Uncategorized

In view of an upsurge in COVID-19 cases in India, Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday reviewed the Covid and vaccination situation in the country.

The Union Minister chaired a meeting with key experts and officials. In a high-level meeting, Mandaviya advised strictly to monitor the Covid situation in the country focusing on vaccination of the elderly population, school-going children and surveillance and genome sequencing.

India has been witnessing a high number of COVID-19 cases over the last couple of weeks. States like Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Gujarat are reporting more than 1,000 cases daily.

The Union Minister stressed on the need to focus on districts reporting high case positivity and undertake adequate testing (with a higher proportion of RTPCR) and effective Covid-19 surveillance to assess and control the spread of infection in a timely manner.

Mandaviya directed the officials to continue to focus on surveillance and on whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to scan for any possible mutation.

He also directed monitoring of hospitalizations due to COVID19, and SARI/ILI cases.

He exhorted to increase the pace of vaccination including booster doses in districts reporting high cases. “As there are adequate vaccine doses available, let there be no vaccine wastage while focusing on accelerating vaccination among the eligible and vulnerable groups,” he directed.

The meeting was attended by Dr VK Paul, Member Health NITI Aayog, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria, ICMR Director-General Dr Balram Bhargava, Dr N K Arora, Chairman COVID working group, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), NCDC director Sujeet Singh and Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan.

Daily covid cases

Meanwhile, India reported 17,336 new COVID-19 infections in a 24-hour span, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

Also Read: Covid case update: India reports 17,336 new cases in 24 hours

The latest updates pushed the country’s overall COVID-19 numbers to 4,33,44,958 cases, 5,24,941 deaths and 83,990 active cases, the data showed.

Follow Medically Speaking on Instagram

Researchers discovered that a midgestational elevation in the hormone leptin, which most of us identify with hunger reduction, produces serious blood vessel malfunction and inhibits the baby’s growth in preeclampsia, which puts both mother and baby at danger.

The study’s findings were published in the journal ‘Hypertension.’ Critical supply chain difficulties with nutrition and oxygen can result in preterm delivery or even death, as well as an increase in the child’s and mother’s lifelong risk of cardiovascular disease.

Women with preeclampsia have an increase in leptin production by the placenta at 20 weeks into their pregnancy, but the consequences are unknown.

“It’s sort of emerging as a marker of preeclampsia,” said Dr Jessica Faulkner, a vascular physiologist in the Department of Physiology at the Medical College of Georgia and the study’s corresponding author in the journal Hypertension.

Leptin, which is mostly generated by fat cells, is also created by the placenta, which allows the mother to provide nutrition and oxygen to her developing baby, according to Faulkner.

Leptin levels rise regularly during a healthy pregnancy, although it’s unclear exactly what leptin does in this situation. There is some indication that it is a natural nutrition sensor in reproduction or a means to allow new blood vessel formation and/or activate growth hormone for normal development.

However, leptin levels rise greater in preeclamptic individuals.

“However, in preeclamptic individuals, leptin levels rise more than they should,” Faulkner explained.

The current study indicates for the first time that an increase in leptin causes endothelial dysfunction, which causes blood vessels to tighten, their ability to relax, and the baby’s growth to be inhibited.

When the scientists suppressed the precursor for the potent, natural blood artery dilator nitric oxide, as happens in hypertension, the effect of the midgestation leptin rise was nearly identical.

To make matters worse, the researchers have evidence that leptin increases levels of the blood vessel constrictor endothelin 1.

Endothelial failure did not occur when the aldosterone receptors, in this case the mineralocorticoid receptors on the surface of the cells that line blood arteries, were eliminated, according to Dr Eric Belin de Chantemele, physiologist in MCG’s Vascular Biology Center and the paper’s senior author.

“We believe the placenta is not adequately developed in preeclamptic individuals,” Faulkner explains. “Fetal growth is not progressing as it should in the middle of pregnancy. The placenta, I believe, is compensating by boosting leptin synthesis “Possibly with the purpose of promoting more normal development. However, the consequences appear to be the polar opposite.

