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86% new cases from 6 states, says Health Ministry

by Medically Speaking Team
written by Medically Speaking Team
WhatsApp Image 2021 03 03 at 9.01.01 PM

According to a recent report released by the Health Ministry, nearly 86% new cases have been reported along with 89 deaths in 6 states of India in the last 24 hours. While more than 1.66 crore doses of vaccine have been administered till 7 a.m. today.

Health ministry said that a total of 17,407 new cases have come out today from Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka collectively.

With this figure, India’s active caseload has reached 1,73,413 today. Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 9,855 with maximum casualties (42). This is the highest number recorded in Maharashtra since 18th October when 10,259 new cases were reported. It is followed by Kerala with 2,765 and 15 deaths while Punjab reported 772 new cases and 12 deaths in the last 24 hours.

On the other hand, nearly 1 million doses have been distributed across the country in these 24 hours.

More than 1.66 cr (1,66,16,048) vaccine doses have been administered through 3,23,064 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today. These include 67,90,808 HCWs (1st dose), 28,72,725 HCWs (2nd dose), 58,03,856 FLWs (1st dose) and 4,202 FLWs (2nd Dose), 1,43,759 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities (1st Dose) and 10,00,698 beneficiaries aged more than 60 years.

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Nirmala Sitharaman takes Covid-19 Vaccine

by Medically Speaking Team
written by Medically Speaking Team

The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman takes first jab of Covid-19 vaccine and thanked sister Ramya PC for her care and professionalism.

“Got my first dose of the vaccination against COVID-19 this morning. Thanking sister Ramya PC, for her care and professionalism. Fortunate to be in India, where development and dissemination has been prompt and affordable.” She tweets

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Reuters: UK to receive 10 million AstraZeneca doses from India

by Medically Speaking Team
written by Medically Speaking Team
  • astrazeneca

Reuters: The UK government announced on Tuesday that it will receive 10 million doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine that is developed by the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, the Serum Institute of India, along with Oxford University, for dozens of poor and middle-income countries.

Reuters reported in February that Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) was auditing the manufacturing processes at SII to pave the way for the AstraZeneca vaccine to be shipped from there to the UK.

Although this may ignite a controversy that wealthy Western countries are procuring vaccine doses at the expense of poor countries. Alain Alsalhani, Vaccines and Special Projects Pharmacist with NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres, said he was worried about potential delays. “This announcement is a concern as we were under the impression that AstraZeneca would manufacture doses for the UK and Europe in Britain and in the European Union,” he said. “If SII exports doses to Europe, we can genuinely ask ourselves if AZ and SII delivery timelines to the COVAX mechanism in the first half are not going to be subject to delays.”

According to an official data, Britain has been ahead at inoculating people, with nearly 20.5 million residents receiving the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine so far. Separately, the European Union’s drug regulator is auditing the manufacturing site of SII, Reuters reported on Monday. AstraZeneca has committed to delivering 180 million doses in the second quarter to the EU.

Dozens of low-middle-income countries ranging from Bangladesh to Brazil are dependent on SII’s AstraZeneca, branded Covishield but demand has been growing in western countries.

SII is also providing doses to the COVAX programme backed by the World Health Organization and GAVI vaccine alliance. The UK government said the agreement follows assurances from the SII that providing doses to the UK would not impact its commitment to provide vaccines to poorer countries.

Italian non-governmental organisation Emergency remained concerned, however: “The acquisition by the UK is just another example of how the countries with the highest incomes continue to enjoy privileges at the expense of the poorest ones.”

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Mumbai Police fined 58,000 people for not wearing masks

by Medically Speaking Team
written by Medically Speaking Team
mask

Mumbai Police has taken action against 58 thousand people walking without masks in the last 13 days. In view of the growing case of Corona in Mumbai, Mumbai Police is now investigating upon anyone found without mask and seizing those found guilty.

