Cambridge (United Kingdom): In light of recent concerns surrounding potential rare side effects of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, the pharmaceutical giant has reiterated its commitment to patient safety while emphasising the vaccine's overall safety profile. An AstraZeneca spokesperson stated, "Our sympathy goes out to anyone who has lost loved ones or reported health problems. Patient safety is our highest priority, and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines." This comes in the wake of a recent admission by AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company, that its Covid vaccine Covishield and Vaxzevria "can, in very rare cases, cause Thrombosis Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS)." Despite these rare occurrences, the pharmaceutical company maintains that extensive clinical trial data and real-world evidence consistently support the vaccine's safety and efficacy. Regulatory agencies worldwide continue to assert that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of such extremely rare side effects. According to several UK media reports, AstraZeneca has made the admission in court documents in connection with a case that alleges that the vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, caused death and serious injury in dozens of cases. The Serum Institute of India produced COVID-19 vaccine named Covishield but not using mRNA platform. It has been prepared using the viral vector platform. In the vaccine, a chimpanzee adenovirus - ChAdOx1 - has been modified to enable it to carry the COVID-19 spike protein into the cells of humans. This cold virus is basically incapable of infecting the receiver, but can very well teach the immune system to prepare a mechanism against such viruses. The same technology was used to prepare vaccines for viruses like Ebola. Notably in 2023, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in its report that TTS emerged as a new adverse event following immunisation in individuals vaccinated with COVID-19 non-replicant adenovirus vector-based vaccines. This refers to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 ChAdOx-1 vaccine and the Johnson &amp; Johnson (J&amp;J) Janssen COVID-19 Ad26.COV2-S vaccines. "TTS is a serious and life-threatening adverse event. WHO has issued this interim emergency guidance to increase awareness about TTS in the context of COVID-19 vaccination and help healthcare providers in the assessment and management of potential TTS cases," the 2023 statement by WHO read. However, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in March 2024 at 'ANI Dialogues - Navigating India's health sector' said that ICMR has done a detailed study which shows that COVID-19 vaccine is not responsible for heart attacks, and an individual's lifestyle and factors such as binge drinking could be among underlying causes. Mandaviya said, "If someone has a stroke today, they think it is because of the Covid vaccine. ICMR has done a detailed study that the (Covid) vaccine is not responsible for heart attacks." —ANI

In light of recent concerns surrounding potential rare side effects of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine

AstraZeneca Reaffirms Vaccine Safety Amidst Rare Side Effect Concerns

New Delhi: An application was moved in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking to issue direction to form a medical expert panel to examine Covishield vaccine side effects.
 The plea has been moved by advocate Vishal Tiwari, who also urged the court to issue directions to the Centre to establish a vaccine damage payment system for the citizens who became severely disabled as a result of a vaccination drive during COVID 19.

In the plea, advocate Vishal Tiwari sought direction to constitute a medical expert panel comprising medical experts from the All India Institute of Medical Science, Delhi headed by its director and supervised by the retired justice of the Supreme Court of India, to examine the Covishield vaccine side effects and its risk factors. The application also sought to issue directions to Centre to compensate the people who are severely disabled or died because of the side effects of Corona vaccine administered to them during COVID 19.
 In the application, advocate Vishal Tiwari mentioned the recent disclosure that the Covishield vaccine had caused and may cause side effects in rare cases, as its developer and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has said that its AZD1222 vaccine against COVID-19, which was made under licence in India as Covidshield, could cause low platelet counts and formation of blood clots in "very rare" cases. AstraZeneca has accepted a link between the vaccine and Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), a medical condition characterised by abnormally low levels of platelets and the formation of blood clots. AstraZeneca's vaccine formula was licenced to Pune-based vaccine maker Serum Institute of India (SII) during the coronavirus pandemic for the manufacture of Covishield.
More than 175 crore doses of Covishield have been administered in India, advocate Vishal Tiwari said. Advocate Tiwari, in the application, said that after COVID-19, there has been an increase in the cases of death due to heart attacks and sudden collapse of persons.  "There have been a number of cases of heart attacks, even in youngsters. Now, after the document filed in UK court by the developer of Covishield, we are compelled to think upon the risk and hazardous consequences of the Covishield vaccine, which has been administered to citizens in large numbers (sic)," the application read.
 "The government is required to take immediate steps for the sake of the safety and health of Indian Citizens. The issue has to be looked upon by the Union Government on priority so that in future no risk may occur regarding the health and life of Indian Citizens," the application read.
 In some countries, like UK there is Vaccine damage payment system for people who gets severely disabled due to vaccination, the application said. (ANI)

An application was moved in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking to issue direction to form a medical expert panel to examine Covishield vaccine side effects.

Application in SC seeking medical expert panel to examine Covishield vaccine side effects

New Delhi: Medical expert Dr Rajeev Jayadevan said that Thrombosis Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) refers to the clot in blood vessels, and it occurs in very rare cases, following the use of certain types of vaccines. Acknowledging that the Covid vaccines have helped in preventing numerous deaths, Jayadevan, who is the Co-Chairman of National Indian Medical Association (IMA) Covid Task Force in Kerala, stated that reports of such cases have also been highlighted in many reports. "TTS is thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, which is basically clot in blood vessels of the brain or elsewhere, along with a low platelet count. It is known to occur in very rare instances following certain types of vaccines and also from other causes. According to the WHO, adenovirus vector vaccines in particular have been rarely associated with this condition," he told ANI. "Although COVID vaccines have prevented numerous deaths, reports of these extremely rare but potentially serious immune mediated events have also been published in reputed journals," Dr Jayadevan added. This comes in the wake of a recent admission by AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company, that its Covid vaccine Covishield and Vaxzevria "can, in very rare cases, cause TTS." According to several UK media reports, AstraZeneca has made the admission in court documents in connection with a case that alleges that the vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, caused death and serious injury in dozens of cases. The Serum Institute of India produced COVID-19 vaccine named Covishield but not using mRNA platform. It has been prepared using the viral vector platform. In the vaccine, a chimpanzee adenovirus - ChAdOx1 - has been modified to enable it to carry the COVID-19 spike protein into the cells of humans. This cold virus is basically incapable of infecting the receiver, but can very well teach the immune system to prepare a mechanism against such viruses. The same technology was used to prepare vaccines for viruses like Ebola. Amid reports about clot in blood vessels in the UK media, the Serum Institute of India did not respond to the query. Notably in 2023, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in its report that TTS emerged as a new adverse event following immunisation in individuals vaccinated with COVID-19 non-replicant adenovirus vector-based vaccines. This refers to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 ChAdOx-1 vaccine and the Johnson &amp; Johnson (J&amp;J) Janssen COVID-19 Ad26.COV2-S vaccines. "TTS is a serious and life-threatening adverse event. WHO has issued this interim emergency guidance to increase awareness about TTS in the context of COVID-19 vaccination and help healthcare providers in the assessment and management of potential TTS cases," the 2023 statement by WHO read. However, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in March 2024 at 'ANI Dialogues - Navigating India's health sector' said that ICMR has done a detailed study which shows that COVID-19 vaccine is not responsible for heart attacks, and an individual's lifestyle and factors such as binge drinking could be among underlying causes. Mandaviya said, "If someone has a stroke today, they think it is because of the Covid vaccine. ICMR has done a detailed study that the (Covid) vaccine is not responsible for heart attacks." —ANI