“It can harm the baby’s growth and raise the chance of long-term health problems for both the infant and the mother,” she said.

While leptin has been linked to preeclampsia, this is the first study to indicate that as leptin levels rise, the harmful clinical signs of preeclampsia emerge, according to Belin de Chantemele.

They saw an unfavourable chain reaction when they injected leptin into pregnant mice to imitate the spike that occurs in preeclampsia, with the adrenal gland producing more of the steroid hormone aldosterone, which might be enhancing the synthesis of endothelin 1, also by the placenta.

Previous research has revealed that an infusion of leptin causes endothelial dysfunction outside of pregnancy.

Belin de Chantemele’s lab pioneered research demonstrating that fat-derived leptin directly stimulates the adrenal glands to produce more aldosterone, which activates mineralocorticoid receptors found throughout the body, particularly in female blood vessels, and is important for blood pressure levels.

Obesity is characterised by high aldosterone levels, which are a significant cause of metabolic and cardiovascular issues.

They hypothesised that the infusion of leptin at midgestation in preeclampsia had a similar effect that deletion of the mineralocorticoid receptors lining blood vessels may resolve. They’ve linked comparable physiological dots in young girls, where obesity frequently robs the early years of the protection from cardiovascular illness that being female generally confers until menopause.

According to Faulkner, these same players are probable contributors in what raises the mother’s lifetime risk of cardiovascular issues.

“It suggests the system is dysregulated, and that’s when you get the sickness,” she explained.

Their aims include better understanding the routes for high blood pressure and other blood vessel malfunction, pathways that may be targeted during pregnancy to avert potentially fatal outcomes for both mother and baby from what Faulkner refers to as a “two-hit disease.”

To date, their findings suggest that current medications like eplerenone, a blood pressure prescription that binds to the mineralocorticoid receptor, thereby lowering the effect of increased levels of aldosterone, might be useful therapy to better protect mother and baby.

The issues most likely begin with the placenta, and maybe insufficient blood supply to the temporary organ early in its development, as well as subsequent failure of the formation of the large blood arteries that become the pathway for nutrition and oxygen from mother to baby.

Preeclampsia is known to cause issues such as reduced release of placental growth hormones. The bottom line appears to be that by midgestation, the placenta can no longer adequately support the baby, which may be why it secretes leptin, possibly to stimulate its own growth and normal foetal development, but in reality, it contributes to cardiovascular and fatal consequences, including raising the mother’s blood pressure, the scientists report.

Growing Preeclampsia cases

“Unfortunately, preeclampsia rates are growing,” Faulkner adds, both in terms of the number of pregnant women affected and the severity with which they are impacted.

According to a CDC data analysis published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in January of this year, rates of hypertension during pregnancy, including preeclampsia and gestational hypertension, nearly doubled in both rural and urban areas of the United States from 2007 to 19 and have been increasing since 2014.

Also Read: Light exposure during sleep related to high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity in older persons: Study

Gestational hypertension is defined as a rise in a pregnant woman’s blood pressure during the third trimester but without the presence of protein in the urine, a symptom of renal distress, or indicators of placental malfunction present in preeclampsia.

Carrying more than one foetus, persistent high blood pressure, type 1 or 2 diabetes, renal illness, autoimmune problems before pregnancy, and the use of in vitro fertilisation are also risk factors.

Obesity, which is a risk factor for several of these illnesses and is related with high levels of both aldosterone and leptin, is mostly to blame for rising incidence of preeclampsia, according to Faulkner. Other times, women appear to acquire the condition on their own.

Follow Medically Speaking on Instagram

Skin problems may have a severe impact on the physical and emotional health of children and adolescents, and while effective therapies are available, they are uncommon, according to experts.

