Coronavirus Cases: 34,823,216
Deaths: 1,033,174
Recovered: 25,889,974
Active cases: 7,900,068
Currently Infected Patients: 7,833,778 (99%) in Mild Condition
66,290 (1%) Serious or Critical
Closed cases – 26,923,148
Cases which had an outcome: 25,889,974 (96%) Recovered / Discharged
1,033,174 (4%) Deaths
Acccording to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare India’s today data on COVID-19 related deaths cross 1 lakh mark with 1,069 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. With 79,476 new cases, the tally reaches 64,73,545 including 9,44,996 active cases, 54,27,707 cured/discharged/migrated cases & 1,00,842 deaths.
The safety of a vaccine must be monitored throughout its lifecycle, No vaccine is 100% safe says Dr. Gagandeep Kang, one of India’s highly regarded clinical scientists and professor at Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory, Christian Medical College, Vellore.
Q. What do you think about the safety of a vaccine? Q. Do you think no vaccine is 100 percent safe?
A. We won’t know till we see the vaccine being used in many thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands. Usually, when vaccine manufacturers are asked to manufacture vaccines, there are pre-clinical trials, i.e. animal testing, and then in clinical trials, they first test on tens, then on hundreds, and then on thousands of people. The safety of a vaccine candidate must be monitored throughout the entire lifecycle of the vaccine, before and after licensure. So far, from all the vaccines we have seen, there seems to be some fever, swelling, redness, while some people feel unwell, so no major safety signals yet. But so far, we also don’t have safety data from phase three trials. No vaccine has zero effects. Every injection causes pain, redness and swelling. Many vaccines have minor side effects, some vaccines have major side effects, but it’s very rare. For example, a person can get paralysis from GBS syndrome, from the viral injection, and can get it from the vaccine also, but it’s very rare; chances of it happening are one in a lakh. The oral polio vaccine causes polio in a million children but we still use it because the benefit of preventing polio is much greater than the risk of a small number of children getting polio because of the vaccine. So, no vaccine is 100 percent safe. But you have to bear the risk and benefit and then decide if the risk is lesser than the benefit, and then go ahead with it for the public health purpose of using the vaccine.
Q. How to test the efficacy of a vaccine?
A. The efficacy of a vaccine is tested in phase three trials, and phase three trials are done in many thousands of people. The idea here is to give the vaccine and wait for them to naturally develop the infection. If the people who are vaccinated are less infected than the people who are not vaccinated, then you know that the vaccine works.
Q. When India will get a vaccine?
A. Most of the vaccines are in phase two trials at the moment. The vaccine that will most likely move faster is going to be the Oxford vaccine because its clinical efficacy is already being tested outside the country. So, if the vaccine works outside the country and we get the vaccine being evaluated for immunogenicity in the country, then we can take the results from outside the country and get the vaccine licensed in India. So, that will be the fastest. For others, we will have to do phase three trials, and then we will see what the results of those are and license them. It may be early next year for the Oxford vaccine. And for other vaccines, it depends on when they start their phase three trials and what their recruitments look like. However, licensure is unlikely before the middle of next year.
Q. A recent study says that the role of children has been underestimated. Children are very likely to transmit the virus further. How do children transmit the virus?
A. That’s not unexpected because we know that children share a high risk of the virus. I don’t think people are looking at it in the right kind of way. But you should be expecting children to transmit the virus just like others transmit it.
Q. How do the elderly have a surprisingly low mortality rate in India, as compared to other countries?
A. This is something called the survival effect. It means that if you are over 70 years old in India, you probably belong to a higher socioeconomic status because if you were older and had co-morbidities, you would have died of something else before Covid. This is the survival effect, where a population itself is special because it has been able to overcome the challenges which other people have succumbed to.
Q. As per a study, India reported people dying within a period of 6-7 days after the tests. What can be the reason behind this?
A. People came late to the hospitals for treatment in India. If they came early, they could have had more time for treatment in the hospital. When they come late, it becomes difficult.
Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director of the WHO South-East Asia Region, talks about the pandemic and whether we are witnessing a second wave of the disease worldwide.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Guardian, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh spoke at length about efforts being made to develop a vaccine, and How people can protect themselves because in some countries after less cases again they are witnessing surge once again. Excerpts from the interview:
Q. How world can beat this pandemic?
A: We do not know how long it will last. Till such time there are safe and effective vaccine or medicines for Covid-19, we must continue to fight this virus using public health measures that we know work — that is test, track, isolate and treat. People should be encouraged to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour such as proper wearing of masks wherever recommended, physical distancing, hand hygiene, and cough etiquette. These are our best defenses against Covid-19, and they work as seen in countries that have curtailed virus transmission using these measures.
Q. Do you think there is a second wave of the disease in the world?
A: Nine months into the pandemic, Covid-19 cases globally are still rising. Some countries that were able to curtail transmission, are witnessing a surge once again. Clearly, we need to remain vigilant. We cannot let our guards down. We should continue our efforts to suppress Covid-19 transmission.
Q. What precautions are needed to keep ourselves and healthcare workers should take to protect themselves?
A. Practising physical distancing, hand hygiene, cough etiquette are best ways to protect against Covid-19. A healthy diet and physical activity are also a must for physical and mental wellbeing.
Q. Why so many healthcare workers are dying?
A.It is true that an alarming number of healthcare workers have been infected with Covid-19, and WHO is closely following this issue through our global networks. Some of the factors that are contributing to infections in health workers are the lack of PPE or the proper training to use it.
The WHO has been addressing this issue since the beginning. Globally, around 14% of Covid-19 cases reported to the WHO are among health workers, and in some countries it can be as much as 35%, although data are limited.
Health workers are facing tremendous challenges globally — including healthcare-associated infections, such as violence, stigma, psychological and emotional disturbances, illness and even death.
Furthermore, working in stressful environments makes health workers more prone to errors which can lead to patients’ harm.
It’s important that we prioritise safety for healthcare personnel — both physical and mental — because let’s also not forget that it’s only when they are safe that the patients they are caring for will be safe too.
Q. When do you think the world will get a vaccine?
A. So far there is no vaccine to prevent Covid-19, but work is underway across the globe to find one that is effective and safe. Of the over 200 vaccine candidates in development, over 10 are being tested in humans, and a few are entering Phase III trials soon. The WHO is working with companies and sponsors, as well as with Gavi, CEPI and others through the ACT Accelerator to expedite vaccine testing, as well as the scale-up of manufacturing so that countries will have access to sufficient doses if and when a vaccine is available. Globally, investments are being made in manufacturing of promising candidate vaccines even before the Phase III trial results are in. There are many unknowns in this process. It is hoped that if a successful vaccine is found by the end of the year, there will be enough doses available for countries by the end of 2021 so that those in priority populations, who choose to be vaccinated, have access to them. The WHO will propose solutions on a fair and equitable distribution of vaccines, for member states to consider.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) is tweeted the list of doctors who their lives due to COVID-19. The percentage of doctors who lost their lives can be more than 515 in numbers. According to the updated list by Indian Medical Association, more than 515 doctors succumbed during COVID-19 crisis in the country and this number is increasing day by day. IMA database says the doctor-patient ratio is 1:94. A majority of doctors 201 were in the age group of 60-70yr of age. Above 70years of age doctors are 66, 50-60years were 171who killed,59 doctors are between the age 35-50 years of age and 18 doctors are who died were less than 35years of age.
“IMA dedicates the sacrifice of 515 Indian doctors in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic to the nation. We salute these martyrs. We salute all the nurses and the healthcare workers who sacrificed their lives as well. The mortality rate in drs& health caregivers is 9 times more than the general population.” IMA tweets
“From today onward 25000 patients will not get medical care daily which was available to them daily through them
Our homage to these soldiers.”Say’s Dr. R N Tondon, Former General Secretary, IMA
“Families of healthcare workers are also at risk. Unfortunately, govt has no data on deceased doctors & healthcare workers. The number of deaths is much more than published data. India should care for its healthcare workers.” Say’s Dr Ravi Wankhedkar, Former President, IMA
There are vacancies for total 42 posts , which includes 19 vacancies in Ministry of Defence (MOD) and 23 vacancies in Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOFHW).The online application process will be closed on 15 October at upsc.gov.in
UPSC recruitment 2020 : Post wise vacancy details
Ministry of defence – 19
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare – 23
The candidate with an MBBS degree can apply for post specialist Grade -3 Assistant Professor (Clinical Haematology) , Immuno Haematology , Blood Transfusion and Medical Oncology. Atleast three years of experience in teaching is preferable.
