Zydus Cadila has received tentative approval from the USFDA to market Brivaracetam Tablets, in the strengths of 10 mg, 25 mg, 50 mg, 75 mg, and 100 mg (US RLD: Briviact Tablets). Brivaracetam is used to treat partial-onset of seizures (epilepsy).
The drug will be manufactured at the group’s formulation manufacturing facility at the SEZ, Ahmedabad. The group now has 319 approvals and has so far filed over 400 ANDAs since the commencement of the filing process in FY 2003-04.
In an unfortunate turn of events, a 60-year-old nurse, who was first infected with Covid-19 and recovered but was later infected with black fungus, died by committing suicide inside a bathroom at the medicine ward of Sri Padmavathi state Covid-19 hospital in Tirupati on Sunday, officials said.
According to the revenue divisional offcer of Tirupati, the deceased tested positive on May 4 and tested negative on May 13 after the treatment. She was admitted to Covid hospital at SVIMS campus in Tirupati on May 25 after she got infected with Black Fungus.
The doctors at the Covid hospital conducted a surgery on the nurse on June 10 and she was under observation. Her condition deteriorated. The hospital staff found her bpdy at about 4 am.
The kin of the nurse, however, accused the hospital authorities of negligence in treatment which led to a deterioration of her health. Other patients’ attendants also accused the hospital of negligence in treating the patients. They say the hospital does not have the sufficient number of doctors and nurses to treat black fungus patients.
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi will start recruitment for clinical trials of the indigenous Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine “Covaxin” from Tuesday on 6-12 years of age.
ANI reports that recruitment and clinical trials for single-dose COVAXIN for 12-18 age group is over and they have been given a single dose of vaccine.
After the recruitment of 6-12 year old children, AIIMS Delhi will be conducting trials for the age group of 2-6 year old. The trials are taking place at 525 centres.
India’s daily Covid rate continues to decline with 70,421 new Covid cases reported in last 24 hours. this is the lowest number of cases in last 72 days. As per a report by the Health Ministry, 1,19,501 discharges and 3921 deaths were reported in the day.
Total cases: 2,95,10,410
Total discharges: 2,81,62,947
Death toll: 3,74,305
Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is the number one killer in India, killing approximately 25 lakhs people every year. As per the data revealed by Delhi Economic Survey about 150 to 250 deaths happen in the city of Delhi every single day and out of these deaths, 25 to 45 deaths occurred due to Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA).
Every now and then, cases are being reported of a young person, previously hale and hearty, dying suddenly, due to ‘Sudden Cardiac Death” (SCD). One such case was experienced by Dr Nishith Chandra, DM Cardiology and Director of Fortis Escorts Hospital, Delhi. He saw a young man of his society die due to Sudden Cardiac Arrest.
According to World Health Organization, nearly 5.8 lakh people are dying due to heart attack in the world in a year. Nearly 1.15 lakh people die due to cardiac arrest every day in the world.
The most common cause of this is Ventricular Fibrillation. This is a medical term denoting, chaotic, very fast and ineffective cardiac activity, leading to cessation of blood flow to the vital organs, including brain, and if not restored in next 5 – 8 minutes, leads to irreversible brain damage and ultimately death.
“So, what could be done in 5 minutes, in a residential tower on 7th floor with nearest heart hospital at least 2kms away. If we wait for an ambulance or a doctor to arrive it takes at least 30 minutes, even if you are very near to a hospital. With each passing minute after a cardiac arrest, the chance of survival goes down by 10%. That means after 10 minutes of cardiac arrest, there are negligible chances of survival,” said Dr Chandra.
Dr Chandra then pointed out the significant role of technology that came up as a possible solution to avoid such situations. A device known as AED (Automated External Defibrillator) can be used by a layperson/bystander, to jumpstart the heart from the cardiac arrest.
He further answered certain queries that may arise upon the use of AED:
AED are small portable battery powered devices, which are designed to detect a ventricular fibrillation (Cardiac Arrest), and are able to deliver a shock, to correct it. AED uses sophisticated software to analyze the victim’s heart rhythm and determine if a shock is required to restart the heart. The electrodes which attach to the victim’s chest relay information to a computer inside the AED that analyzes whether a shock is necessary. A shock is only delivered by the AED if deemed to be needed (a sudden cardiac arrest event is detected) and the “shock” button is pressed by the rescuer. The electrodes will deliver a shock to the body which stun the heart allowing it to reset to a normal heart rhythm. It’s important to back away from the victim if the AED indicates it’s about to deliver a shock. Receiving this shock to restart the heart is essential to survival as there is only a 3–5-minute window before most individuals begin to experience brain damage.
AED is designed to be used by a lay person. A very short training of only 10-15 minutes, only which is required to use an AED. Even a 5th class student can learn to use AED, and it is safe. Most AEDs give a voice-based step by step instructions on
CPR is very important, but CPR alone is not enough. The odds of survival reduce by as much as 10% every minute the heart is not beating after a sudden cardiac arrest or cardiac event. The use of an AED along with CPR actually increases a person’s chances of survival by 75%. After 10 minutes without defibrillation, very few people survive. EVERY MINUTE COUNTS!
AEDs are designed to be very safe. There are zero chances of getting a shock while using it. An AED cannot shock a person whose heart is in normal rhythm. Most AEDs will clearly tell you something along the lines of: “Stay clear of the patient” and will warn you not to touch the patient before pressing the shock button and administering the shock.
Should you happen to have a hand on the patient while a shock is administered, you may feel a slight tingle. Proper placement of AED pads are unlikely to cause any harm. All you have to do is follow the prompts and you will be safe. If a person does not have a “shockable” rhythm, the AED will not allow the delivery of a shock.