The Medical Research Foundation has financed research to expand scientific understanding of these problems, which might lead to better assistance and treatment for children and young people with skin disorders in the future. Skin problems may have a significant influence on many parts of life, including education and relationships, as well as job and lifestyle choices. Adolescence, in particular, is a period of self-consciousness, self-doubt, and increased preoccupation with physical beauty and appearance.

It is a key phase in both physical and psychological development, which is why skin problems, which are widespread in this age range, may have such a long-term influence.

According to a 2020 poll conducted by the All Parliamentary Group on Skin, 98% of patients with skin disorders indicate that their disease has an impact on their emotional and psychological well-being, but only 18% have gotten some type of psychological care.

Scientists from King’s College London and Newcastle University will lead new study into two skin conditions in particular, eczema and ichthyosis, which are both known to have a significant impact on quality of life.

Understanding the relationship between severe itch, sleep disruption, and brain function in eczema – Professor Carsten Flohr, Chair in Dermatology and Population Health Sciences at King’s College London and Honorary Consultant in Dermatology at St John’s Institute of Dermatology, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust Eczema is an inflammatory skin condition that affects 20% of children and 8% of adults. It has been related to serious negative effects on quality of life, as well as psychological and mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Eczema frequently appears before the age of two, and afflicted babies may have bad sleeping patterns at a young age. Eczema can last into adolescence or adulthood in around 30% of instances, indicating that persons with eczema might have itchy skin and sleep disturbances for the rest of their life.

Poor quality sleep impairs memory, focus, and mood, and it has been linked to inferior educational results in healthy children and adolescents.

Importantly, children and young people with eczema who do not have sleep disturbance do not have a significantly higher risk of ADHD than the general population, whereas children and young people with eczema and sleep disturbance have a 40-50 percent higher risk of ADHD than those who do not have eczema.

However, experts are still learning about the connections between eczema, itching, and mental health disorders. Professor Flohr and colleagues hypothesise that persistent inflammation in the skin and blood, which leads to sleep disruption and inflammation in the brain, is a major contributor to these mental health concerns.

Also Read: Scientists reveal leptin levels rising in preeclampsia trigger cardiovascular cascade that endangers both mother, baby

Professor Flohr will compare teenagers with eczema to healthy adolescents and children and young people with ADHD in a study of patients aged 12-18 from the Paediatrics Severe Eczema Clinic at St Thomas’ Hospital and King’s College London.

The researchers will look at how sleep disruption and inflammation influence brain structure and function, as well as mental processes.

This involves sleep diary and gadget assessments, brain activity measures, and blood tests to determine changes in circadian rhythm (the natural body clock). Professor Flohr and colleagues will also investigate the lived experience of eczema-related sleep problems, as well as their cognitive and psychological effects.

Professor Flohr said: “We think the mental health issues seen in children and young people with eczema could in part be explained by chronic inflammation in the skin and blood, leading to sleep disturbance and inflammation in the brain.

Thanks to funding from the Foundation, we will be able to address this theory, with the long-term aim of developing strategies to help manage sleep disturbance better. Potentially, this could prevent the knock-on psychological effects we see in children and young people with eczema.”

Dr Neil Rajan, Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Dermatologist at Newcastle University, is researching severe manifestations of the hereditary illness ichthyosis.

There are several kinds of ichthyosis, but they all include the formation of irritated, scaly skin.

Ichthyosis can be inherited or acquired throughout life. The hereditary types are uncommon, usually appear in infancy, and are usually lifelong diseases. Acquired ichthyosis can occur at any age as a result of a variety of medical conditions, including renal failure.

Unlike skin disorders such as eczema, which is spotty and comes and goes, ichthyosis is present throughout life and frequently affects the entire body.

Patients with ichthyosis may endure harassment, discrimination, and unpleasant symptoms that are frequently only eased by time-consuming therapies, all of which can have a significant influence on mental health.

Researchers know that hereditary ichthyosis can be caused by DNA mutations that impact skin cells, but they don’t know how these DNA changes cause the skin to become scaly and irritated. In rare circumstances, skin cells develop quicker than they are needed, and they accumulate on the skin’s surface, thickening it.