Medical expert Dr Rajeev Jayadevan said that Thrombosis Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) refers to the clot in blood vessels

Clot In Blood Vessels Occurs In Rare Cases With Certain Vaccines: Medical Expert Amid Reports Over AstraZeneca

New Delhi: Researchers have developed a new AI-based model that can predict irregular heartbeat, or cardiac arrhythmia, about 30 minutes before its onset.
The researchers found that the model proved to be 80 per cent accurate in predicting the transition from a normal cardiac rhythm to atrial fibrillation, the most common type of cardiac arrhythmia in which the heart's upper chambers (atria) beat irregularly and are out of sync with the lower ones (ventricles).  The team, including researchers at the University of Luxembourg, said that their AI-model, which gives early warnings, could be easily installed in smartphones to process the data recorded on smartwatches. The warnings could allow patients to take preventive measures to keep their cardiac rhythm stable, they said. The study is published in the journal Patterns.  For developing the model, the team trained it on 24 hour-long recordings gathered from 350 patients at Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, China. The model, that the researchers have named WARN (Warning of Atrial fibRillatioN), is based on deep-learning, a type of machine-learning AI algorithms that learn patterns from past data to make predictions.  Deep-learning is more specialised as it has multiple layers in its decision-making process.  The researchers found that WARN gave early warnings, on average 30 minutes before the start of atrial fibrillation, and is the first method to provide a warning far from onset, they said.  "We used heart rate data to train a deep learning model that can recognise different phases—(normal) sinus rhythm, pre-atrial fibrillation and atrial fibrillation—and calculate a 'probability of danger' that the patient will have an imminent episode,' Jorge Goncalves, from the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg, and the study's corresponding author, said.  When approaching atrial fibrillation, the probability increases until it crosses a specific threshold, providing an early warning, Goncalves said.  Being of low computational cost, the AI-model is "ideal for integration into wearable technologies," the researchers said.  "These devices can be used by patients on a daily basis, so our results open possibilities for the development of real-time monitoring and early warnings from comfortable wearable devices," study author Arthur Montanari, an LCSB researcher, said.
—PTI

Discover how the WARN AI model developed by University of Luxembourg researchers can predict atrial fibrillation 30 minutes early with 80% accuracy.

Catching irregular beats: AI-model now able to predict cardiac arrhythmia 30 minutes before onset

Boston: For the first time in 50 years, a phase 3 randomised, placebo-controlled trial found that an adjuvant therapy improved overall survival in kidney cancer patients. According to a review of keynote-564 research findings, treating patients with clear-cell renal-cell carcinoma (ccRCC) at high risk for recurrence with pembrolizumab, an immunotherapy medication, following surgery significantly improved overall survival. Pembrolizumab reduced the risk of death by 38% compared to placebo. "We can now tell our patients that pembrolizumab after surgery not only delays recurrences but also helps them live longer," said the study's lead investigator Toni Choueiri, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Choueiri, director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana-Farber, is the first author of the study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Choueiri previously presented the findings at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary Cancer Symposium on January 27, 2024. The KEYNOTE-564 trial was designed to evaluate adjuvant pembrolizumab following nephrectomy (removal of the cancerous kidney) within 12 weeks prior to randomization. The double-blind, phase 3 study, carried out at hundreds of sites internationally, enrolled 994 patients who were randomized to pembrolizumab once every three weeks for about a year, or a placebo. Pembrolizumab targets a molecular pathway that cancer cells commandeer to evade attack by the body's immune system. By blocking this "checkpoint" pathway, the drug helps free the immune system's army of T cells to combat tumors. For inclusion in the trial, patients had to have a clear-cell component to their tumor and be at intermediate or high risk of recurrence. Some patients with resected metastases after nephrectomy were also eligible. For patients with ccRCC, surgery is intended to be curative. However, between 30 and 50% of patients can experience recurrence after surgery. Recurrences often result in metastatic disease, which is usually incurable. Investigators have been trying to find ways to reduce recurrences and prolong survival for this patient group since 1973, the date of the first randomized controlled trial of an adjuvant therapy. An adjuvant therapy is a medicine intended to enhance efficacy after primary treatment of the cancer, which in this case is surgery. "Since 1973, more than 12,000 patients with kidney cancer participated in adjuvant studies versus a control arm and none of the studies showed the experimental arm extends lives until now with the KEYNOTE-564 study," says Choueiri. "We showed pembrolizumab extends survival. It doesn't only delay recurrence." —ANI

For the first time in 50 years, a phase 3 randomised, placebo-controlled trial found that an adjuvant therapy improved overall survival in kidney cancer patients

Do You Know Immunotherapy Post-Surgery Improves Overall Survival For Kidney Cancer? Study Finds

New Delhi: The centre has taken cognizance of the charges made against multi-national food company, Nestle of adding sugar to infant food products in India. The investigation done by Public Eye, a Swiss investigative organisation reveals that despite stringent guidelines by the World Health Organization's (WHO) banning added sugars in baby food products, Nestle's baby food product Cerelac has been found to contain an average of nearly 3 grams of sugar per serving in India. ANI has learnt from government sources that India's food regulator "FSSAI is examining the report - will be placed before the scientific panel" Nestle responding to ANI queries said, "We believe in the nutritional quality of our products for early childhood and prioritize using high-quality ingredients. Over the past 5 years, Nestle India has reduced added sugars by up to 30%, depending on the variant, in our infant cereals portfolio (milk cereal based complementary food). We regularly review our portfolio and continue to innovate and reformulate our products to further reduce the level of added sugars without compromising on quality, safety and taste." The report, however, says Nestle has violated WHO guidelines against adding honey or sugar in baby food products not only in India but also in many Asian, African and Latin American countries. The report says that out of the 15 Indian Cerelac products tested, laboratory analyses revealed that each serving of cereal contained more than 2.7 gm of added sugar. While Nestle's labelling highlights the nutrients, added sugar is not as transparently displayed. The report further finds that Nestle was not following the WHO guidelines in poor countries, but was seemingly favouring higher-income countries. "Cerelac wheat-based cereals for six-month-old babies sold by Nestle in Germany and the United Kingdom have no added sugar, while the same product contains over 5 gm per serving in Ethiopia and 6 gm in Thailand," the study said. A recent WHO study found that over 11 per cent of Indians are diabetic and 35.5 per cent suffer from hypertension. WHO study warns that obesity has reached "epidemic proportions" in low- and middle-income countries and is accelerating the rise of cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. Increased consumption of ultra-processed foods high in sugar, is said to be one of the main causes of rising obesity. The investigation has examined 115 Nestle products across markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and revealed that 108 of them contained added sugar. —ANI

