects about USD 5 billion in 2023. Shares of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna Inc. slipped 1 per cent to USD 156

Gujarat health centres under probe for issuing fake Covid vax certificates

A five-member committee headed by the Deputy Development Officer will submit its report within a fortnight and recommend action

Controlling aerosolisation of mucus, jab prevent outcomes of Covid-19

Controlling aerosolization of mucus and vaccination can help prevent serious outcomes of COVID-19 infection say researchers at IIT Madras, Jadavpur University and Northwestern University, US. The researchers used mathematical models to show how viruses infecting mucous lining of the respiratory tract spread as droplets into the lungs, thereby causing serious illnesses and recommend ways to prevent the spread. "The researchers have shown a plausible mechanism for how COVID infection could become lethal. They performed simulation studies to understand the mechanism of transmission of the COVID-19 virus from the nose and throat to the lower respiratory tract," a release from the institute said on Monday. Researchers all over the world have been trying to understand how COVID-19 virus spreads from the nose and throat to the lungs. An idea has been proposed that the virus might move through mucous in the respiratory system but this would take too long. Another idea is that the virus mig

Kids, teens can take Moderna's Omicron-targeting bivalent booster in Canada

Health Canada announced that it has authorized the use of Moderna's Spikevax bivalent Covid-19 booster vaccine for children and adolescents aged six to 17 years of age targeting the Omicron variant

India introduces new Covid-19 rules for travellers from six countries

However, random testing of 2 per cent of all travellers landing in India will continue, the health ministry has said

India coronavirus update: Active Covid cases in country rise to 1,843

India recorded 124 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases increased to 1,843, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The death toll stands at 5,30,750, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,84,118). The daily positivity was recorded at 0.10 per cent while the weekly positivity was pegged at 0.09 per cent. The active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.81 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,51,525, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website 220.62 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on Septembe

NTAGI panel takes up inclusion of COVOVAX as heterologous booster dose

The COVID-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) discussed the inclusion of Covovax vaccine as a heterologous booster dose for adults on the CoWin portal to boost the uptake of precaution doses, official sources said on Saturday. A final decision on its inclusion will be taken by the NTAGI's Standing Technical Sub-Committee (STSC) which is likely to meet by the end of this month. The COVID-19 Working Group discussed the matter on Wednesday. According to an official source, Prakash Kumar Singh, Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at the Serum Institute of India (SII), had written to the Health Ministry last month seeking inclusion of Covovax on the CoWIN portal. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) on January 16 approved market authorisation to Covovax as a heterologous booster dose for adults who have been administered two doses of Covishield or Covaxin. The DCGI's approval was based on recommendations by the Subject Expe

Covid vaccines do not increase risk of adverse events, claims Study

COVID-19 vaccines did not cause an increased risk of adverse events such as heart attack, stroke, cardiac arrest, myocarditis, pericarditis, and deep vein thrombosis, according to a study. The research, published in the journal Vaccines, monitored the entire population of the Italian province of Pescara for 18 months, from January 2021 to July 2022. The team led by researchers from the University of Bologna in Italy collected inhabitants' health data and analysed the frequency of a number of serious diseases such as cardiovascular disease, pulmonary embolism and thrombosis. Pulmonary embolism is a blood clot that blocks and stops blood flow to an artery in the lung while thrombosis occurs when blood clots block veins or arteries. The study showed that none of the diseases examined were found to be more frequent among the vaccinated than among the non-vaccinated. "The results obtained clearly show that there was no increased risk of serious diseases among the vaccinated," said ...

300k doses of intranasal Covid vaccine sent to hospitals: Krishna Ella

Bharat Biotech dispatched three lakh doses of its intranasal COVID-19 vaccine to some hospitals two days ago, the company's executive chairman Krishna Ella said on Sunday. He was speaking on the sidelines of an event here at which a bilateral agreement was signed between the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison Global Health Institute (GHI) and the Ella Foundation for the establishment of the first-ever UW-Madison One Health Centre in Bengaluru. iNCOVACC, the world's first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine, was launched on January 26. The vaccine is now available on CoWIN and priced at Rs 800 for private markets and Rs 325 for the government of India and state governments. "We dispatched three lakh doses of the world's first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine to some hospitals two days ago," Ella said. On whether Bharat Biotech is looking at exporting the vaccine, he said some countries and international agencies are approaching the company for the intra-nasal vaccine. iNCOVACC is also the wor