In some kinds, cells are created at the regular rate, but instead of brushing off as they reach the surface, they are unable to become disengaged from the cells underneath them, causing layers to accumulate (https://www.ichthyosis.org.uk/).

Dr. Rajan will investigate how skin cells in patients with severe ichthyosis differ from normal skin cells, and why the protective barrier in the skin is weakened, in collaboration with Professor Muzlifah Haniffa of Newcastle University and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, and Professor Edel O’Toole of Queen Mary University of London.

He wants to investigate at how the immune system reacts to this weakening in the skin barrier and how this varies across various layers of skin.

Improved Skin therapies

The researchers expect that by doing so, they would be able to detect abnormalities in the skin of ichthyosis patients that may be improved by novel therapies.

To test potential treatments, they will grow skin cells in the lab, which will allow them to see if such drugs are able to ‘treat’ ichthyosis in the lab.

Dr Rajan said: “Adolescence is a time of self-consciousness, self-doubt and exaggerated concern with appearance and physical attractiveness – all of which can make ichthyosis an especially painful experience for teenagers. By studying skin samples taken from ichthyosis patients, we’re hoping to reveal more about the genetics underpinning the condition, which is needed in order to develop much-needed new treatments for adolescents with ichthyosis.”

(This post has been published from a wired news agency with some modifications to the text and headline.)

Follow Medically Speaking on Instagram

Obesity, high blood pressure, hypertension, and diabetes are known stroke hazards, however they do not entirely explain women’s increased risk of stroke. Previous research on the relationship between infertility, miscarriage, and stillbirth and long-term stroke risk was equivocal.

To fill in the gaps, this study sought to examine the relationship between infertility, miscarriage, and stillbirth and the risk of fatal and non-fatal stroke, as well as the type of stroke.

The researchers examined data from 27 studies from the InterLACE collaboration, which collects data on reproductive health and chronic illness. The research includes data from eight studies from seven nations (Australia, China, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States).

Infertility, miscarriage, and stillbirth were all investigated using questionnaires. Non-fatal stroke data was also discovered using self-reported questionnaires or hospital records. Hospital data were utilised to identify fatal stroke patients and stroke subtypes (haemorrhagic or ischaemic).

The research comprised around 620,000 women ranging in age from 32 to 73 at the start.

Of them, 275,863 women had both non-fatal and fatal stroke data, 54,716 only had non-fatal stroke data, and 288,272 only had fatal stroke data. Among them, 9,265 (2.8%) women had their first non-fatal stroke at the age of 62, while 4,003 (0.7%) suffered a fatal stroke at the age of 71.

Women under the age of 40 who had a non-fatal stroke were excluded because they may have suffered a stroke before a history of infertility, pregnancy loss, or stillbirth could be established. Several other factors that may have impacted the results were considered, including ethnicity, weight, lifestyle, and underlying diseases.

The study discovered that infertility, miscarriage, and stillbirth were all related with an elevated risk of stroke, particularly recurrent miscarriages (three or more) and stillbirths.

Women with a history of infertility had a 14% greater risk of non-fatal stroke than women without a history of infertility.

Miscarriage was also linked to an 11% increased incidence of non-fatal stroke in comparison to women who had not experienced a miscarriage. The risk rose with the number of losses a woman experienced: one, two, and three miscarriages resulted in a 7%, 12%, and 35% increase in stroke risk, respectively.

Women who had three or more miscarriages had a 37% and 41% higher risk of non-fatal ischemic and haemorrhagic stroke, respectively. Similarly, for fatal ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, three or more miscarriages were associated with an 83% and 84% increase in risk, respectively.

A history of stillbirth was linked to a 30% increased risk of non-fatal stroke, and women who had many stillbirths (two or more) were almost 80% more likely to have a non-fatal ischemic stroke.