The centre has taken cognizance of the charges made against multi-national food company, Nestle of adding sugar to infant food products in India

FSSAI Examining Charges Against Nestle On Adding Sugar In Baby Foods: Govt Sources

Alphen aan den Rijn (Netherlands): Combining chemotherapy and hormonal therapy for patients with locally advanced prostate cancer provides longer control of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels than hormonal therapy alone, according to a study. The findings of the study were published in the April issue of The Journal of Urology, an Official Journal of the American Urological Association (AUA). Wolters Kluwer publishes the journal as part of its Lippincott portfolio. "Our clinical trial is the first to show a longer time to biochemical recurrence with chemotherapy plus standard hormone therapy for patients with locally advanced, high-risk prostate cancer," comments Jiahua Pan of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, People's Republic of China. "The findings add new evidence to support the use of combined chemohormonal therapy for a group of patients at high risk of recurrent, progressive prostate cancer." The randomized controlled trial included 141 men with locally advanced prostate cancer, in which cancer has spread outside the prostate to nearby tissues. All patients had clinical characteristics placing them at elevated risk of distant tumor spread (metastasis) after initial treatment. In a 2:1 ratio, patients were randomly assigned to treatment with the chemotherapy agent docetaxel plus hormonal (androgen deprivation) therapy or hormonal therapy alone. In both groups, these "neoadjuvant" treatments were followed by surgery (radical prostatectomy and extended lymph node dissection). The study focused on biochemical progression-free survival - control of serum PSA levels - as a sign of tumor control. Rising PSA levels are an early sign of recurrent or progressive prostate cancer. The study also looked at pathologic responses: whether the study treatments were effective in shrinking the prostate cancer before surgery. Both groups had good pathologic responses: the cancer was "downstaged" before surgery in 65% of patients assigned to chemohormonal therapy and 48% of with hormonal therapy only. The two groups also had similar rates of minimal residual disease - only a small number of cancer cells remaining after treatment. Chemohormonal therapy had a greater effect on biochemical progression-free survival. At three years' follow-up, 29% of patients receiving chemotherapy plus hormonal therapy remained free of rising PSA levels, compared to 9.5% with hormonal therapy only. Median time to rising PSA levels was 17 months with chemohormonal therapy versus 14 months with hormonal therapy alone. Patients receiving chemotherapy also had a higher treatment-free survival rate: 8.5% required no further prostate cancer treatment through five years' follow-up. The two groups had similarly low complication and adverse event rates. On its own, neoadjuvant hormonal therapy can improve tumor control in locally advanced prostate cancer, but studies have shown limited effects on patient survival. The combination of docetaxel chemotherapy and hormonal therapy has yielded inconsistent results, likely reflecting differences between studies. The new study is the first to show improvement in biochemical recurrence rate with chemohormonal therapy in this group of patients. The results also point to possible improvements in other important outcomes. The authors note that their study is limited by relatively short follow-up times - making it impossible to evaluate the effects on "more clinically significant endpoints," including overall survival and risk of death due to prostate cancer. "Our study suggests that neoadjuvant docetaxel-based chemotherapy could bring significant improvement for patients," the researchers write. They emphasize, "longer follow-up is needed for more supportive evidence." —ANI

Combining chemotherapy and hormonal therapy for patients with locally advanced prostate cancer provides longer control

How Adding Chemotherapy To Hormone Therapy Helps Control Locally Advanced Prostate Cancer: Study

Washington: The lifetime risk of atrial fibrillation (a heart disorder that produces an irregular and often excessively fast pulse rate) has risen from one in four to one in three during the last two decades, according to a Danish study. The findings of the study were published in The BMJ. And, among those with the problem, two in five are likely to develop heart failure over their lifetime, and one in five will have a stroke, with little or no change in risk observed during the 20-year study period. As such, the researchers say stroke and heart failure prevention strategies are needed for people with atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is estimated to affect 18 million people in Europe by 2060 and 16 million people in the US by 2050. In the English NHS alone, more new cases of atrial fibrillation are diagnosed each year than the four most common causes of cancer combined, and direct expenditure on atrial fibrillation has reached Pound 2.5 billion. Once atrial fibrillation develops, patient care has primarily focused on the risk of stroke, but other complications such as heart failure and heart attack have yet to be fully explored. To address this knowledge gap, researchers analysed national data for 3.5 million Danish adults with no history of atrial fibrillation at age 45 or older to see whether they developed atrial fibrillation over a 23 year period (2000-22). All 362,721 individuals with a new diagnosis of atrial fibrillation during this time (46 per cent women and 54 per cent men) but with no complications, were subsequently followed until a diagnosis of heart failure, stroke or heart attack. Potentially influential factors such as history of high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart failure, chronic lung and kidney disease, family income and educational attainment, were also taken into account. The results show that the lifetime risk of atrial fibrillation increased from 24 per cent in 2000-10 to 31 per cent in 2011-22. The increase was larger among men and individuals with a history of heart failure, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. Among those with atrial fibrillation, the most common complication was heart failure (lifetime risk 41 per cent). This was twice as large as the lifetime risk of any stroke (21 per cent) and four times greater than the lifetime risk of heart attack (12 per cent). Men showed a higher lifetime risk of complications after atrial fibrillation compared with women for heart failure (44 per cent vs 33 per cent) and heart attack (12 per cent vs 10 per cent), while the lifetime risk of stroke after atrial fibrillation was slightly lower in men than women (21 per cent vs 23 per cent). Over the 23-year study period, there was virtually no improvement in the lifetime risk of heart failure after atrial fibrillation (43 per cent in 2000-10 vs 42 per cent in 2011-22) and only slight (4-5 per cent) decreases in the lifetime risks of any stroke, ischaemic stroke, and heart attack after atrial fibrillation, which were similar among men and women. This is an observational study, so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, and the authors acknowledge that they may have missed patients with undiagnosed atrial fibrillation. Nor did they have information on ethnicity or lifestyle factors, and say results may not apply to other countries or settings. But despite these caveats, they conclude: "Our novel quantification of the long term downstream consequences of atrial fibrillation highlights the critical need for treatments to further decrease stroke risk as well as for heart failure prevention strategies among patients with atrial fibrillation." Interventions to prevent stroke have dominated atrial fibrillation research and guidelines during this study period, but no evidence suggests that these interventions can prevent incident heart failure, say UK researchers in a linked editorial. They call for alignment of both randomised clinical trials and guidelines "to better reflect the needs of the real-world population with atrial fibrillation" and say this robust observational research "provides novel information that challenges research priorities and guideline design, and raises critical questions for the research and clinical communities about how the growing burden of atrial fibrillation can be stopped." —ANI

