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The healthcare sector in India still doesn't know the exact nature of the burden of long Covid with OPDs seeing a surge in patients but no proper documentation. That's the gap researchers in Gandhinagar have set out to fill with a review of various studies so the big picture becomes clear. Researchers from the Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar (IIPHG) are in the process of identifying studies to be included for the review to help discern an overall pattern in trends, including effects and risk factors. The review is funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Despite visible, grave symptoms, long Covid continues to evade diagnosis, as scientists have found no significant laboratory markers that could indicate its presence. "Long Covid is definitely a chronic condition, but we do not know the exact nature of its burden," said Komal Shah, associate professor at the IIPHG. "Studies report a surge in out-patient department (OPD) cases, especially among those wi
The CIA now believes the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from a laboratory, according to an assessment released Saturday that points the finger at China even while acknowledging that the spy agency has low confidence in its own conclusion. The finding is not the result of any new intelligence, and the report was completed at the behest of the Biden administration and former CIA Director William Burns. It was declassified and released Saturday on the orders of President Donald Trump's pick to lead the agency, John Ratcliffe, who was sworn in Thursday as director. The nuanced finding suggests the agency believes the totality of evidence makes a lab origin more likely than a natural origin. But the agency's assessment assigns a low degree of confidence to this conclusion, suggesting the evidence is deficient, inconclusive or contradictory. Earlier reports on the origins of COVID-19 have split over whether the coronavirus emerged from a Chinese lab, ...
China on Friday played down reports of a massive outbreak of flu in the country overwhelming hospitals, saying that cases of the respiratory diseases which occur during the winter were less severe this year compared to last year. The Foreign Ministry here said it is safe for foreigners to travel to China. Respiratory infections tend to peak during the winter season in the northern hemisphere," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told the media here in response to a question on the spread of influenza A and other respiratory diseases in China. Videos circulating on social media show overcrowded hospitals. "The diseases appear to be less severe and spread with a smaller scale compared to the previous year," she said. I can assure you the Chinese government cares about the health of Chinese citizens and foreigners in China. It is safe to travel in China," she said. She also referred to guidelines issued by the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration of Chin
The Malappuram District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered a private hospital and a doctor in Kochi to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation for providing unnecessary Covid-19 treatment to a patient who had tested negative. The ruling came in a complaint filed by Soji Reni, a resident of Kakkadampoyil, in Malappuram. According to the complaint, Soji Reni and her husband sought treatment at the hospital on 26 May 2021 for certain health issues. However, the hospital allegedly concealed the fact that she had tested negative for Covid-19 and proceeded with Covid related treatment, causing undue physical and mental distress. According to the complaint, an antigen test was conducted, but the result was indeterminate and later an RT-PCR test was performed to confirm the diagnosis. Despite the test showing negative, the hospital failed to inform the patient and instead proceeded with Covid-19 related treatment, it added. Soji Reni, admitted to the intensive care unit, was unable
Symptoms of long Covid, including fatigue and brain fog, have been linked to damage to the brainstem or the brain region, which acts as a "critical junction" between consciousness and all that is physically happening in the body, according to a study. The brainstem connects the spinal cord to two main parts of the brain -- cerebrum and cerebellum. Often dubbed as the 'control centre' of involuntary functions, the brainstem regulates basic life-sustaining activities such as breathing, heart rate and sleep, and located at the base of the brain. Symptoms of long Covid have been studied to persist in some patients for up to two years following initial infection. The previous studies have found prolonged inflammation to be one of the main drivers of long Covid. In this study, the researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, UK, looked at high resolution MRI brain scans of 30 patients, who had severe COVID-19 early in the pandemic, and found that the infection caused ...
Karnataka Minister H K Patil on Thursday said the Justice John Michael Cunha panel in its report on the COVID-19 management has mentioned irregularities to the tune of crores of rupees' during the previous BJP government in the state. The preliminary inquiry report has been assigned to a team of officers comprising Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Secretary and some other officers to analyse it and file the report in a month, Patil, who holds law and parliamentary affairs portfolio, told reporters after the cabinet meeting. The minister said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah raised the subject related to Justice Michael D'Cunha commission's report on irregularities during COVID-19 pandemic. The report has been submitted comprising five to six volumes, he added. Justice D'Cunha has mentioned about the irregularities to the tune of hundreds of crores of rupees. There is also reference to the missing files. The report has taken into account the publi
Sluggish growth in domestic consumption, rising food inflation and slow recovery of exports post the Covid pandemic are some of the challenges faced by the tea industry, a senior official said. Tea producer associations and the Tea Board India have been concerned over the muted demand growth in the country, he said. The remarks came from Sanjay Shah, chairman of the Federation of All India Tea Traders Association (FAITTA), during its 10th annual general meeting here on Saturday evening. As retailers within the FAITTA fold, we are witnessing the market movements from close quarters. It is a fact that loose tea consumption has been giving way to packet tea, Shah said. Rising levels of food inflation also remain a concern area, as it adversely impacts consumption, he said. Given that incomes do not adjust as fast as prices, high inflation in essentials tend to adversely impact demand for non-essentials. Even within essentials, consumers may shift to lower priced non-premium products,
The new Covid wave in Singapore is a "milder infection" and there was no need for panic and Tamil Nadu has the required infrastructure to face any situation, a top official said on Wednesday. Dr T S Selvavinayagam, Director, Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (DPHPM), said "there has been no significant (hospital) admissions" in Singapore following the outbreak. "In the last few weeks, it is being reported that there are Covid cases in South Asian countries like Singapore. As far as we (TN) are concerned, there is no need for any apprehension...the Singapore variant, KP.2 is a sub variant of Omicron and has been reported in some parts of India," he said. As many as 290 cases of KP.2 and 34 cases of KP.1, both sub-lineages of Covid-19 that are responsible for surge in cases in Singapore, have been found in India, according to official data. In a video released by the DPHPM, Selvavinayagam said the variant has been "so far giving only milder infection, no severe ...
Singapore is seeing a new COVID-19 wave as the authorities recorded more than 25,900 cases from May 5 to 11 even as Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Saturday advised the wearing of masks again. We are at the beginning part of the wave where it is steadily rising, said Ong. So, I would say the wave should peak in the next two to four weeks, which means between mid- and end of June, The Straits Times newspaper quoted the minister as saying. The Ministry of Health (MOH) said the estimated number of COVID-19 cases in the week of May 5 to 11 rose to 25,900 cases, compared with 13,700 cases in the previous week. The average daily COVID-19 hospitalisations rose to about 250 from 181 the week before. The average daily intensive care unit (ICU) cases remained low at three cases, compared with two cases in the previous week. The MOH said that to protect hospital bed capacity, public hospitals have been asked to reduce their non-urgent elective surgery cases and move suitable patients to ...
Nearly one-third of the individuals who received Bharat Biotech's anti-Covid vaccine Covaxin reported 'adverse events of special interest,' or AESI, according to a one-year follow up study conducted by a team of researchers at BHU. Nearly 50 per cent of 926 study participants in the study complained of infections during the follow-up period, predominated by viral upper respiratory tract infections. Serious AESI, which included stroke and Guillain-Barre syndrome, were reported in one per cent of individuals, the study, which looked at long-term safety of the BBV152 vaccine in adolescents and adults, claimed. Published in the journal Springer Nature, the study comes in the wake of UK pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca admitting its Covid vaccine can cause rare side-effects of blood clotting and lowering of platelet count in UK court. "Close to one third of the individuals developed AESIs. New-onset skin and subcutaneous disorders, general disorders, and nervous system disorders were th