Jipmer gets ICMR nod for plasma trial

Jipmer gets ICMR nod for plasma trial

Bosco.Dominique@timesgroup.com

06.06.2020

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has given Jipmer in Puducherry approval to begin a trial to assess the efficacy of the plasma of cured Covid-19 patients in fighting the novel coronavirus.

The institute has invited people who have recovered from Covid-19 to donate their plasma for the trial. Those interested can contact the department of transfusion medicine, Jipmer, through SMS or WhatsApp or call the department at 97872 4490. The institute will collect convalescent plasma from them if they are eligible to donate blood.

Jipmer associate professor (transfusion medicine) Dr B Abhishekh said the concept of plasma therapy involves using antibodies from recovered patients to treat Covid-19.

“Presently, there is no approved treatment for Covid-19 infection. Convalescent plasma, which is part of blood donated from the patient who has recovered from Covid-19, has been used in some patients globally with some benefit. The therapy may or may not improve the condition of Covid patients,” said Dr Abhishekh. He said all recovered patients aged between 18 and 65 can donate plasma. But women, who are pregnant or had been pregnant, are usually not considered for collection.

Donors must have completed a minimum of two weeks (14 days) after recovery.

Five test positive in Puducherry

Five more people tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday taking the total number of cases reported to 104 in the Union territory. Six patients recovered on Friday. At present, 62 patients are undergoing treatment in Puducherry. Fortyseven passengers are under quarantine in institutional facilities and 6,359 passengers are under home quarantine.

How TN attained high recovery rate

FIGHTING COVID - 19

How TN attained high recovery rate

Tamil Nadu Has So Far Cured 15,762 Patients, Which Is More Than 55% Of All The Patients Infected. The State Follows A Uniform Treatment Protocol At All Hospitals — Drugs To Manage Symptoms, Intense Monitoring Of Oxygen Levels And Supplementary Oxygen

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

06.06.2020

As 861 people walked out of isolation units at hospitals across Tamil Nadu on Friday, the number of patients who have recovered from the viral infection touched 15,762. Though TN has the most infections after Maharashtra, the state has kept its mortality rate low and recovery rate high.

With more than 78,000 cases, Maharashtra has a mortality rate of 3.4% and a recovery rate of 43%, the figures are 0.81% and 55% for Tamil Nadu. Delhi, which has nearly 26,000 cases, has a cure rate of 40% and death rate of 2.6%.

Although Gujarat and Rajasthan have a recovery rate of 68% and 72% respectively, their death rate is 6.21% and 2.16%.

From triage to treatment, TN follows a uniform treatment protocol at all hospitals. Guidelines for clinical management prepared by a 17-member expert committee are sent to all hospitals, said Dr S Ragunanthan, head of general medicine at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH). Some hospitals tweak clinical management to suit the patient’s requirement.

Almost every day, doctors in government hospitals that treat more than 80% of the Covid-19 patients, share their experiences. The state protocols are periodically updated based on ICMR guidelines, international and local experiences. On Thursday, Tamil Nadu’s protocol was presented before a Central team. “Our doctors have told the central team how they manage patients inside the ward. Our aggressive testing, early diagnosis and intensive patient management are keys to this success,” Ragunanthan said.

“At emergency, we triage patients as mild, mild to moderate, and severe cases of the infection,” said hospital RGGGH dean Dr R Jayanthi said. “Treatment is simple – drugs for management of symptoms, intense monitoring of oxygen level and supplementary oxygen,” she said.

For instance, the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine has been a staple drug for almost all patients at government hospitals along with antibiotics such as azithromycin and steroids. However, some private hospitals don’t use it. “As of now there is no clarity on whether the drug is helpful or harmful. We don’t see a huge difference in death rates when patients are not being administered the drug either,” said Dr Subramanian Swaminathan, who treats Covid-19 patients at the Gleneagles Global Hospitals.

Nurses at all hospitals ensure that patients with breathing difficulties sleep on their stomach. “This improves oxygenation in patients. We offer them high flow oxygen, steroids and immune moderators. We avoid ventilators as much as possible,” said director of medical education Dr R Narayanababu.

Officials in the Covid control room said less than a dozen people were on ventilators. “There is growing number of vulnerable population including the elderly and people with chronic ailments getting infection. There are more people in the ICU requiring ventilation than before. This can push the death rate up in some time,” warns Apollo Hospitals infectious diseases expert Dr V Ramasubramanian. “But as of now, we are doing well in comparison to many other states,” he said.

More chronic disease patients test +ve, deaths go up in state

More chronic disease patients test +ve, deaths go up in state

Infection Rate Up, Doubling Time Falling

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:06.06.2020

Tamil Nadu reported more than 1,000 fresh Covid-19 positive cases for the sixth day in a row taking the total to 28,694. Twelve deaths, including two patients with chronic kidney disease, in 24 hours pushed the toll to 232. Chennai accounted for 1,116 of the 1,438 fresh cases on Friday.

While the infection rate is growing and doubling period — the time it takes for the cases to double — is dropping, what is worrying doctors is that a large number of patients are now from the older age groups, and hence more vulnerable.