The lifetime risk of atrial fibrillation (a heart disorder that produces an irregular and often excessively fast pulse rate) 

Common Complication Of Atrial Fibrillation: Study 

Maryland (US): According to a new study, nutrient-starved cells divert protein transport stations to cellular recycling centres to be broken down, highlighting a novel approach cells use to deal with stressful conditions. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a snaking membrane within the cell, produces new proteins destined for the outside world. Grape-like tubular outgrowths on the ER known as ER exit sites act as transport stations, collecting freshly synthesised proteins and transferring them to the next step in their trip. In recent years, scientists have discovered that these ER exit sites also help deliver cellular material and misfolded proteins to lysosomes -- organelles that degrade and recycle material in the cell -- and provide a platform for replication of viruses, including COVID-19. But researchers were perplexed how this one structure, the ER exit site, can participate in all these diverse functions. In a new study, researchers from HHMI's Janelia Research Campus, led by Ya-Cheng Liao, a former postdoc in the Lippincott-Schwartz lab and now an assistant professor at Columbia University, used super-resolution live cell imaging and volume electron microscopy to examine the effect of nutrient stress on ER exit sites. The team found that the stress triggers a series of molecules to work together to direct ER exit sites to lysosomes where they are destroyed - a novel pathway the cell may use to free up amino acids needed to make proteins inside the cell. First, the researchers showed how the ER exit sites are delivered to and ingested by certain types of lysosomes when cells are starved of nutrients. Next, the team detailed how this process happens. It starts when starving cells trigger the release of calcium from lysosomes. This causes an enzyme, ALG2, to get recruited to the ER exit sites where it binds to a structure called COPII that is attached to the neck that connects the ER to the ER exit site. This connection between ALG2 and COPII starts a process called ubiquitination, which is involved in protein degradation. A protein on the lysosome involved in bringing cellular material to the organelle for destruction recognizes the ubiquitin produced by the ubiquitination process, driving the ER exit site to the lysosome. Once at the lysosome, ALG2, which is attached to the ER exit site on one side, binds its other side to another protein, ALIX. ALIX interacts with ESCRT, a protein complex on the lysosome surface involved in ingestion. This interaction causes the ER exit site and the lysosome to become closer and closer until the ER exit site is engulfed and ingested by the lysosome. Along with looking at this process in live cells, the team also reconstituted it in an artificial system, confirming how all the different components work together. The new work details a novel pathway that cells use to combat stress, insight that could help researchers better understand how cells and organisms age. It could also shed light on other processes that involve the ER exit sites, including an unconventional way that viruses are delivered outside the cell through lysosomes, which could help researchers develop new treatments. —ANI

According to a new study, nutrient-starved cells divert protein transport stations to cellular recycling centres to be broken down

Starving Cells Take Over Protein Transport Stations: Study

Abuja: Nigeria has become the first country in the world to roll out the "revolutionary" new Men5CV vaccine against meningitis, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
Nigeria is one of the hotspots of the deadly disease in Africa. Last year, a 50% rise in annual cases was reported across 26 African countries regarded as meningitis hyperendemic countries, according to the WHO.  “Nigeria's rollout brings us one step closer to our goal to eliminate meningitis by 2023," Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General, was quoted as saying in a statement.  Between last October and mid-March this year, 1,742 cases were suspected in the country, with 153 deaths recorded in seven states in Nigeria, data from the WHO shows.  The new vaccine is reported to protect against the five major strains of the disease that are prevalent in Nigeria, unlike the initial vaccine that works against only one strain, said the WHO.
—Reuters

Nigeria introduces Men5CV vaccine to combat meningitis, targeting five major strains. This move supports WHO's mission to eradicate the disease by 2023.

Nigeria becomes first country to roll out new meningitis vaccine: WHO

Jodhpur (The Hawk): Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur researchers have developed a nanosensor that helps in the quick detection of Cytokines, a group of proteins that regulate various cells. This development aims to reduce the mortality rate occurring due to delayed diagnosis and a lack of early warnings. Moreover, the technology has immense potential to be used as a rapid and point-of-care technique for health monitoring, disease diagnosis, prognosis, and immune response tracking.   Cytokines are one of the many biomarkers of inflammation that are used for diagnosing diseases and tracking their progression. They play an important role in tissue damage repair, cancer development and progression, and modulating immune reactions. This is why they are important for developing precision medicine and targeted therapeutics for various conditions like oncology, infectiology and in rheumatological diseases, among others.   The work was published by Ms. Akilandeshwari B, Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering, Mr. Sarvar Singh, Department of Electrical Engineering, Prof. Ajay Agarwal, Head, Department of Electrical Engineering, and Prof. Sushmita Jha, Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering at IIT Jodhpur as a conference proceeding of 2023 IEEE Applied Sensing Conference (APSCON).   Talking about the developed technique and its future scope, Prof. Ajay Agarwal, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Jodhpur, said, “This technique which is currently in its development stage has provided exciting and encouraging results for three biomarkers i.e. interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-β (IL-β), and TNF-α which are key pro-inflammatory cytokines, released by inflammatory cells. As of now, the testing is done for controlled samples, but the team aims to take the technology to clinical trials soon. The group is also using this technique, to develop detection protocols for the early-stage and quick diagnosis of Sepsis and Fungal infections.”  This novel sensor developed at Indian institute of Technology Jodhpur uses Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy to detect analytes even at low concentrations, is based on semiconductor process technology and works on the principle of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS).   Hence, it makes this technique powerful and capable of detecting trace-level molecules with high precision and selectivity.   The most widely used techniques currently for cytokine detection are enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). These methods are reliable but highly time-consuming, requiring trained personnel and a long sample preparation or analysis time of over 6 hours. However, the sensor developed by IIT Jodhpur takes only 30 minutes in comparison and is also cost effective.   The developed sensor, a rapid and selective diagnostic technique, is used in conjuncture with AI for quick and accurate data processing and analysis. By getting a faster and more robust diagnosis of a person’s autoimmune diseases and bacterial infections, this sensor possesses the capability to transform a patient’s medical treatment. This way, a patient’s disease can be diagnosed and tracked promptly to guide the future course of treating them.

