Dr. Gautam Menon and Dr. Giridhara R. Babu discuss whether India has gone past the peak. Dr. Menon says in major cities in India and in some districts adjacent to those cities that already have sufficient numbers of people infected with novel coronavirus, the number of new infections is going down. But one can't say … Continue reading Cannot emphatically say India has passed the COVID-19 peak
Bihar
How States have fared the COVID-19 fight
Unmindful of the high positive cases reported daily, Maharashtra has tested aggressively, while Delhi has done the opposite. Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have performed excellently, while Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Telangana have been laggards. Gujarat remains an enigma. On June 20, a month after 1,00,000 novel coronavirus cases were reported, India crossed … Continue reading How States have fared the COVID-19 fight
COVID-19 death is a wake-up call to improve surveillance in the area: Giridhara Babu
Increase in testing alone cannot explain an increase in the number of cases during the lockdown. It is also possible that the surveillance systems in some States might have missed a cluster or two of infections during the earlier phase of the outbreak, which has resulted in a large number of cases now being detected, … Continue reading COVID-19 death is a wake-up call to improve surveillance in the area: Giridhara Babu
It is safe to eat litchi fruit: Jacob John
Following the death of over 100 children in Muzaffarpur and a few more districts in Bihar due to hypoglycaemic encephalopathy, litchi sales has witnessed a 15-20% drop. According to a June 18 health ministry press release, “high percentage” of children who died had low blood glucose level. Bihar government had issued an advisory asking parents … Continue reading It is safe to eat litchi fruit: Jacob John
Explained: How litchi toxin is causing deaths in undernourished children in Muzaffarpur
Explained: How hypoglycaemic encephalopathy, which has caused most of the deaths in children in Muzaffarpur, is very different from encephalitis. And how the toxin in litchi is causing low blood sugar level, coma and even death in only undernourished children and how it can be prevented and treated. Acute encephalitis syndrome in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur has … Continue reading Explained: How litchi toxin is causing deaths in undernourished children in Muzaffarpur
CCMB researchers unravel the skin colour genetics of Indians
A study of skin colour of 1,167 people belonging to 27 ethnic groups living in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar found that social structure defined by the caste system has a “profound influence on skin pigmentation”. The skin colour was found to vary significantly among ethnic groups and social categories studied. Accordingly, Brahmins of Uttar Pradesh … Continue reading CCMB researchers unravel the skin colour genetics of Indians
Editorial: Under-5 mortality – The cost of negligence
The failure of successive governments in India, especially those in States that have the highest mortality rates among children younger than five years, to address the critical issue of training health-care providers in rural areas to correctly diagnose and treat children suffering from diarrhoea and pneumonia, has had tragic consequences. These ailments account for the … Continue reading Editorial: Under-5 mortality – The cost of negligence
Editorial: No reason to cheer
On the face of it, India may appear to have made great strides in reducing the maternal mortality rate by 65 per cent, from 569 per one lakh live births in 1990 to 190 in 2013. But scratch the surface, and the real picture emerges. In 2013, India had 17 per cent (50,000) of the … Continue reading Editorial: No reason to cheer
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