The Centre on Friday said that the ICMR’s fourth round of national-level sero survey to assess the intensity of the spread of Covid-19 in India will begin this month, but all states/UTs should be encouraged to conduct them so that information from all geographies can be collected.
The government said on Friday that there is no need to panic on the need for an immediate change in the dosage interval of Covishield vaccine, underlining that reducing the time gap requires proper scientific study in the Indian scenario.
Delhi government is focussing on ramping up hospital infrastructure to manage more number of patients in the event of another spike in cases of Covid-19 infection. Health minister Satyendar Jain on Friday visited one such facility– the under-construction building at Acharya Shree Bhikshu hospital that is adding 400 more beds to its existing capacity of 100.
“These 400 beds will be fully dedicated to Covid-19 treatment,” said Jain after his visit.
He asked the hospital to add two oxygen ports to each bed in the hospital and use the beds meant for patient attendants for treating Covid-19 patients. The minister’s suggestion came in the backdrop of patients having to share beds at many hospitals during the peak of the second wave of Covid-10 in April-May surge, when over 20,000 new cases were being reported every day.
At Lok Nayak hospital, where a 1,500-bed block is coming up, the minister asked the team to add a temporary building that can house around 120 beds for Covid-19 patients.
Indian Medical Association (IMA) will lead a protest of healthcare workers on June 18 against the assault on healthcare professionals with the ‘Save the Saviour’ slogan. No hospitals will be closed. Doctors will bear a black badge, black mask, or black shirt: IMA President Dr JA Jayalal.
“Doctors serving in Covid wards have been beaten & brutally assaulted in Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, UP, and Karnataka. It is the responsibility of govt to ensure the safety & security of frontline workers who are working in a pandemic,” Dr JA Jayalal said.
“We demand that govt bring a central protection law with provisions under CrPC & IPC and also ensure that all govt and private hospital have a mandatory security structure,” the IMA President added.
Imphal: The health department of Manipur has suspended a medical officer of Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal after he was found to have manhandled a staff nurse on duty at the COVID-19 ward of the hospital.
The erring medical officer, identified as Dr Pangambam Bohnson Singh, was appointed on a daily honorarium basis at JNIMS. He reportedly manhandled a staff nurse while on duty at COVID-19 Ward 3.
The incident happened on Wednesday and was captured on CCTV. Later, the footage went viral, after which the JNIMS management came to know about the matter.
On Thursday, JNIMS director Prof Th Bhimo Singh instructed the medical superintendent, doctors in charge of COVID-19 ward 3 and other officials to hold an inquiry into the matter and submit a report. Failing which, the matter would be taken seriously and reported to the higher authorities for necessary action, he added.
Meanwhile, in a suspension order, principal secretary (health and family welfare) V Vumlunmang said that the inquiry against Dr Dr Pangambam Bohnson Singh of JNIMS is complete and he has been put under suspension from duty with immediate effect.
During the period of the order, the headquarters of Dr Pangambam Bohnson should be Imphal and he shall not leave the place without obtaining previous permission of the JNIMS management, said the order.
Dr Pangambam Bohnson shall also continue to be under administrative control of JNIMS and should abide by rules and he shall not be entitled to any emoluments during the duration of the suspension, it added.
Mass, indiscriminate and incomplete vaccination can trigger the emergence of mutant strains, said a group of public health experts, the doctors from AIIMS, and members from the national task force on Covid-19 in their latest report, which has been submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The experts from the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (IAPSM), Indian Public Health Association (IPHA), and Indian Association of Epidemiologists (IAE) said inoculating the vulnerable and those at risk, should be the aim at present, not the mass population-wide vaccination including children.
The panel also said that those who have had coronavirus infection need not to be inoculated. These people may be vaccinated after generating evidence that a vaccine is beneficial after natural infection.
The current situation of the pandemic demands that we should be guided by the logistics and epidemiological data to prioritise vaccination instead of opening vaccination for all age groups at this stage, the health experts said in the report.
The reports also stated that opening all fronts simultaneously will drain human and other resources and would be spreading it too thin to make an impact at the population level. In addition, unplanned vaccination can promote mutant strains, also vaccination of young adults and children is not supported by evidence and would not be cost effective.
Given the rapid transmission of infection in various parts of the country, it is unlikely that mass vaccination of all adults will catch up with the pace of natural infection among our young population.
The vaccines should be administered considering evidence-based flexibility in schedules for areas or populations experiencing a surge on account for specific variants. Vaccine is a strong and powerful weapon against the Covid-19, therefore, it should neither be withheld nor used indiscriminately, but should be employed strategically to derive maximum benefit in a cost-effective way, the report said.
Further, the experts have laid down few suggestions like implementing repeated local level serosurveys in real time at the end of the second wave to map the vulnerability at district level to guide vaccination strategy and long term follow up of the cohort of recovered Covid-19 patients to document re-infection, severity and outcome to provide evidence base on duration of immunity after natural infection.
They also suggested that ongoing research on vaccine effectiveness under field conditions by following cohorts of vaccinated and unvaccinated in different age strata should be prioritised.
Pointing out that India has done genome sequencing of less than 1 per cent of its positive samples, the experts have said that achieving a target of genomic sequencing of 5 percent positive samples looks challenging at the moment, but all efforts should be made to reach at least 3 per cent mark. Furthermore, they suggested adopting a syndromic management approach, which should put focus on making diagnosis based on clinical symptoms and epidemiologically linked suspects.