Discover IIT Jodhpur's revolutionary nanosensor for fast cytokine detection, aiding early diagnosis and tailored treatments.

IIT Jodhpur researchers develop Sensor to Track Disease Progression & Provide Rapid Medical Support

Indore: Eight persons allegedly suffered from side-effects after cataract surgery at a hospital in Indore last month, prompting the local administration to seal the medical facility's operation theatre and launch a probe into the matter, officials said on Sunday.
It is difficult to say whether these patients have lost their eyesight or not and things will be clear after the investigation, they said.  A managing trustee of the hospital, however said there was no negligence and claimed the eight patients had a 'reaction' in their eyes due to unknown reasons and all of them were discharged after treatment.
The local administration has constituted a three-member committee which has started the probe into the reasons for the side-effects suffered by the patients, District Blindness Control Society manager Dr Pradeep Goyal told PTI.  The cataract surgeries were carried out on 79 patients at government expenses on March 20 at the Choithram Netralaya here in Madhya Pradesh under the National Programme for Control of Blindness, he said.  After the surgeries, the health department got information through the hospital management about side-effects on the eyes of eight of these patients, he said.  "It is very difficult to tell right now whether the eight patients who underwent the cataract surgery have lost their eyesight or not. The situation will become clear only after the investigation is completed," the official said.  The hospital's operation theatre where the cataract surgeries was performed on these patients has been sealed, he said.  Ashwini Verma, a managing trustee of the Choithram Nethralaya, claimed there was no negligence at the hospital level in the cataract operation camp.  Eight patients, residents of different districts of Indore division, who attended the camp had a 'reaction' in their eyes due to unknown reasons and all of them have been discharged from the hospital after treatment, he said.
—PTI

Eight individuals report side-effects after undergoing cataract surgeries at a hospital in Indore, sparking an official investigation and sealing of the operation theatre.

8 patients suffer from side-effects after cataract surgery in Indore; hospital's OT sealed

New York [US]: The bird flu pandemic with the potential to be "100 times worse than COVID" may be on the horizon after a rare human case was discovered in Texas, experts have warned, the New York Post reported on Thursday. The H5N1 avian flu has spread rapidly since a new strain was detected in 2020 affecting wild birds in every state, as well as in commercial poultry and backyard flocks.
But the recent cases detected in mammals, with cattle herds across four states becoming infected and on Monday, federal health officials announced that a dairy worker in Texas caught the virus. "This virus [has been] on the top of the pandemic list for many, many years and probably decades," Suresh Kuchipudi, a bird flu researcher from Pittsburgh, said at a recent panel discussing the issue, the New York Post reported citing the Daily Mail. "And now we're getting dangerously close to this virus potentially causing a pandemic."
He noted that the H5N1 virus has already been detected in species throughout the world and "has shown the ability to infect a range of mammalian hosts, including humans." "So therefore, in my view, I think this is a virus that has the greatest pandemic threat [that is] playing out in plain sight and globally present," Kuchipudi said. John Fulton, a pharmaceutical industry consultant for vaccines and the founder of Canada-based BioNiagara who organized the meeting, also expressed his concerns, the Mail reports, the New York Post reported. "This appears to be 100 times worse than COVID -- or it could be if it mutates and maintains its high case fatality rate," he said. "Once it's mutated to infect humans, we can only hope that the [fatality rate] drops." Around 52 per cent of humans who have contracted H5N1 since 2003 have died, according to the World Health Organization. For comparison, COVID currently kills less than 0.1% of those it infects -- though at the start of the pandemic, the fatality rate was around 20 per cent.  Symptoms of the bird flu are similar to those of other flus, including cough, body aches and fever, the New York Post reported.
Some people may not develop noticeable symptoms, but others can develop severe, life-threatening pneumonia. The dairy worker in Texas who was infected has reported "eye redness (consistent with conjunctivitis)" as their only symptom, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted. "The patient was told to isolate and is being treated with an antiviral drug for [the] flu," the CDC said. The agency and "the whole US government is taking this situation very seriously," CDC Director Mandy Cohen told the Washington Post. She maintained that the virus does not pose much of a risk to the general public, noting that the dairy worker was in direct contact with infected cattle, and the US Department of Agriculture has said there are currently no changes that would make it more transmissible to humans. "While cases among humans in direct contact with infected animals are possible, this indicates that the current risk to the public remains low," the department said in a statement over the weekend. But the fact that the virus has been found in cattle could mean it is starting to mutate, Cohen told the Washington Post.
"We had not seen avian flu in cattle prior to last week. That is new," she said. "It is a reservoir for [the] virus to circulate and potentially change." If the virus does mutate enough to infect humans, it could spread rapidly, the European Food Safety Authority warned on Wednesday, according to Fox News. "If avian A [H5N1] influenza viruses acquire the ability to spread efficiently among humans, large-scale transmission could occur due to the lack of immune defences against H5 viruses in humans," the Food Safety Authority said. To prevent any potential spread, the US is already testing components used to create a vaccine for the virus, and two candidate vaccine viruses appear to be well-matched to protect against H5N1, the Washington Post reports. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said the Biden administration is monitoring the threat. "We take the health and safety of the American people seriously," she said at her briefing on Wednesday. "It is very important to this president. "Our top priority is to keep communities healthy, safe and informed."
—ANI

Experts warn of a potential bird flu pandemic with a rare human case in Texas, signaling a virus possibly 100 times deadlier than COVID.

Scientists warn of lethal bird flu pandemic, says could be '100 times worse' than COVID