With 9,855 new cases in the last 24 hours, Maharashtra’s Covid-19 tally went up to 2,179,185 on Wednesday, according to figures released by the state health department. This is the highest single-day jump since October 17 last year. Of the total new cases, 1,121 came from Mumbai. The western state’s positivity rate has climbed to 13.2 per cent.

Keeping in mind that people have not been taking the precautionary measures seriously, the Maharashtra Police has started imposing fines on those who roam around without masks.

According to the information received from Mumbai Police spokesperson S. Chaitanya, in the last 13 days, the Mumbai Police has procured more than Rs. 1 crore 16 Lakhs from people not wearing masks.

Earlier only BMC used to inquire on people who didn’t wear masks, but in view of the increasing cases, the government also asked Mumbai Police to wear masks and take strict action against those not wearing it.

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Maha Covid Spike: 1121 cases in last 24 hrs

by Medically Speaking Team
written by Medically Speaking Team
  • odisha covid 19 1585929659

Where on one hand, the largest vaccine drive crossed 1 crore mark, the number of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra is uncontrollably spiking on the other. A total of 1121 cases came out in the last 24 hours in Mumbai with 6 casualties.

The report is based on the information received from various hospitals and data uploaded by certified labs on GOI ICMR portal/ Covid Portal. In a report by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, it was revealed that the total number of patients recovered and discharged in these 24 hours was 734.

For more updates on Covid-19, stay tuned to www.medicallyspeaking.in

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Dr Harsh Vardhan releases WHO’s World Report on Hearing

by Medically Speaking Team
written by Medically Speaking Team

On the occasion of World hearing day the Union Health Minister Dr.Harsh Vardhan released WHO report that observed 2 % of India’s population , maily children, suffered fom the condition of Otitis Media.

“So prevalent is the condition that some people even consider it natural for a child’s ears to discharge.”

Dr. Harsh Vardhan also observed and highlighted other hearing loss related problems due to high noise levels at workplaces, on the roads, hearing loss due to the use of ototoxic medicines and chemicals, the dangers of loud music and unsafe listening to people’s hearing health (with over 750 million smart phone users in India).

He also informed audience about the study, “A multi – centric cross-sectional survey conducted as per the WHO recommended Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) sampling technique assessed 92,097 people in the community across 6 sites in India. Age-appropriate audiological testing as per WHO norms including pure tone audiometry, tympanometry, oto-acoustic emissions, behavioral observation audiometry and ENT examination were all undertaken onsite in a specially designed sound treated audiological bus.” The sample size makes this the world’s largest such study to-date.           

“The results have showed a changing profile of hearing loss in India’s population and in tune with similar changes in other countries as they move forward in economic development. The study showed that the disabling hearing loss affected 2.9% of the population and was noted to effect communication, education and work. The rural population had a far greater prevalence of hearing loss. The prevalence of total hearing loss, unilateral &bilateral was found to be as high as 9.93%. The geriatric population accounted for 40.5% of all hearing loss and 72.4% of all disabling hearing loss. The study also made a major contribution in identifying the risk factors associated with Sensory Neural Hearing Loss (SNHL): Smokeless Tobacco consumption, Heavy smoking, Leisure and work-related noise, and also excessive Residential Noise, are all noted as risk factors associated with SNHL.” states the release 

Dr. Harsh Vardhan also informed the audience that with the COVID pandemic abating in India, the government plans to further strengthen our work on ear and hearing care based on the recommendations of the report:

  • By improving services at community and primary levels through training of health workers for task sharing, in line with the strategies outlined in the report.
  • Expanding access to affordable hearing technologies for all those in need.
  • Using the power of Information Technology (IT) to raise awareness among our youth on safe listening as a means of hearing loss prevention.
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World Hearing Day 3rd March , 2021:Hearing care for ALL! Screen. Rehabilitate. Communicate

