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In a recent announcement by Pfizer, it was claimed that a phase 2/3 trial showed its covid 19 vaccines are safe as well as generating robust antibody response in children aged between 5 to 11 years. Pfizer is the first ever to provide such results in terms of the Covid-19 vaccine for this particular age group, although the data has not yet been peer-reviewed or published. Pfizer has said that it is soon planning to submit a request for emergency use authorization to the US Food and Drug Administration. Which, FDA officials have communicated that once the report is submitted; the agency can authorize a vaccine for younger children within weeks. This trial of vaccine by Pfizer included 2,268 participants aged between 5 to 11 years, and a two-dose vaccine regimen was given and administered 21 days apart. Source: edituoncnn.com

Delhi: Dengue has been on the rise in India, and now, the nation’s capital Delhi is the new target. According to data, Delhi has recorded over 50 new Dengue cases in the past week. The total count for this year is a little more than 210. In addition, 87 new cases have been added till September 18, which is about 41 per cent of the total cumulative cases. Dengue cases have been at a record high from January 1- September 18. This number is the highest since 2019 when the reported cases were estimated to be around 217. Civic reports by municipal corporations show that 158 cases have been logged till September 11, 2021, and 53 new cases have been documented by the end of last week. In August, 78 new cases were reported in total. The death toll, so far, has been zero. According to reports, the month-wise distribution of cases is — January (0), February (2), March (5), April (10) and May (12), June (7) and July (16). In the previous years, the cases in the same period were — 1,375 (2016), 1,465 (2017), 343 (2018), 217 (2019) and 172 (2020). According to the civic report released on Monday, 86 cases of Malaria and 44 cases of Chikungunya have been reported till September 18, 2021. Source: Financial Express

Doctor Mike Ryan, Executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme has stated that the COVID -19 pandemic will not end completely and there will still be chances of it spreading rapidly all over the world. Further, he has also added that the virus of the 2009 pandemic i.e. swine flu is on the rise once again, and is spreading rapidly. In his statement, he has also said that, as the vaccination rate increases all over the world, more people will achieve herd immunity which will result in a decrease in death and hospitalization rates. But, the COVID – 19 virus will still remain a matter of concern in the public health domain. His statement was as follows, “The lower levels of transmission and the more equitable distribution of vaccines will mean that herd immunity is achieved, and gradually we can look at lower levels of hospitalization. But as of now, it continues to be a public health emergency of international concern,” The 2009 virus breakout was labelled as the swine flu pandemic, which was reportedly the first global flu pandemic in 40 years. It began in January 2009 and lasted till August 2010. On an estimated value, almost 2, 84,500 people were victims of the swine flu pandemic. According to a study by an international group of scientists published in 2012, the estimate was 15 times the number confirmed by laboratory tests at the time. Source: India Today

Since its inception, medical technologies have come forward a long way, was within this journey of changes, innovation, and developments in health technologies. The whole facets of health sectors have been changed, and widespread availability of the internet and high-speed data connection with smartphones worldwide. It has become straightforward to serve accurate health technology services and bridge the demand and supply gap without waiting for a single second. Also, as per the profile of the World Economic Forum, more than half of the medical industry will be expected to reskilling in the coming time. Currently, there is an end number of medical technologies ruling the market. But few of them are on the top list. Advanced Telemedicine: A significant rise in the field of telemedicine was seen during Covid-19. In January 2020, it was estimated that around 24 % of healthcare organizations had already exiting telehealth programs. As per the report by Forrester, an analytics firm, the country was set to complete over a billion virtual care visits by the end of this year. A new technique of medicine development: The fast growth of so many safe and effective vaccines of Covid-19 has already proved that medicine development in all the scientific ways has reached its epitome. With the apt technological and research support, today we are able to develop any possible and curable medicine in a very short span of time. In future the medicine development can carve a beautiful way for drug development if the technological firms come together and become one force rather than becoming the competition. Data driven healthcare: In this ear data is the new oil. It has become a bit difficult to be inclined with every patient history or to have only one family doctor for all the time. In such time a well-managed data can support the healthcare system and make the treatment easy and effective. A data which is available on time with accuracy can solve a lot of issue and save a lot of time during the medical treatment. On demand healthcare: Another superhit healthcare technology is the on demand medical help available through websites, mobile apps, 3rd party connectors and home visits in real time. No matter where you are or in what situation, think of accessing medical help or consultation and its there right through technology. Artificial intelligence and Machine learning: A lot of complex surgeries or treatments today are becoming successful with the help of machine learning and artificial intelligence. The technology today is leaning things fast when it comes to medical system and it is also pushing the limits of new possibilities for the healthcare system.

There was a negative result tested for the sample collected of 17 people who were in contact with the child who was suffering from Nipah Virus the last week, this announcement was made by state health minister Veena George. As per the minister, among these 17 results, 5 were being tested at the National Institute of Virology, Pune, and the rest was tested at the special lab set up at the Kozhikode Medical College. Also, there are rmore than 140 samples of people who came in close contact, while testing their samples came negative as well. As per the government statement earlierin the survey, around 15,000 houses were included from the containment zoneand the details were collected from over 68,000 people. Source: healthworld.com

Delhi: Union Health Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, on Sunday, praised six states – Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Lakshadweep and Sikkim for completing the vaccination process (for the first dose at least) of 100 % of their adult population against COVID – 19. According to data from the CoWIN portal, approximately 50, 25,129 vaccination doses were administered till 8 pm on Sunday. The above data reveals that the adult population in the respective six states completed the first shot of the vaccines against COVID – 19. The cumulative jabs given across the country crossed has crossed 74 crores. India’s vaccination campaign started on January 16, 2021, with the healthcare workers getting their first dose of the vaccine. Important timelines: March 1 – The government opened the vaccinations for everyone aged 60 years and above and for people aged 45 years and above with comorbidities. May 1 – The centre opened vaccinations for adults aged 18 years and above. Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted, “Congratulations to these States & UTs for administering the first #COVID19 vaccine dose to 100% of the adult population. Special appreciation for the healthcare workers in these regions for their diligence & commitment.” Source: PTI and India Today