It can be chaotic out there in the streets of Mumbai, with a lot of traffic and people moving around it. But amidst all that noise, there is an unseen story – one of silence battles and hidden wars. This picture: a young executive in a smart suit sips tea from his high-rise office and looks through the window to the world below. Success and accomplishment are what he stands for before others though deep down inside him; there is churning ocean currents of feelings, turmoil maze of fear. In each continent across the globe such as this story recurs because dark shadow of mental health imposing its long agonizing glance. The account points out how mental illness knows no national boundaries or differences in duties, jobs and social ranks. Let’s take this trip through the maze towards better understanding our collective consciousness interwoven with difficulties while searching for rays to enlighten our path further.  According to World Health Organization report 3 in 4 people worldwide suffer from depression. No longer confined to well-off nations, mental disorders are increasingly affecting poor countries too.Even though it is a problem that is spread all over, people are still not ready to talk about mental health. People do not feel comfortable discussing mental health or even listening to talks about it. This situation is the same for people from India and other great nations such as Russia, China and the US. According to the World Health Organization, health is more than just being free of diseases; it also covers social, mental, and physical well-being. A sick person may be defined as one who lacks well-being in these areas. In contrast, an individual with good health will exhibit contentment on these fronts while actively contributing to his/her community and working productively. Mental health directly determines one’s emotional status which in turn affects their ability to think effectively, understand concepts and perform tasks successfully.  Dementia, anxiety, depression among others are some of the mental disorders and they are the most common types of such diseases. However, one problem by which many people suffer all over the world is depression. Depression does not spare any individual irrespective of his age and status in society with its causes becoming more apparent every day.  Stress and depression cases have increased by 18% over the past decade according to WHO. In India, approximately 6.5-7.5 percent of the population suffers from mental health issues. Recognizing the seriousness of this issue concerning public health, India's Supreme Court has called for all judges to be aware about mental health matters saying that it has different meanings for everyone.  It's noteworthy that unemployment and poverty are significant contributors to mental depression. Statistics from the 2011 census reveal that nearly 78.62% of individuals suffering from mental disorders struggle with unemployment. Furthermore, the rising incidence of youth suicide underscores the severity of the mental health crisis. Young people, plagued by unemployment, often find themselves overwhelmed by negative emotions, leading them to contemplate drastic measures like suicide.Experts observe a correlation between economic downturns and increased instances of depression. In 2013, the WHO approved a comprehensive mental health action plan for the period 2013-2020, urging all countries to prioritize mental health improvement efforts. Despite India's adoption of this plan, the country's mental health situation remains dire.  Insufficient funding allocated to mental health exacerbates the problem. Currently, India allocates only 1.3% of its total healthcare expenditure to mental health, underscoring the inadequate attention given to this critical issue. Additionally, a shortage of mental health professionals further hampers efforts to address the crisis.  The stigma surrounding mental health in India impedes progress. Despite the staggering number of individuals affected by mental disorders, society often dismisses mental health concerns as imaginary. The lack of awareness and ignorance lead to the stigmatization of those suffering from mental illnesses, making it difficult for them to integrate into society.  Recent warnings from the WHO indicate that by 2024, over 20% of India's population will suffer from mental disorders. It's alarming that despite such a significant prevalence, mental health continues to be overlooked as a legitimate health concern in India.  Raising awareness and overcoming social stigma are critical steps towards improving mental health. With concerted efforts through effective awareness campaigns, this situation can be addressed. However, it's clear that addressing mental health challenges will require a multi-faceted approach encompassing healthcare, education, and societal attitudes.

Dive into the unseen story of mental health struggles, from Mumbai's high-rises to global corners.

Navigating the Labyrinth of Mental Health: A Journey of Challenges and Hope

New Delhi: Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and Delhi had a higher burden of breast cancer than eastern and northeastern states, according to an ICMR study that also projected a "substantial rise" in the disease burden in India by 2025.
The study, published earlier this month, focused on India's breast cancer burden at the state level from 2012 to 2016 in terms of years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), and to project the burden for 2025.  The burden of breast cancer among Indian women in 2016 was estimated to be at 515.4 DALYs per 1,00,000 women after age standardisation.
The burden metrics at the state level exhibited substantial heterogeneity.  "Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and Delhi had a higher burden of breast cancer than states in the eastern and northeastern regions. The projection for 2025 indicates a substantial increase, reaching 5.6 million DALYs," the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study said.  DALYs are a measure of overall disease burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death.  Rural women are less likely to develop breast cancer than their urban counterparts and age-standardised incidence rates are higher in urban and metro areas, with Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru and Delhi topping the list among Indian cities.  According to the projections, the burden of female breast cancer in India in 2025 is expected to be 5.6 million DALYs. Premature deaths due to breast cancer (YLLs) would contribute 5.3 million DALYs to the total burden, with the remaining due to disability (YLDs).  This study examined the state-wise burden of female breast cancer in India in 2016 using data from 28 population-based cancer registries across the country under the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP).  In 2018, age-standardised breast cancer incidence among women in south central Asia was 25.9 per 1,00,000 women, according to a Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) study.  According to a Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) study, the age-standardised breast cancer rate in south central Asia in 2016 was 21.6 per 1,00,000 women. These studies estimated the national and sub-national burdens using a wide range of data sources.  "However, our study only used data from population-based cancer registries under NCRP, which are mainly in urban areas. Rural women are less likely to develop breast cancer than their urban counterparts and age-standardised incidence rates are higher in urban and metro areas, with Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru and Delhi as the leading Indian cities," the researchers said.  Urban factors such as a sedentary lifestyle, high obesity rates, delayed age of marriage and childbirth and minimal breastfeeding have been attributed to a higher burden of breast cancer in urban areas.  "This is supported by our study's findings, which indicate that urban registries such as Chennai, Bengaluru and Delhi had higher incidence rates than rural registries," the researchers said.  Socioeconomic factors significantly shape the cancer burden, affecting access to health care, preventive measures and treatment outcomes.  Individuals with lower socioeconomic status encounter barriers to timely and quality health care, leading to delayed cancer detection, compounded by limited resources and health literacy, the study highlighted.  Occupational exposures and financial strain heighten cancer risks and impact treatment accessibility while geographical and psychosocial disparities further complicate the issue.  Research priorities may also inadvertently overlook cancers prevalent in lower socioeconomic groups.  Recognising and addressing these disparities is crucial for equitable cancer control, ensuring universal access to prevention, early detection and treatment, the study said.  "In India, the correlation between cancer prevalence and socioeconomic inequalities is evident, emphasising the need to reevaluate resource allocation and enhance access to health care and social support systems," it said.  The increasing incidence of breast cancer in India underscores the urgent need for comprehensive awareness campaigns and screening programmes, it emphasised.  A significant concern is that a majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer in the country present with advanced stages or metastatic disease, suggesting a lack of awareness.  "India faces remarkably low rates of breast cancer screening, encompassing self-breast examination and mammography," the study said.
—PTI

ICMR study projects a sharp rise in breast cancer in India by 2025, with urban areas and states like Tamil Nadu and Delhi at higher risk. 