“They have comorbidities including organ failure and dysfunction that pull down treatment outcomes and push up complications,” said Apollo Hospitals infectious diseases expert Dr V Ramasubramanian, who is a part of the state’s medical expert committee.

On Friday, eight of the 12 people who died were senior citizens , four in their 80s. The oldest was an 86-year-old woman from Chengalpet. Nine of the 43 deaths recorded so far this month were patients with renal failure.

19 kids of city govt home test positive

Twenty-three people, including 19 children, of a government children’s home at Tondiarpet tested positive for Covid-19. The infected are being treated at a communicable disease hospital in the zone. They are all stable and have only mild symptoms, say officials. The social defence home housed 81 children and 12 staff. P 2

Five ministers to fight virus in city

The state government on Friday appointed five ministers to oversee Covid-19 control work carried out by the city corporation. Of the 15 zones in the GCC, each minister has been vested with three zones and they would monitor the containment efforts by the corporation and the field support team, a government order said. P 8

City’s doubling period of cases down to 12 days

A senior nephrologist said: “Many people visiting dialysis rooms are now testing positive.” On Friday, a 50-year-old woman with chronic renal failure admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital at 3.17am died at 3.55am.

The doubling period decreases when the infection increases. In the last six days, the state added 7,510 cases. Analysis by senior epidemiologists at the National Institute of Epidemiology, an ICMR institute in Chennai, shows the seven-day average doubling period, which was 16.19 days on May 30, dropped to 15.90, when Tamil Nadu recorded its first four-digit hike in daily cases on May  31. 

The period dropped to 13.97 days on Friday. Chennai, which added more than 3,000 cases in the last three days, now has a doubling period of 12 days, against 16 days on May  31.

The state tested 14,968 people on Friday, compared to 15,991 on Thursday, when it logged 1,384 cases. Yet, the state had 54 more cases on Friday.

The state, which is actively a part of the plasma therapy and solidarity trial, will partner with the ICMR for the BCG vaccine trial that aims to protect the vulnerable, health minister C Vijayabaskar said.

Of the 1,438 fresh cases, 1,405 were indigenous cases and 33 were categorised “imported” as returnees from other countries and states continued to test positive. The 33 included 12 international passengers – five from Dubai and six from Qatar. One passenger from Sri Lanka, who came by sea, tested positive. Fourteen passengers from Delhi and four from Maharashtra also tested positive.

At the end of the day, 861 walked out of the hospital, taking the number of those cured in the state to 15,762, which is a recovery rate of 55%.

The health condition of 61-yearold DMK MLA J Anbazhagan, who was tested positive for Covid-19, continues to remain critical, according to doctors at the Dr Rela’s Institute and Medical Centre.

Of the 1,438 fresh cases, 1,405 were indigenous cases and 33 were categorised “imported” as returnees from other countries and states continued to test positive. The 33 included 12 international passengers – five from Dubai and six from Qatar. One passenger from Sri Lanka, who came by sea, tested +ve

Record 295 die in a day; India may become world’s 5th worst hit today

Record 295 die in a day; India may become world’s 5th worst hit today

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:06.06.2020

India witnessed its highest single-day death toll in the Covid-19 pandemic so far, with 295 fatalities reported on Friday, while the count of fresh infections remained over 9,000 for the second straight day.

With this, the country’s total number of Covid-19 cases went past Italy’s count of 2,34,531, taking India to the sixth spot among countries with the highest caseloads of the virus. India’s cumulative count of Covid-19 cases stood at 2,36,117 (after adding 7,610 cases not assigned to any state, as per the health ministry website), according to data from state governments.

Deaths from the virus zoomed on Friday after Maharashtra reported as many as 139 fatalities, a bulk of the deaths having occurred earlier. Likewise, Delhi reported 58 deaths and Gujarat 35, while Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh counted 12 each and Bengal reported 11.

Given current trends, India is set to rise to the fifth place in the list of Covid-hit countries on Saturday, overtaking Spain.

For the second consecutive day, India had Thursday reported the third highest number of new cases in the world, ahead of Russia and behind just Brazil and the US.

Among states, Maharashtra continued to report by far the highest number of fresh infections at 2,436, though the number was nearly 500 less than the count on Thursday.

At least six states — Tamil Nadu (1,438 new cases), Gujarat (510), Uttar Pradesh (502), Bengal (427), Chhattisgarh

(106) and Jharkhand (96) — registered their highest single-day rise in cases.

Kerala sees surge in cases

Besides, the surge in infections continued in Delhi, which recorded 1,330 fresh cases, Haryana (316), Madhya Pradesh (234), J&K

(182) and Rajasthan (222). The 139 deaths reported by Maharashtra was its highest singleday toll so far since the outbreak. With this addition, Maharashtra's total death toll was 2849. In the last three days, the state has reported a total of 384 deaths. As per the state government, of the 139 deaths reported on Friday, 27 deaths have occurred in the last two days, while the remaining 112 deaths were from April 21to June 2.