A consignment of spurious medicines which was for the cancer patient treatment, was seized from three people in total at Southeast Delhi Jasola Vihar. As per sources it is yet to be confirmed whether the medicines were produced in the foreign country or not. Police said information was received that three people who were allegedly selling fake medicines to the cancer patients at a very high cost. To catch the trio of this fake medicine selling gang a trap was laid by police in Jasola Vihar. As the gang was not carrying any document or, medicine slip for the medication they carried and they had no answer for such reasons, as per the police. In this course police seized 73 packets of drugs; labelled as Palbocent and Lenvaxin- medications used for treating cancer. Along with those other fake medicines labelled as Osicent, Crizocent and Ibrucent were also seized from the fake medicine selling gang. Later the medicines were checked by the drug officer who declared its quality as doubtful. Source: Healthworld.com

QurHealth is a Chennai-based personalized healthcare startup that has successfully onboarded more than around 100 hospitals in four major cities including Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Delhi. The main aim is to redefine personalized healthcare for patients in India. According to a statement, the partnership has happened in just nine months since the startup’s inception. The company aims to establish itself as a safe and trusted choice for patients and their families for receiving personalised care, online and in-person. Ravi Kunduru, founder and CEO of QurHealth said, “We are humbled to serve patients in all age groups and enabling them with safe, secure, and compliant access to their personalised caregivers, doctors, and hospitals. We hope to serve 100 million patients as a secure and trustworthy care concierge firm with a network of one million providers and healthcare professionals over the next five years globally.” Source: News Today      

Abbott, a global healthcare brand, recently announced the acquisition of Walk Vascular, LLC, which is a commercial-stage medical device company with a minimally invasive mechanical aspiration thrombectomy system designed to remove peripheral blood clots. The Walk Vascular’s peripheral thrombectomy system will be incorporated into the endovascular product portfolio. Although the financial terms regarding this acquisition were not disclosed. The Walk Vascula’sJETi Peripheral Thrombectomy System and next-generation JETi AIO (All in One) Peripheral Thrombectomy System are innovative systems for the removal of intravascular clots, which are known as a thrombus, that can lead to serious complications for a patient by reducing blood flow. The aspirational JETi System is designed in a way to break up and remove clots from the peripheral vascular system while reducing the risk of dislodged clots. These systems are clinically tested and Walk has currently enrolled around 250 patients in the United States and Europe in their JETi Registry. Source: Healthworld.com

The pandemic brought so many hurdles and yet again a lot of evolutions as well. The electronic evolutions were one of the tops on the list. In this era adoption of electronic directly observed therapy (eDOT) technologies is gaining attraction by providing apt medical services to its patients. We cannot deny the fact that directly observed therapy, which focuses on monitoring the adherence event itself is the basis of medication the best standard way. But yes, it can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.  On the other hand, eDOT technologies allow a great scope of flexibility for clinicians and patients.  Along with that offering several other benefits as well, such as improved medication adherence and patient education. Electronic Directly Observed Therapy The use of a lot of digital gadgets such as mobile phones, tablets, and computers in the daily life of a person has opened gates to eDOT treatment programs for patients especially with tuberculosis or diabetes, or transplant recipients on complex immune suppressive regimens. If we consider a live eDOT visit, the clinician as well as the patient schedule a specific day and time to meet virtually, and the clinician can watch its patients taking medicine in the right way that in real-time.  This also opens the opportunity for the clinician to ask their patient how they are feeling, check medication before being taken, and also open the scope to ask the patient directly if they are facing any side effects during the medication and also reply to any query the patient has on that particular time. Similarly, a recorded eDOT is when the patients and the clinician cannot set a particular fixed time to meet each other online, and simultaneously the patient record himself or herself while taking medication. After the recording is done the patient can share it with the clinician for the further process. Benefits of eDOT technologies This technology is letting the patients become more comfortable and more desirous of the video-based care that can help with medication adherence. There are a lot of patients that lack the infrastructure to be successfully taking medications and they need support.  With this the healthcare provider can also use eDOT to adjust some habits, such as taking diabetes medication with food, ensuring that transplant recipients are taking their medicine on time. Also, assuring the side effects. It can also become the best tool for a clinician for giving coaching or training to the patients. In a lot of incidences of asthma, where the patients are especially children. eDOT can help kids to take their inhalers on time and the right way. As asthma is most chronic in kids, and the best practices of treatment rely mostly upon the medication controller. In such revolutionary ways, eDOT is becoming a bridge between making medication adherence more effective and easier. Especially in a time where medical assistance has become more required and also more crucial to be available at anytime and anywhere. Benefits of eDOT technologiesThis technology is letting the patients become more comfortable and more desirous of the video-based care that can help with medication adherence. There are a lot of patients that lack the infrastructure to be successfully taking medications and they need support. With this the healthcare provider can also use eDOT to adjust some habits, such as taking diabetes medication with food, ensuring that transplant recipients are taking their medicine on time. Also, assuring the side effects. It can also become the best tool for a clinician for giving coaching or training to the patients. In a lot of incidences of asthma, where the patients are especially children. eDOT can help kids to take their inhalers on time and the right way. As asthma is most chronic in kids, and the best practices of treatment rely mostly upon the medication controller. In such revolutionary ways, eDOT is becoming a bridge between making medication adherence more effective and easier. Especially in a time where medical assistance has become more required and also more crucial to be available at anytime and anywhere.