Breast cancer burden higher in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Delhi, 'substantial rise' projected nationwide: ICMR study

New Delhi: Researchers at IIT-Guwahati have developed a novel algorithm called Unique Brain Network Identification Number to encode the intricate brain networks of healthy humans and patients with Parkinson's disease.
The study involved the analysis of structural brain MRI scans of 180 PD patients and 70 healthy individuals from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), India. The research funded by the Ministry of Education has been published in the journal Brain Sciences.  According to officials, the researchers adopted a network perspective, representing different brain regions as nodes and establishing connection values of the network based on regional grey matter volume.  Further, connection values for every node were weighted to capture the significance of each link by following a series of algorithmic steps, they said.  The obtained numerical representation (UBNIN) was observed to be distinct for each individual brain network, and also applicable to other neuroimaging brain modalities, they said.  This innovative research holds immense potential in the realm of brain printing and emerges as a promising biomarker with a numerical value for tracking mental illness progression over time, they said.
Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder, with clinical symptoms such as tremors, stiffness, and slow movement, worsens with age. However, neurodegeneration begins long before these symptoms appear, making early detection imperative for effective PD management.  "UBNIN is a special number representing unique characteristics of each human brain from a network perspective. Interestingly, we can also reverse engineer any human's UBNIN value to reconstruct the original brain network," said Cota Navin Gupta, Assistant Professor, Neural Engineering Lab, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati.  "This UBNIN algorithm will enable us to identify and characterise (encode-decode) brain networks of every human being efficiently 'Applying the UBNIN algorithm on longitudinal neuroimaging data (over time) holds promise for elucidating the dynamics of brain plasticity (changes in the human brain). This insight is crucial to understand how the human brain degenerates, and copes with damage due to underlying neurological diseases," Gupta added.  The developed UBNIN algorithm makes MRI data interpretable and holds the potential to transform neurodegenerative disorder diagnosis and treatment. This may be used as a biomarker to complement other diagnostic tests recommended by neurologists.  "UBNIN’s applications range from brainprinting to optimising storage for structural MRI brain networks. This could open avenues for low-bandwidth, high-speed information transfer of human brain networks for Telemedicine and related applications. UBNIN's adaptability could also be extended to other neuroimaging modalities like electroencephalogram (EEG), functional MRI (both resting and task-based), etc.  "It can also be applied to other neurological conditions like Schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, Depression, etc. Furthermore, it may be implemented on various datasets such as protein, social and traffic networks, making it a versatile tool for understanding complex system dynamics. We are now looking into the possibilities of using UBNIN as a potential biomarker to distinguish healthy and Parkinson’s at the group level," Gupta said.
—PTI

Discover how IIT-Guwahati's breakthrough UBNIN algorithm offers a new horizon in Parkinson's disease management by encoding brain networks.

IIT Guwahati's algorithm to encode brain networks of healthy humans, patients with Parkinson's

By Marthe Fourcade
The safety of intermittent fasting, a popular strategy to lose weight by limiting food intake to certain times, was called into question by a surprise finding from research presented at a medical meeting.  Limiting mealtimes to a period of just eight hours a day was linked to a 91 per cent increase in risk of death from heart disease in the study, which was released on Monday in Chicago. The American Heart Association published only an abstract, leaving scientists speculating about details of the study protocol. The study was reviewed by other experts prior to its release, according to the AHA.
Lifestyle interventions aimed at weight loss have come under scrutiny as a new generation of drugs help people shed pounds. Some doctors questioned the study’s findings, saying they could have been skewed by differences — such as underlying heart health — between the fasting patients and the comparison group, whose members consumed food over a daily period of 12 to 16 hours.  “Time-restricted eating is popular as a means of reducing calorie intake,” Keith Frayn, emeritus professor of human metabolism at the University of Oxford, said in a statement to the UK Science Media Center. “This work is very important in showing that we need long-term studies on the effects of this practice. But this abstract leaves many questions unanswered.”  The researchers, led by Victor Zhong of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, analyzed data from about 20,000 adults included in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.  The study looked at answers to questionnaires along with death data from 2003 through 2019. Because it relied in part on forms that required patients to recall what they ate over two days, scientists said there was room for potential inaccuracies. About half of the patients were men and the mean age was 48.
It wasn’t clear how long the patients continued the intermittent fasting, though the researchers assumed they kept it up, according to Zhong.  The fasting patients were more likely to be younger men with a higher BMI and food insecurity, he said by email. They also had a lower prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease based on self-reports. “We controlled for all these variables in the analysis, but the positive association between 8-h time-restricted eating and cardiovascular mortality remained,” Zhong said.  The abstract was presented at the AHA’s Lifestyle Scientific Sessions meeting in Chicago.
—Bloomberg

Study questions intermittent fasting safety for weight loss. Time-restricted eating linked to 91% higher heart disease mortality risk.

Intermittent fasting linked to 91% increase in risk of death from heart disease: Study

Washington DC: What role do our senses play in shaping our emotions? Does our brain and body react in the same manner when we hear a terrifying scream, see a strange shadow, or smell a nasty odor? And does listening to lively music or witnessing a bright landscape provide the same joy? In an innovative study published in Science Advances, researchers have unveiled new insights into the intricate relationship between emotion and perception. Led by a team of Italian neuroscientists from the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, and conducted in collaboration with the University of Turin, the research project investigates whether the brain employs sensory-specific or abstract codes to construct emotional experiences. "Emotion and perception are deeply intertwined, yet the exact mechanisms by which the brain represents emotional instances have remained elusive," says Giada Lettieri, researcher in psychology at the IMT School, and lead author of the study. "Our research addresses this fundamental question, providing critical insights into how the brain organizes and represents emotional information across different sensory modalities and as a result of past sensory experience." To conduct the study, the researchers showed the movie 101 Dalmatians to a group of 50 volunteers, and tracked with functional magnetic resonance imaging the brain activity associated with the unfolding of the movie plot. The viewers of the movie in the scanner were both individuals with typical development and congenitally blind and congenitally deaf volunteers, who were presented with the audio play and the silent version of the movie, respectively. The researchers also asked a group of 124 independent participants to express and rate their emotions while watching the same movie outside the scanner, trying to predict the brain response of people with and without sensory deprivation during the experience of amusement, fear, and sadness, among other emotions. "Including in the experiment individuals with congenital sensory deprivation - blind and deaf people - is a way to dissect and decipher the contribution of sensory experience to neural mechanisms underlying emotions" explains Luca Cecchetti, researcher at the IMT School, and senior author and supervisor of the study. "Our results show that emotions categories are represented in the brain regardless of sensory experience and modalities. In particular, there is a distributed network encompassing sensory, prefrontal, and temporal areas of the brain, which collectively encode emotional instances. Of note, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex emerged as a key locus for storing an abstract representation of emotions, which does not depend on prior sensory experience or modality." The existence of an abstract coding of emotions in the brain signifies that even though we are tempted to believe that our emotions directly depend on what happens in the surrounding world, it is our brain that is wired to generate emotional meaning regardless of whether we are able to see or hear. "In a world where sensory-deprived individuals are frequently overlooked, it is essential to understand how mental faculties and their corresponding neural representations can evolve and refine without sensory input, so to further advance the understanding of the emotion and the human brain," says Lettieri. —ANI

What role do our senses play in shaping our emotions? Does our brain and body react in the same manner when we hear a terrifying scream