Maharashtra added 2436 new cases on Friday and breached the 80,000 mark for cases and had a total of 80,229 cases. Mumbai equalled its record of highest number of Covid deaths in a 24-hour period with 54 fatalities reported on Friday. The civic officials announced that the doubling rate of the viral cases had improved to 20 days from 12 days on May

15. Gujarat in 24 hours ending 5pm on Friday recorded 510 cases – or one case every three minutes. This was the highest single-day case tally registered so far. The total coronavirus cases in the state has now climbed to 19,119. The state health department bulletin mentioned that 35 Covid-19 patients succumbed to the infection or co-morbidities in the last 24 hours, taking the death tollto1,190.Thedeathsincluded 30 from Ahmedabad, two from Surat and one each from Anand, Bhavnagar and Surat. It was the highest single-day death toll since May18.

Kerala for the first time crossed the three-digit mark in the number of positivecaseson asingleday,with as many as111 positive cases reported on Friday. Taking into account the seriousness of the situation, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state government had decided to begin rapid antibody testsfrom Saturday for which the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had supplied14,000 kits.

‘Pursue higher studies after executing bank guarantee’

‘Pursue higher studies after executing bank guarantee’

06/06/2020, STAFF REPORTER,MADURAI

The State government informed the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that it has decided to permit medical practitioners, who have not yet completed the period of compulsory service under the bond executed by them, to pursue higher studies on condition that they shall furnish a bank guarantee equivalent to the bond amount.

Following the execution of the bank guarantee equivalent to the bond amount for the period of higher studies, the original documents of the medical practitioners would be returned for that period on the understanding that it would be re-submitted on reporting for duty to complete the required period of compulsory service, the State said.

The court was hearing the petition filed by K. Gautham who completed his MBBS in 2013. He sought the return of his original certificates so that he could pursue further studies in DNB (Post-Diploma). He executed a bond for ₹20 lakh so that it could be encashed by authorities concerned, if he failed to join duty after completion of the course.

Taking cognisance of the fact that the original certificates were returned to Gautham, Justice P.D. Audikesavalu disposed of the petition directing the petitioner to re-submit the original certificates to the authorities concerned when he reports for duty, after completing higher studies. A posting order should be issued to him, the court said.

Following this, the petitioner shall be entitled to apply to the court for refund of the amount deposited with accrued interest. In the event of the petitioner failing to report for duty after the completion of the course, it is open to the authorities concerned to apply to the court for encashing the deposited amount for non-compliance of bond conditions, the court said.

The way ahead for colleges

The way ahead for colleges

06/06/2020, STAFF REPORTER,MADURAI

Financial setback owing to COVID-19 would be felt more by private colleges in semi-urban and rural areas, said M. Palaninatha Raja, Dean, Planning and Development, Thiagarajar College of Engineering.

He said here recently that people all over the world had been calling for refund of partial tuition fee and accommodation fee and adjustment of fee with their respective institutions. The colleges must come up with creative solutions

“Though students do not have access to high speed Internet and uninterrupted power supply, there has been increased access to digital learning at a low cost,” he said.

“It is the high time all institutions compulsorily trained their faculty members in this domain. Hybrid or blended learning proved that remote digital learning is a viable and cost-effective solution for certain courses,” he said.

Institutions can also engage subject experts from different parts of the world to enrich the learning experience. They can collaborate with organisations and industries and co-create courses and allow their employees to pursue some degrees at discounted fees. Shared educational services by making collaborative efforts would reduce the overheads, he said.

Students should also be given remote internship to facilitate remote mentoring and counselling. This will aid their upskilling and reskilling in a cost-effective way, he said.

Special e-pass likely for transit air passengersFlyers will be able to avail of the facility before arrival

Special e-pass likely for transit air passengersFlyers will be able to avail of the facility before arrival

06/06/2020, SUNITHA SEKAR,CHENNAI

Air passengers who transit through Chennai may soon have to get a special transit e-pass from the Tamil Nadu government.

Every day, on an average, 3,000-3,500 passengers travel through Chennai airport.

Of these, there are many transit passengers — ones who arrive from a city at Chennai airport, spend some time, and then take a flight to another city.

After domestic flights resumed, many passengers stopping over at Chennai airport have had a slew of queries about whether they need to acquire the regular Tamil Nadu e-pass or stay at a quarantine facility.

“We have been considering bringing out the special e-pass option for passengers having Chennai airport as transit.

Discussion held

“They can get this before arriving in Chennai. We had an elaborate discussion with the airport officials recently,” a source in the State government said.

Officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said that they have also been asked to earmark a space at the airport for transit passengers, especially if the wait is within six hours.

Can stay in hotel

For passengers whose transit time is beyond six hours, they can stay at one of the hotels identified by the State government till it is time for their next flight.

“Sometimes, passengers have to stay for a day in Chennai as their flight may only be on the next day. In such cases, any passenger whose transit time is over six hours can stay in the hotels we have identified. We have already spoken to some of the hotels in this regard,” the source added.

No quarantine

Besides, transit passengers need not be quarantined in the city.

“They have to be in quarantine only after reaching their final destination,” an official explained