Donald Trump announced early Friday about getting infected from COVID-19. Trump tweeted shortly “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We get through this TOGETHER!”
Later, the first lady wrote on Twitter that she and her husband were “feeling good.”
India crosses landmark milestone of less than 10 lakh Active Cases for 11th consecutive day .The last 10 lakh recoveries added in just 12 days.
With a very high number of COVID patients recovering every single day, India’s steady trend of posting high level of daily recoveries also continues.78,877 recoveries have been registered in the last 24 hours in the country. This has resulted in continuous increase in the national recovery rate, which is currently pegged at 83.70%.
India’s total recoveries are 53,52,078 today. The last 10 lakh recoveries were added in just 12 days. With this, India continues to maintain its global position of being the country with maximum number of recovered COVID patients in the world.
76.62% of the active cases are in 10 States/UTs.
As on date, the active cases contribute only 14.74% to the positive caseload of the country. Maharashtra is leading the States’ tally with more than 2.5 lakh cases. Karnataka follows with more than 1 lakh cases.
A total of 81,484 new confirmed cases have been reported in the last 24 hours in the country.
78.07% of the new cases are concentrated in ten States/UTs. Maharashtra contributed more than 16,000 to the new cases. Karnataka has contributed around 10,000 cases and Kerala follows with more than 8,000.
Dr Narender Saini
SARS-CoV-2,Covid 19,Update
Cases : 34,481,663 deaths 1,027,653 USA : Cases 7,494,671 death 212,660
India : Cases 6,394,068
death :99,773
Brazil : cases 4,849,229 deaths 144,767 (worldometer)
India : Active 942217
Discharged, 5352078 (83.70 %) death, 99773 (1.56%)
Covid 19 : Some still unanswered question
One of COVID-19’s scariest mysteries is why some people are mildly ill or have no symptoms and others rapidly die
-A 59 year old man came to my lab,walking with no co-morbid condition,tested positive got admitted and dies after 4 days ?
-A 90 year old man,tested positive and a case of chronic bronchitis, not hospitalized and survived ?
-Why Children and females are showing milder disease and less mortality ?
-An international team of researchers found that in some people with severe COVID-19, the body goes rogue and attacks one of its own key immune defenses instead of fighting the coronavirus. Why ?
-And separate research suggests that children fare better than adults thanks to robust “first responder” immune cells that wane with age.
-Latest explanation is Type I interferons, deficiency which defends the cell by interfering with viral growth.
Readers response
face coverings (nose & mouth) should be part of new normal.
Smoking in any form at this time should be banned in public places as it may increase the spread of virus
Teamwork and feeling of openness is important for winning this Corona war
Namaste
Dr Narendra Saini
Chairman Scientific
committee DMC
Chairman AMR committee IMA Hq
Past Sec Gen IMA
Director SAINI DIAGNOSTICS ICMR approved lab for RTPCR testing
According to the third serosurvey report of Delhi which was submitted yesterday, 25.1 percent of the participants have developed antibodies that are less compared to the last sero survey report. In the last survey, it was 28.7 percent which has shown more antibodies. According to the experts, this could be attributed to “diminishing antibodies”. The first serosurvey in July had found a seroprevalence 22.83percent. The latest sero survey was done between the period of 1st-15sept. A total of 17,409 samples from 11 districts studied.
The third sero survey has shown highest prevalence of antibodies in Southeast district 33.2percent and lowest in Southwest district at 17.4percent
“The next serosurvey will start within 15 days,” Say’s Satyendar Jain, Health minister Delhi