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Affecting around a tenth of rural populations in India every year, 'scrub typhus' infection, spread by the bite of an infected larval mite (chigger), could be an "under-recognised" leading cause of hospitalisations for fever, a study has suggested. The study, conducted by the Christian Medical College, Vellore, and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), looked at over 32,000 people from across 37 rural villages in Tamil Nadu, with its results published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Chiggers are found on grass, plant litter and bare soil across rural areas of Asia, and usually feed on small mammals such as rats and shrews. Scrub typhus is caused by the bacterium 'Orientia tsutsugamushi', which belongs to the rickettsia family. Severe illness due to the infection can lead to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), shock, meningitis and kidney failure. Rural areas in India are among the most affected by the potentially life-threatening infection, along w
The charitable trust that runs Mumbai's well-known Lilavati Hospital on Tuesday alleged that funds to the tune of over Rs 1,500 crore were misappropriated by its former trustees and other related individuals. The Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust (LKMMT) has lodged separate complaints with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and at the Bandra Police Station in this regard. It has also claimed black magic was performed in the hospital premises by erstwhile trustees and related individuals. The complaints allege the misappropriation, uncovered during a forensic audit of Lilavati Hospital's financial records, has impacted the trust's operations and healthcare services provided by the leading private medical facility located in upscale Bandra area. "We filed complaints which translated into FIRs due to the orders of the Bandra Magistrate Court. More than three FIRs have been filed against the former trustees and other related individuals. A fourth proceeding against these individuals
Doctors said Monday that Pope Francis is no longer in imminent danger of death as a result of pneumonia but have decided to keep him hospitalised for several more days to receive treatment. In a late update, the doctors said the 88-year-old pope remains stable and has consolidated improvements in recent days, as determined by blood tests and positive responses to drug treatments. However, in view of the complexity of the clinical picture and the important infectious picture presented on admission, it will be necessary to continue medical drug therapy in a hospital setting for additional days, according to the Vatican statement. Francis followed the Vatican's week-long spiritual retreat via video-conference on Monday as he continued his recovery from double pneumonia and looked ahead to the 12th anniversary of his election amid questions about what the future of his papacy might look like. As he did on Sunday, Francis participated in the retreat remotely from the Rome hospital where
Delhi's healthcare system is set to undergo a major overhaul, with the city government planning a slew of reforms, including a pilot project to improve hospital infrastructure and management, Health Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh has said. A few pilot projects will be launched soon to improve healthcare services, including polyclinics that will offer primary and secondary daycare while also collecting patient data, he told PTI in an interview. The government will address the manpower shortage by facilitating the recruitment of doctors and healthcare professionals. Under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, Delhi government hospitals will receive higher quality medicines to ensure effective treatment, Singh said. In its first Cabinet meeting, the city's new BJP government approved the scheme that Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said had been blocked by the previous AAP dispensation. The Cabinet also approved healthcare coverage of Rs 10 lakh for each beneficiary of the sch
The government has started a survey to identify the gaps and review infrastructure of all district hospitals in order to implement the budget announcement of setting up daycare cancer centres in all health facilities over the next three years. The estimated expenditure for setting up these centres will be Rs 3,200 crore over the next three years, Union Health ministry officials said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech that the government will facilitate setting up of daycare cancer centres in all district hospitals over the next three years and 200 of these will be established in 2025-26. "This will lead to an increase in access to quality cancer care for more people especially in rural areas. Also this will reduce the burden on tertiary care centres, allowing them to focus on more complex cases, by offering such services at district level," she said. A senior official said these will be four-six bedded centres and will focus on providing chemotherapy ...
A man armed with a pistol and carrying zip ties entered a Pennsylvania hospital's intensive care unit on Saturday and took staff members hostage before he was killed by police in a shootout that also left an officer dead, authorities said. Three staffers at UPMC Memorial Hospital, including a doctor, a nurse and a custodian, and two other officers were shot and wounded in the attack, York County District Attorney Tim Barker said. A fourth staff member was injured during a fall, Barker said. Gunfire erupted after officers from several different agencies went to engage the shooter, who Barker identified as Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, 49. He said Archangel-Ortiz was holding at gunpoint a female staff member hostage who had her hands tied with zip ties when police opened fire. "This is a huge loss to our community," Barker said at a press conference following the shooting. "It is absolutely clear, and beyond any and all doubt, that the officers were justified in taking their action using
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea of an NGO seeking direction to the Centre and the Delhi government to grant Rohingya refugees based in the national capital access to public schools and hospitals. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh is scheduled to hear the plea. On January 31, the top court asked the NGO Rohingya Human Rights Initiative to apprise the court about the places where these Rohingya refugees are settled in Delhi and the facilities accessible to them. It had asked senior advocate Colin Gonsalves to file an affidavit indicating their places of settlement in Delhi. Gonsalves said the NGO sought access to public schools and hospitals to Rohingya refugees as they were denied the access due to lack of Aadhaar cards. "They are refugees having UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) cards and therefore they can't have Aadhaar cards. But, for want of Aadhaar they are not being granted access to public schools and hospitals,"
More than 250 persons fell ill due to suspected food poisoning after attending a village fair in western Maharashtra's Kolhapur district, police said on Wednesday. About 50 persons were undergoing treatment at hospital at Shirol at present and the condition of all of them was said to be stable, said an official of Kurundwad police station. A fair had been organised at Shivnakwadi village on Tuesday where 'kheer', a sweet preparation made from milk, was served as 'prasad', he said. "People started complaining of diarrhoea, nausea and fever since today morning. So far, 255 people have fallen sick due to suspected food poisoning. Most of them are claiming that they had 'kheer' at the fair. But there were food stalls too," the police official said. More than 50 persons were undergoing treatment at the hospital and the rest were discharged, he said, adding that all the admitted patients were stable. "Food samples from the fair have been sent to the forensic laboratory to ascertain if i
A nine-year-old girl died at a hospital here on Wednesday, taking the number of mysterious deaths in a remote village in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district to 15 in one-and-a-half months while the police set up a special investigation team to probe the reason for the fatalities. Jammu and Kashmir Health Minister Sakeena Masood ruled out any mysterious disease as the reason for the deaths in Badhaal village, saying all tests conducted both within and outside the Union Territory have shown negative results. On Wednesday evening, Zabeena, who was undergoing treatment at the SMGS hospital in Jammu, died, the officials said, adding her four other siblings and their grandfather died over the past four days. All the victims showed similar symptoms such as vomiting and loss of consciousness, they said, adding that six children of Mohammad Aslam were admitted to the hospital on Sunday and only one of them was still fighting for life. The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the BJP launched a scathi
Multispecialty AIG Hospitals will be investing Rs 800 crore in a new dedicated oncology centre here. The Board of AIG Hospitals has also approved the acquisition of Proton Beam Therapy system from Belgium-based IBA, a supplier of equipment and services in the field of proton therapy. "The acquisition of the Proton Beam Therapy System and the strategic partnership with IBA represent a transformative step forward in our mission to provide cutting-edge, compassionate care," AIG Hospitals chairman Dr D Nageshwar Reddy said, in a press release. AIG Hospitals has entered into an agreement to acquire a state-of-the-art Proteus-ONE Proton Therapy System including DynamicARC from IBA, according to the release from the hospital. With this new delivery technique called DynamicARC proton therapy, the system will be the first-of-its-kind installation in Southeast Asia. This strategic acquisition marks a significant milestone in AIG Hospitals' commitment to delivering the most advanced, effectiv