The study also discovered that recurrent stillbirth was related with a 40% increased risk of fatal stroke.

Endothelial dysfunction (narrowing of the heart’s blood channels) may explain the higher risk of stroke in women with a history of recurrent stillbirth or miscarriage, according to the researchers.

Lifestyle, infertility and miscarriage

However, studies also imply that unhealthy lifestyles (such as smoking or obesity) are linked to pregnancy loss and infertility, which may lead to an increased risk of stroke.

Also Read: Researcher finds molecular factors for treatment of melanoma skin cancer

Because this is an observational research, it cannot determine a causation. Alternative limitations of the study include the fact that information was gathered using questionnaires; the effects of other therapies were not investigated due to inadequate data; and definitions of infertility, stillbirth, and miscarriage may change among studies.

Nonetheless, this was a big, well-designed study, and the results remained mostly unaltered after additional analyses, indicating that the findings are sound.

“Having a history of recurrent pregnancy loss may be considered as a female-specific risk factor for stroke,” the researchers write.

They also advise that early monitoring of women with a history of miscarriage or infertility, as well as promoting healthy behaviours, may assist to reduce their risk of stroke later in life.

Follow Medically Speaking on Instagram

According to a new study, a group of researchers discovered vital genomic information that might help scientists build more effective treatments and prevention techniques for difficult-to-treat melanoma skin cancer.

The research was reported in the journal “Nature Communications.” Researchers from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) uncover and characterise critical aspects of a gene mutation that is responsible for 15 to 20% of all melanomas in this new article.

Also Read: Research: Skin disorders can affect mental health of children, young people

The research proves, using a preclinical laboratory model, that the frequency of a given NRAS gene mutation occurring in human melanoma is closely connected to that gene mutation’s potential to cause spontaneous melanoma development.

“This means that the properties of the mutant itself, rather than the ease with which that specific gene mutation occurs,” said corresponding author Christin Burd, an associate professor of molecular genetics in The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Molecular Genetics, and a member of the OSUCCC – James Molecular Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program.

“NRAS-mutant cancers are challenging to treat because effective therapies beyond immunotherapy don’t exist yet,” said Burd. “Each cancer type seems to prefer a specific ‘flavor’ of mutant NRAS, and it has not been clear why this is.”

The OSUCCC – James was curious about what distinguished melanoma-promoting NRAS mutations from those that promote other cancer types. According to the researchers, this understanding might help them pinpoint the early processes that lead to melanoma development and design therapies to avoid the cancer.

Burd and colleagues publish their findings in Nature Communications on June 7, 2022.

Follow Medically Speaking on Instagram

Andrea Benucci and colleagues at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science have built artificial neural networks that learn to detect things more rapidly and precisely.

The study, which was just published in the scientific journal PLOS Computational Biology, focuses on all of our unconscious eye movements. It demonstrates that they play an important role in helping us to recognise items consistently.

These discoveries may be used to machine vision, for example, to help self-driving cars learn how to distinguish crucial road elements.

Objects in the environment do not blur or become unidentifiable despite our frequent head and eye movements throughout the day, despite the fact that the actual information striking our retinas changes continually.

This perceived constancy is most likely enabled by brain copies of movement commands. These copies are supposed to be transmitted throughout the brain each time we move, allowing the brain to account for our own motions and maintain our perception steady.

In addition to steady perception, research shows that eye movements and associated motor duplicates may assist humans in recognising things in the world, albeit how this occurs is unknown.

Benucci created a convolutional neural network (CNN) that solves this challenge. The CNN was created to maximise item categorization in a visual scene while the eyes are moving.

First, the network was taught to categorise 60,000 black-and-white photos into ten groups. Although it performed well on these pictures, when tested with shifted images that mirrored naturally changing visual input that would occur as the eyes moved, performance plummeted to the level of chance.

However, categorization improved dramatically after training the network using altered pictures, as long as the direction and magnitude of the resulting eye movements were also incorporated.

