Page 43 - Healthcare

Vaccine against cervical cancer to be included by mid-2023: NTAGI chief

India would be in a position to roll out the indigenously developed Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (HPV) against cervical cancer for girls in the age group of 914 under the National Immunisation Programme by mid-2023, NTAGI chairperson Dr N K Arora said. The CERVAVAC vaccine is likely to be launched by the Serum Institute of India (SII) in April next year and will be available at a much lower price than the international vaccines available in the market, Prakash Kumar Singh, Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at the SII said on the sidelines of the South Asia meeting on HPV here. The vaccine has received the DCGI's approval and been cleared by the government advisory panel National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) for use in the public health programme, Dr Arora told PTI. At present, the country is fully dependent on foreign manufacturers for the vaccine. Three foreign companies manufacture the HPV vaccine out of which two firms sell their vaccines in India. .

Indian Embassy, Nepal govt sign MoUs for projects in education, healthcare

The Embassy of India and Nepal government's Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration signed a Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) for undertaking three projects in Nepal

South Sudan declares measles outbreak; reports 2,471 cases, 31 deaths

'South Sudan has witnessed repeated outbreaks of measles since 2021 primarily due to the interrupted routine immunisation services'

Drug trials on human tissues, cells made in labs soon; new rules in offing

Pre-clinical trials of new drugs could soon be done on human tissues and cells developed in laboratories and not just on animals as the Union Health Ministry is working on bringing in amendments to the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019. A recent draft notification to amend the rules stated that alternative technology platforms such as human organ on chips, micro-physiological systems and other in vitro or cell-based assays can be used prior to and in conjunction with animal testing to establish the safety and efficacy of new drugs before human clinical trials. Pre-clinical tests are important for establishing the safety and efficacy of investigational drugs. In September, the US Congress approved a landmark FDA Modernization Bill that allows a pharmaceutical drug developer to use alternative methods -- including cell-based assays, organ on chips, micro-physiological systems and other human biology-based test methods -- for establishing the safety and effectiveness of new or

11% of Covid cases that needed hospitalisations had lung scarring: Study

Up to 11 per cent of Covid cases that needed hospitalisation had lung scarring which may be irreversible and could get worse over time, according to a study conducted in the United States. The study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, sought to determine the percentage of COVID-19 patients, with various degrees of severity, discharged from hospital who had a type of fibrotic lung damage, known as interstitial lung disease, that requires follow-up care. Interstitial lung disease refers to a broad group of diseases that are characterized by lung scarring, including idiopathic lung fibrosis. This scarring makes it difficult to breathe and get oxygen into the bloodstream. Lung damage caused by this may be irreversible and get worse over time. "We estimated that up to 11 per cent of hospitalised Covid patients had fibrotic patterning after recovery from the acute illness," said corresponding author Iain Stewart, an advanced research fellow (Rayne

Deadly Covid variants still transmissible between species, finds study

Computer simulations showed there is a still significant risk of mammalian cross-species infectivity

With the flu season here, should you ask for an influenza vaccine?

Demand for flu vaccine weak in India; US facing worst season in a decade

Maharashtra records 43 new Covid-19 cases, zero fatality, 79 recoveries

Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded 43 new coronavirus cases, zero fatality and 79 recoveries, the health department said in a bulletin. The state's COVID-19 case tally rose to 81,35,800 while death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,407. On Tuesday, the state had recorded 50 coronavirus cases and one fatality. Mumbai recorded eight new cases while Pune city reported 10. The tally of recoveries stood at 79,86,998. The recovery rate is 98.17 per cent, while the case fatality rate is 1.82 per cent. There are 395 active cases in the state now. As many as 11,893 coronavirus tests were conducted in the state in the last 24 hours, taking the test tally to 8,56,40,964. Maharashtra's coronavirus figures: Fresh cases: 43; Fatality: 0; Active cases: 395; New Tests: 11,893.

717 measles cases reported in Maharashtra since Jan, Mumbai worst-affected

The tally of measles cases recorded in Maharashtra since the start of the year has reached 717 including 303 in Mumbai, the state health department said on Tuesday. The viral infection, which affects children the most, has claimed 14 lives so far. In Mumbai alone ten deaths due to measles have been reported as of November 28, the official release said. On Tuesday, Mumbai recorded five fresh measles cases and one suspected death, the city's civic body had said in a bulletin earlier in the day. Since January, 70 cases of infection have been reported in Malegaon city in Nashik district and 48 in Bhiwandi near Mumbai. Mumbai has recorded 74 outbreaks so far this year. If there are five suspected cases within a week of which more than two are confirmed by laboratory, then it is termed as an outbreak. The state capital also recorded 11,390 suspected cases since January 1, 2022. In 2019 the state had recorded 1,337 confirmed cases; 2,150 in 2020 and 3,668 in 2021. Of 14 patients who d

US weekly flu hospitalisations hit record high since 2010: CDC data

Five flu-associated paediatric deaths were reported in the week ending November 19, which increased the overall number to 12, according to the CDC