by Medically Speaking Team
written by Medically Speaking Team

By Dr Prachi Jain

Mr. Kaushal is a 60-year-old gentleman, he used to run a chemist shop in a local market. Mr. Kaushal had problem of hearing, which initially started with one ear and slowly developed in the other ear. He was not able to hear things clearly during a conversation in the Park as well as in his shop due to noisy background. His wife often complained that he talks very loudly over phone and watched TV at a very high volume. Due to this gradual loss, he stopped going to the park as he was not able to participate in the discussions in the park. He finally sold his shop as it was becoming difficult to manage. During covid time with the masks he was not able to lip read and started isolating himself even with grandchildren and guest with the fear of loss of connection over the discussion. Once he went into a depression and self-isolation, at that time his daughter did seek a medical advice. He visited me and on checking his hearing (Audiometry) he was found have severe loss in one ear and moderate loss in another ear. After counselling he agreed to wear hearing aid in his both the years. After few weeks of device adjustment, he is now able to hear people. His daughter says now he has started going to park and actively involved in the discussions at home as well as outside.

The Problem

Dr Prachi Jain says this kind of hearing loss leads to huge economic impact, leads to loss of productivity at work, people loose jobs and societal cost. WHO estimates that unaddressed hearing loss poses an annual global cost of US$ 750 billion. In developing countries, children with hearing loss and deafness rarely receive any schooling. Adults with hearing loss also have a much higher unemployment rate. Among those who are employed, a higher percentage of people with hearing loss are in the lower grades of employment compared with the general workforce.

Improving access to education and vocational rehabilitation services, and raising awareness especially among employers about the needs of people with hearing loss, will decrease unemployment rates for people with hearing loss.

World Hearing Day

World Hearing Day is held on 3 March each year to raise awareness on how to prevent deafness and hearing loss and promote ear and hearing care across the world. This year the theme of the World Hearing Day is  Hearing care for ALL! Screen. Rehabilitate. Communicate.

  • Around 466 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss and 34 million of these are children. It is estimated that by 2050 over 900 million people will have disabling hearing loss.
  • People with hearing loss benefit from early identification; use of hearing aids, cochlear implants and other assistive devices; captioning and sign language; and other forms of educational and social support.
  • Current estimates suggest an 83% gap in hearing aid need and use, i.e., only 17% of those who could benefit from use of a hearing aid actually use one.

What is hearing loss

Disabling hearing loss refers to hearing loss greater than 40dB in the better hearing ear in adults and a hearing loss greater than 30dB in the better hearing ear in children.

What Are the causes of hearing loss :

Hearing loss may result from genetic causes, complications at birth, certain infectious diseases, chronic ear infections, the use of particular drugs, exposure to excessive noise, and ageing. 60% of childhood hearing loss is due to preventable causes.1.1 billion young people (aged between 12–35 years) are at risk of hearing loss due to exposure to noise in recreational settings.

How can we prevent hearing loss :

Half of all cases of hearing loss can be prevented through public health measures. In Children , Some simple strategies for prevention of hearing loss include:

  • immunizing children against childhood diseases, including measles, meningitis, rubella and mumps;
  • strengthening maternal and child health programmes, including promotion of safe childbirth;
  • following healthy ear care practices, reducing exposure (both occupational and recreational) to loud sounds by raising awareness about the risks; developing and enforcing relevant legislation; and encouraging individuals to use personal protective devices such as earplugs and noise-cancelling earphones and headphones.
  • educating young people and population in general on hearing loss, its causes, prevention and identification.

Take home Message :

  • Good hearing and communication are important at all stages of life
  • Hearing loss (and related ear diseases) can be avoided through preventative actions such as: protection against loud sounds; good ear care practices and immunization.
  • Hearing loss (and related ear diseases) can be addressed when it is identified in a timely manner and appropriate care sought
  • People at risk of hearing loss should check their hearing regularly
  • People having hearing loss (or related ear diseases) should seek care from a health care provider

The writer is DR PRACHI JAIN ,CONSULTANT ENT AND HEAD AND NECK SURGERY, ALCHEMIST HOSPITAL, PANCHKULA, HARYANA

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COVAXIN Phase – 3 Trials shows 81% efficacy

by Medically Speaking Team
written by Medically Speaking Team

India’s homegrown indigenous vaccine has shown 81% efficacy in phase-3 clinical trials. The phase – 3 clinical trials was conducted on 25,800 participants who received a vaccine or placebo in a 1:1 ratio.