In particular, adding the eye movements and their motor copies to the network model allowed the system to better cope with visual noise in the images. “This advancement will help avoid dangerous mistakes in machine vision,” said Benucci. “With more efficient and robust machine vision, it is less likely that pixel alterations–also known as ‘adversarial attacks’–will cause, for example, self-driving cars to label a stop sign as a light pole, or military drones to misclassify a hospital building as an enemy target.”

Also Read: WHO declares Monkeypox as Public Health Emergency

Bringing these results to real-world machine vision is not as difficult as it seems. As Benucci explains, “the benefits of mimicking eye movements and their efferent copies implies that ‘forcing’ a machine-vision sensor to have controlled types of movements, while informing the vision network in charge of processing the associated images about the self-generated movements, would make machine vision more robust, and akin to what is experienced in human vision.”

The next step in this research will involve collaboration with colleagues working with neuromorphic technologies. The idea is to implement actual silicon-based circuits based on the principles highlighted in this study and test whether they improve machine-vision capabilities in real-world applications.

According to reports, AIIMS Delhi Director Dr. Randeep Guleria is likely to be given a three-month extension. According to reports, the top decision-makers have agreed to extend Dr Guleria’s tenure as AIIMS Director.

The Prime Minister’s Appointments Committee (ACC) has requested further names for consideration for the position of AIIMS director from the Union Health Ministry.

According to sources, this does not mean that the names supplied before after being shortlisted by the search-cum-selection committee would not be considered.

Also Read: Unnoticed eye movements can be key for better self-driving cars: Study

According to reports, AIIMS Delhi Director Dr. Randeep Guleria is likely to be given a three-month extension. According to reports, the top decision-makers have agreed to extend Dr Guleria’s tenure as AIIMS Director.

The Prime Minister’s Appointments Committee (ACC) has requested further names for consideration for the position of AIIMS director from the Union Health Ministry.

According to sources, this does not mean that the names supplied before after being shortlisted by the search-cum-selection committee would not be considered.

Three persons have been arrested for attacking the medical staff of Neendakara Taluk hospital in the Kollam district, informed state president of KGMOA, Dr G S Vikayakrishnan on Wednesday.

The arrests were made after the Kerala Government Medical Officers Association (KGMOA) staged a protest against the attack. According to Dr G S Vikayakrishnan, the protesting doctors had demanded immediate arrest of the people who attacked health officials (doctor, nurse) and the security personnel on Tuesday night.

As per the KGMOA President, three “anti-social people” had attacked a doctor, security staff, and ambulance driver of Taluk hospital in Kollam with iron rods, due to which the nurse was admitted to a medical college as she sustained injuries to her scalp.

They claimed that everything transpired for no reason because they were irritated because of the complaint filed against them two days before for abusively threatening medical workers.

Notably, the accused took their mother to the hospital on Sunday, when they were instructed to wear a face mask and a large gathering was prohibited.

Also Read: AIIMS Delhi Director Randeep Guleria likely to get extension for three months

“The hospital attack is a continuous story in Kerala. In the last two years, there is a significant increase in such cases in both the government and private hospitals. We staged a protest boycotting the outpatient and casualty services in Taluk hospital,” the president said.

“We demanded to arrest the culprits as such attacks affect the hospitals. The reason behind this attack was the lack of security personnel…We need trained persons as security otherwise it will affect our morale,” the president added.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will lead a Covid review meeting with the core team of specialists on Thursday, according to reports. Sources from ANI have also verified that the meeting will take place in person in the afternoon.

Previously, on June 13, Mandaviya presided over a video conference with Health Ministers and top officials from States and Union Territories (UTs) to examine the success of the immunisation campaign HarGharDastak 2.0.

“COVID is not over yet. There are reports of rising cases of COVID in some states. It is important at this time to be alert and not forget COVID Appropriate behaviour (CAB) such as wearing masks and maintaining physical distance to prevent the spread of the infection,” he had stressed.