'Make healthcare affordable...,' Karnataka CM Bommai urges doctors

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai on Monday urged the scientists to throw efforts and conduct research to produce inexpensive drugs and provide affordable treatment as many people, especially those in rural areas, were unable to access medical care owing to overpriced drugs and interventions.Karnataka CM was speaking at the inaugural address at Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, Mysuru.The Chief Minister inaugurated the students' hostels, skill lab and other facilities at Mysore Medical College and Research Institute.Bommai said he would allocate funds in the coming budget for setting up an R & D Centre at the Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI) - Karnataka's first medical college which is celebrating its centenary in 2024. The State's top 10-15 medical colleges could also take up research for making affordable drugs and providing affordable treatment, he suggested."Every year around 5,000 students enter the medical profession but still there ..

British PM Rishi Sunak injects 113 mn pound into new healthcare taskforce

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday announced GBP 113 million funding to use the country's successful COVID Vaccine Taskforce model as a "blueprint" for the success of four "healthcare missions" of cancer, obesity, mental health and addiction. The UK government said the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) is set to benefit from cutting-edge new treatments and technologies as the vaccines model is used to tackle the other major public health challenges. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the new investment is aimed at unlocking the next generation of medicines and diagnostics to save lives, transform patient care and ensure UK patients are the first to benefit from medical breakthroughs. "The NHS faces real pressures, which is why we are investing over GBP 100 million in the technologies and medicines of the future to address some of the biggest public health challenges facing our country, said Sunak. "It is hugely welcome too that the highly ...

ICMR new guidelines warn against use of antibiotics for low-grade fever

The Indian Council of Medical Research has issued guidelines warning against the use of antibiotics for conditions such as low-grade fever and viral bronchitis while advising doctors to follow a timeline while prescribing them. The ICMR guidelines stated that antibiotics should be prescribed for a duration of five days for skin and soft tissue infections, five days in case of community-acquired pneumonia and eight days for hospital-acquired pneumonia. "A clinical diagnosis most often helps us predict causative pathogens fitting into a clinical syndrome which would tailor the correct antibiotic rather than blindly relying on fever, procalcitonin levels, WBC counts, cultures or radiology to make a diagnosis of infection," the guidelines said. It stated limiting empiric antibiotic therapy to seriously ill patients. Generally, empiric antibiotic therapy is only recommended for a select group of patients suffering from severe sepsis and septic shock, community-acquired pneumonia, ...

Data story: India records 343 new Covid cases; death toll at 530,612

India has added 2,547 cases in the past 7 days

NextG Apex plans to increase its employee count to 5,360 by FY25

Business consulting firm NextG Apex on Friday said it is planning to increase its manpower to 5,361 by FY25 to support its expansion into several verticals, including FMCG and health. At present, NextG Apex has a headcount of 543 employees that they want to raise to 902 by end of FY23 and 5,361 by 2024-25, the company said in a statement. This hiring is mainly in line with the company's plans for expanding business operations across verticals like FMCG, health and beauty and F&B over the next 2-3 years, it added. The recruitment will mainly be in cities that contribute over 80 per cent of the business, and going forward 40-50 per cent of the hiring will shift to tier II and III cities, it said. "Our hiring plans are majorly focussed on field operations and thus 70 per cent of the total hiring will add to our feet-on-street fleet. There's another 20 per cent requirement for mid-level supervisory people, 5 per cent for managerial talent, 3 per cent for back-end positions and 2 per ..

'India prioritises implementation of Action Plan for AMR containment'

MoS Health elucidated that India's example of prioritising the development and implementation of State Action Plans for Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance to ensure effective containment of AMR

Australia reports an uptick in Covid cases as it nears peak of current wave

According to the Department data, there were an average of 11,953 new cases recorded daily in the week to Friday, reports Xinhua news agency

Efforts being made to overcome shortage of doctors: Uttarakhand Health Secy

There is a shortage of doctors and nursing staff in Uttarakhand and efforts are being made to overcome it, the state's Health Secretary Dr R Rajesh Kumar said

Gene that can naturally protect people against Covid-19 discovered

This gene belongs to the "mucin" family and is associated with the production of mucus, which lubricates and protects the airways

Mumbai reports 24 fresh measles cases and one suspected death: BMC

Mumbai on Monday reported 24 new confirmed cases of measles, while a one-year girl from suburban Govandi is suspected to have died of the viral infection, the city civic body said. The tally of measles cases in the city since January 1 this year has risen to 208, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. The death toll due to measles since the beginning of this year remained unchanged at eight, while the death in Govandi is being probed. Six confirmed cases were reported from the M-East ward (which covers Govandi and Deonar) followed by five in Kurla. "24 confirmed measles cases were added on Monday," the BMC report said. The number of suspected patients who have reported symptoms like fever and rash increased to 3,208, the civic body added. "All cases of fever with rash are administered two doses of Vitamin-A and the second dose of measles vaccine after 24 hours," a BMC release said. With the admission of 23 patients and the discharge of 22, the number of hospitalized