“Today is an important milestone in vaccine discovery, for science and our fight against coronavirus. With today’s results from our Phase 3 clinical trials, we have now reported data on our COVID-19 vaccine from Phase 1, 2, and 3 trials involving around 27,000 participants.COVAXIN®️ demonstrates high clinical efficacy trend against COVID-19 but also significant immunogenicity against the rapidly emerging variants,” said Dr. Krishna Ella, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Biotech.

 BBV152 contains a whole virion inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, which is produced in Vero cells. It is stable at 2 to 8°C (refrigerated) and is shipped in a ready-to-use liquid formulation that permits distribution using existing vaccine supply chain channels. BBV152 has a 28-day open vial policy as a unique product characteristic, thus reducing vaccine wastage by approximately 10-30%.

 BBV152 is based on an established manufacturing platform with a better safety profile when compared to other vaccine platforms. The inclusion of the Algel-IMDG adjuvant enhances T-cell immune responses to COVID-19, leading to long-term protection.

 “I want to thank every one of the participants, who volunteered to participate in this vital clinical trial, our partners, principal investigators across 25 study sites, and our team at Bharat Biotech who dedicated their time to this vaccine discovery,” said Mrs. Suchitra Ella, Joint Managing Director, Bharat Biotech. “We could not have achieved this public-private partnership milestone without the relentless commitment of those involved.”

“Bharat Biotech expects to share further details of the trial results as additional data become available. An additional interim analysis is planned for 87 cases, and the final analysis is planned for 130 cases. All data from the second interim and final analyses will be shared via pre-publication servers as well as submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.” Says the statement released by Bharat BioTech

Dr. Krisha Ella’s Video byte – https://we.tl/t-WEbutiiBiE
Mrs. Suchitra Ella’s video byte -https://we.tl/t-oXp0kbXXJx

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Center allows 29 private Hospitals in Mumbai to provide Jab

by Medically Speaking Team
written by Medically Speaking Team
covid vaccine

Mumbai: 29 private hospitals which are not enrolled for any government health scheme have been allowed by the Centre on Tuesday to join the Covid-19 vaccination drive and accelerate vaccine administration. The decision from Centre came late on Tuesday after an online meeting with BMC.

The vaccine in these hospitals will begin administration in the next couple of days, allowing the state to issue an order and mobilising of vaccine stocks and staff, said civic officials.

The president of Associations of Hospitals (AOH), Gautam Khanna said, “Most of us were already vaccinating our health staffers, so some centres will be ready before the rest. However, we may not be able to take walk-in registrations immediately.”

The move buoyed the BMC that faced heat on Monday for overcrowding at centres. The enthusiastic response from the elderly saw Mumbai’s turnout jump by over 240%— from 1,982 on Monday to 6,853 on Tuesday. Across the state, senior citizens led the charge, accounting for 12,300 of the 16,111 vaccinated—a 130% rise over the previous day.

22 civic vaccination centres are already active. Since the hospitals empanelled under the CGHS, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana were only 55 and with no infrastructure or manpower, civic authorities took the decision to enrol these major hospitals.

Dr Gautam Bhansali, who coordinates between public and private hospitals, said most private hospitals should be able to start by Thursday. “Some hospitals are yet to be inspected by BMC. All these should happen in the next few days,” he said. The hospitals were not able to vaccinate even their own staffers since Saturday since Co-WIN was updated.

Dr Santosh Shetty, CEO of Kokilaben Ambani Hospital in Andheri, which is among the 29 private hospitals that have got permission to vaccinate senior citizens, said: “More the number of hospitals, more people can get vaccinated. People want to get the vaccine at a hospital they are comfortable with and closer to their home,” he added.

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