Brain Builds Emotions Regardless Of The Senses: Study

New Delhi (The Hawk): “North India’s first Government Homoeopathic College, centrally funded at a cost of Rs.80 Crore will come up in Jasrota area of district Kathua in J&amp;K”, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science &amp; Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said in Kathua today. While continuing his consistent spree of development even after the declaration of his mandate for Lok Sabha, Dr Jitendra Singh today visited the proposed site of the college in Jasrota village, where work for the boundary wall has already started. The Minister was briefed by the engineers and senior experts from the Department of Ayush about the institution. Dr Jitendra Singh reiterated that the agenda of the Udhampur-Kathua-Doda Lok Sabha constituency, which was taken at hand soon after he was elected as Member of Parliament in 2014, will continue uninterrupted till the date of the declaration of election schedule and will resume immediately after the Model Code of Conduct is lifted. Dr Jitendra Singh expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi before whom this requisition was put up, and said it was a matter of pride for the people of Kathua that North India’s first government Homoeopathic College at a cost of 70-80 crore rupees will come up here. He said the institution will be spread over an area of more than 8 acres, adding that the adjoining three acres may also be added to the existing premises in due course of time.  “The proposed structure will include a hospital complex, a college, an administrative block and one hostel each for male and female students”, Dr Jitendra Singh informed. He further informed that the open space will be utilised later on for construction of an auditorium, playground, etc. Dr Jitendra Singh said, it will not only be a great boon for aspirants of Homoeopathy degree in North India, which was not available earlier, but this will also provide cost effective treatment to needy patients. “It will also be in keeping with Modi government’s healthcare approach which involves synergizing allopathic with Ayush streams of medicine, including Homoeopathy, Ayurveda and naturopathy”, the Minister added.  Dr Jitendra Singh stated that the experience after Covid has further consolidated this view that traditional Indian methods of medicine and cure have a panacea value. Highlighting the medical infrastructure of Kathua built in the last ten years, Dr Jitendra Singh said the district now has a government medical college and a cancer treatment facility being provided by Tata Memorial Centre, Bombay. “The addition of a government Homoeopathic College will make Kathua an integrated and cost effective healthcare centre of North India in times to come'', he underlined.  The Minister added that with this, Kathua is all set to emerge as North India’s cost-effective and state-of-the-art centre of medical facilities. Talking to media later on, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it is ironically hilarious and laughable that some of the critics who time to time deny any development having taken place in the constituency over the last 10 years are the ones who are themselves also availing of the facility of projects brought in the last 10 years. For example, the critics and the cynics who say that no development has happened are actually admitting their children in the Medical colleges and other degree colleges established in the last 10 years, he said. He said, this is a rare Lok Sabha Constituency which got three centrally funded medical colleges in the last few years. Sarcastically, Dr Jitendra Singh said, some of the critics say that nothing has happened but when they have to travel to Delhi they avail the facility of Vande Bharat Train introduced in the last five years. He said, this is a rare constituency which got two Vande Bharat trains with stoppage at both Udhampur and Kathua and this was also mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to the public rally in Srinagar recently.  The Express Road Corridor from Katra to Delhi, said Dr Jitendra Singh, will also become functional in next few months and six lanes of National Highway will reduce the road travel time from Kathua to Delhi to around four and half hours.  His first five-year term, said Dr Jitendra Singh, was devoted to making up for the lapses of the past governments including the Shahpur Kandi project which had been held up for the last 30 years causing hardship for the people of Kathua. The second five-term, he said, was devoted to setting up new institutions like centrally funded Government Medical Colleges, first ever Seeding Processing Plant, the present Homoeopathic College etc. The next five-year term, he said, will be devoted to consolidating these gains and developing the region as North India’s most attractive destination from the point of view of education, trade, tourism and revenue. Earlier, Dr Jitendra Singh visited a congregation of Jasrota community being held in the vicinity of the under-construction college. He was accompanied by officers and DDC, Vice Chairman, Shri Raghunandan Singh, other DDC members, PRIs and others.

“North India’s first Government Homoeopathic College, centrally funded at a cost of Rs.80 Crore will come up in Jasrota area of district Kathua in J&K”

'North India’s First Govt Homoeopathic College Coming Up In Kathua, J&K': Dr Jitendra Singh

New Delhi: Researchers have examined a man in Germany who claims to have received 217 vaccinations against Covid-19 and found that his immune system was fully functional.
Until now, it has been unclear what effects hypervaccination such as this would have on the immune system. Some scientists were of the opinion that immune cells would become less effective after becoming used to the antigens.  However, the case study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal found that the immune system of the person is fully functional.  More than 60 million people in Germany have been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, a majority of them several times, the researchers said.  The man examined by a team at Friedrich–Alexander University Erlangen–Nurnberg (FAU) in Germany claims to have received 217 vaccinations for private reasons. There is official confirmation for 134 of these vaccinations, they said.  "We learned about his case via newspaper articles," said Kilian Schober from FAU.  "We then contacted him and invited him to undergo various tests in Erlangen (a city in Germany). He was very interested in doing so," he said.  Vaccinations contain parts of the pathogen or a type of construction plan that the vaccinated person's cells can use to produce these pathogenic components themselves.  Thanks to these antigens, the immune system learns to recognise the real pathogen in the event of a later infection. It can then react more rapidly and forcibly.  The researchers wanted to analyse what happens if the body's immune system is exposed extremely often to a specific antigen.  "That may be the case in a chronic infection such as HIV or hepatitis B, that has regular flare-ups," explained Schober.  "There is an indication that certain types of immune cells, known as T-cells, then become fatigued, leading to them releasing fewer pro-inflammatory messenger substances," he added.  This and other effects triggered by the cells becoming used to the antigens can weaken the immune system, which is then no longer able to combat the pathogen so effectively.  However, the study does not deliver any indication that this is the case, the researchers said.  "We were also able to take blood samples ourselves when the man received a further vaccination during the study at his own insistence. We were able to use these samples to determine exactly how the immune system reacts to the vaccination," Schober said.  The results showed that the individual has large numbers of T-effector cells against SARS-CoV-2. These act as the body's own soldiers that fight against the virus, the researchers said.  The person even had more of these compared to the control group of people who had received three vaccinations, they said.  The researchers did not perceive any fatigue in these effector cells. They were similarly effective as those in the control group who had received the normal number of vaccinations.  They also explored memory T cells -- cells at a preliminary stage, similar to stem cells, that can replenish numbers of suitable effector cells.  "The number of memory cells was just as high in our test case as in the control group," explained Katharina Kocher, one of the leading authors of the study.  "Overall, we did not find any indication for a weaker immune response, rather the contrary," Kocher added.
—PTI

Research reveals no adverse effects on the immune system in a man with 217 Covid-19 vaccinations, offering insights into immune response and vaccine safety.

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