Mandaviya added that expanded and timely testing will enable early detection of COVID patients and assist to prevent the spread of the illness among the population, citing higher case positive in various districts and States and lower COVID-19 testing.

He had asked states and universities to maintain and expand monitoring while focusing on genome sequencing to find novel mutants/variants in the country.

Also Read: Kollam: Three arrested for attacking medical staff at hospital

He added that States/UTs must maintain and monitor the five-pronged strategy of Test, Track, Treat, Vaccination, and Adherence to Covid Appropriate Behavior (CAB).

States were also asked to prioritise the implementation of the COVID-19 Operational Guidelines for Revised Monitoring Strategy, which focuses on surveillance of incoming foreign travellers as well as surveillance through health institutions, labs, and communities.

Stressing on the importance of COVID vaccination among the vulnerable age groups, he urged the State Health Ministers to personally review the status and progress of the special month-long drive Har Ghar Dastak 2.0 campaign which started on June 1.

“Let us accelerate our efforts to identify all beneficiaries in the 12-17 age group for the first and second doses, so they can attend schools with the protection of the vaccine,” the health minister had said.

He had urged States for focussed coverage of 12-17 age groups through school-based campaigns (Government/Private/ informal Schools like Madrasas, Day Care Schools), along with targeted coverage of non-school-going children during the summer vacation.

He added that the population group of above 60 years of age is a vulnerable category and needs to be protected with the precaution dose.

“Our healthcare workers are going door-to-door to ensure that the vulnerable population is administered the precaution dose”, he said.

The States Health Ministers were urged to also review the administration of precaution doses to the 18-59 years age group with the private hospitals on a regular basis.

He said that we can utilize the learning from the first Har Ghar Dastak campaign to achieve 100 per cent coverage among the eligible population for ensuring extended protection against COVID.

“Adequate vaccine doses are available across the country. Let us ensure accelerated coverage of COVID vaccination during the second phase of the Har Ghar Dastak campaign,” he had stressed.

Latest Covid numbers

Meanwhile, India reported 13,313 new COVID-19 infections and 38 deaths in a 24-hour span, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The latest updates pushed the country’s overall COVID-19 numbers to 4,33,44,958 cases, 5,24,941 deaths and 83,990 active cases, the data showed.

With a rise in coronavirus infections in India, the government reported 13,313 new cases of Covid-19 in the previous 24 hours, up from 12,249 instances on Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

According to the Ministry, 10,972 persons have recovered from the virus, bringing the overall number of recoveries to 4,27,36,027, representing a 98.6 percent success rate. With the registered cases, India’s active caseload currently stands at 83,990, representing a 0.19 percent increase.

According to the Health Ministry, the country’s daily positivity rate is 2.03 percent, while the weekly positivity rate is 2.81 percent.

It also informed that at least 38 people have died in the last 24 hours due to the infection.

Cumulatively, 85.94 crore covid tests have been conducted in the country so far, of which 6,56,410 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours only.

Covid vaccines

According to the Health Ministry, 196.62 crore vaccine doses against the Coronavirus infection have been administered so far under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive of the Union Government.

According to the sources, amid rising cases of COVID-19 in India, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will chair a review meeting with the core team of experts today in the physical format in the afternoon.

Earlier, on June 13, Mandaviya chaired a meeting through video conferencing with Health Ministers and senior officials of States and Union Territories (UTs) to review the progress of the vaccination exercise HarGharDastak 2.0 campaign.

Highlighting increased case positivity in some districts and States and reduced COVID-19 testing, Mandaviya had stated that increased and timely testing will enable early identification of COVID cases and help to curb the spread of the infection among the community.

Also Read: Covid-19: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to chair review meet today

He had urged States and UTs to continue and strengthen the surveillance and focus on genome sequencing for identifying new mutants/variants in the country. He stated that the five-fold strategy of Test, Track, Treat, Vaccination and Adherence to Covid Appropriate Behavior (CAB) needs to be continued and monitored by States/UTs.