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Two months ago the medical device maker Philips had announced the recall of PhillipsContinuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), Bi-level positive airway pressure (Bi-Level PAP),and the mechanical ventilator devices. The state government of Tamil Nadu has asked thecompany to now either replace or rectify the problem that occurred in over 600 invasiveand non-invasiveventilators, which were being used in the Government Hospitals.Along with that, the] firm has also issued safety alerts to address the potential health riskthat include carcinogenic and toxic effects to have occurred while usage of these devices.The safety alerts were issued in June this year, which later initiated a recall notification aswell. The devices found problematic were responsible for pushing air in patients’ lungs, whoare suffering from obstructive pulmonary disease or sleep disorder, in such cases breathingintermittently stops. As per the notification issued by the firm, it was said that the foamused in these particular devices to reduce sound and vibration was found defective. Source: Healthworld.com

It hasn’t been long since the country came out of the ghastly second wave of the Coronavirus infections. A huge chunk of our population got infected with the virus with many succumbing to death. While COVID-19 cases are still on the rise, new variants like the Alpha and Delta strains have emerged with fresh concerns. There is fear among the people that the spread of the new variants of COVID-19 will cause a third wave in the country. Many fear the extent of help vaccination could extend. According to many research and predictions, the start of the third wave has already begun. Recent findings suggested by VK Paul, Head of the COVID task force, NITI Aayog, have hinted that India may see upto 6L cases a day in the coming months, and may possibly, be worrisome for the pediatric population. Similar mathematic models and research have hinted at a ghastly third wave if preparations aren’t put in place.  A number of epidemiologists and medical experts have hinted that the third wave could cause a rise in the number of daily COVID cases starting September and peak around the end of October or November.  Source: Times of India

It is being claimed that taking both the doses of Covid-19 vaccine can still be the best way of protection against delta virus variant. This test result was first identified in India and now inthe United Kingdom as well. Further studies show that the Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs, although less effective, but does offer the same level of protection as provided by Pfizer-BioNTech after four to five months, which was known in the largest study of its kind. But these vaccines are not as effective as they were against the Alpha variant, which caused most of the infection in the UK last winter. Although not much data is available for Moderna, researchersbelieve it is equally effective as the other vaccines.  The analysis for the effectiveness of these vaccines was done based on half-million test results from a total of 743,526 participants in the UK’s Covid-19 household infection survey led by Oxford University and the Office for National Statistics. As per the data received, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had 93% effectiveness against the Covid-19 infection symptoms, two weeks after taking the second dose, whereas Oxford-AstraZeneca’s vaccine has its effectiveness up to 71%. Source: BBC News