Medically Speaking Team

During the last month, 82 cases of “tomato flu” have been reported in Kerala’s Kollam district.

The issue, according to the Kollam district medical officer, is under control. Complete healing is feasible in one to ten days. Children are affected by the flu, which spreads through contact. The illness People who have tomato flu develop a crimson blister.

What is Tomato Flu?

Tomato fever is an unknown virus that mostly affects the Indian state of Kerala. Furthermore, it is uncertain if the illness is the result of a viral fever or a side effect of chikungunya or dengue virus infection.

Tomato disease is distinguished by rashes the size of tomatoes, skin irritation, and symptoms of dehydration on the tongue of a child suffering from the disorder. A few patients stated that the worms had also erupted from the boils.

Rashes, skin discomfort, and dehydration are common symptoms of an infected child. As a result, blisters form in various parts of the body.

With multiple cases of tomato flu recorded in youngsters in Kerala, Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar has directed officials to keep a close eye on everyday visitors from the state visiting border areas such as Mangaluru, Udupi, Kodagu, Chamrajnagara, and Mysuru. Sudhakar also stated that there was no need to be alarmed.

“Cases have also been reported from Aryankavu, Anchal and Neduvathur in Kerala. So, border districts of the state viz Mangaluru, Udupi, Kodagu, Chamrajnagara and Mysuru are directed to keep a vigil on daily travellers from Kerala and also to monitor children for any signs and symptoms in the OPDs of health institutions,” Sudhakar said.

“Though some symptoms are similar, tomato flu has nothing to do with Covid-19. These symptoms are usually seen in other types of viral infections also. There is no need to panic as the authorities have been asked to remain alert. Moreover, tomato flu is endemic to Kerala,” he added.

According to reports, the Central Government has agreed to shorten the time between the second and booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccination for people travelling overseas to 90 days. The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) met on Wednesday and discussed and advised authorising the administration of precautionary doses before the age of nine months for people travelling overseas, depending on the needs of the receiving nation.

However, no suggestion has been made regarding closing the booster dose gap for everyone.

Experts have differing opinions on how to reduce the gap between booster doses in India, since fewer people have expressed interest in receiving a third dosage as a precaution dose, despite the Centre’s approval for those over the age of 18.

According to Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the IMA national task force who conducted a study said the longer gap gives better immunity between the primary vaccination and the third dose against COVID-19 infection. Adding that, he said, “We found that if the second dose is taken very recent, it did not make any difference.”

He further said, “We have seen people who waited for six months or longer after the second dose, we found that the third dose has made difference.”

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has urged Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to postpone the NEET-PG test, which is set to take place on May 21.

The IMA in its letter to the Health Minister on Wednesday said, “The NEET-PG 2021 was held five months after the scheduled date in the month of September 2021. Then the counselling scheduled to begin from October 25, 2021, was also initiated (in January 2022) after a delay due to a pending decision on seat reservations and was further delayed owing to the Supreme Court ruling of March 31, 2022, which ordered cancellation and conduct of special round of counselling for the mop-up round.” “As a result of the delayed counselling schedule, NEET PG 2022 was deferred from April 2022 to May 2022, so that the candidates could appear for the final stray vacancy round of NEET PG 2021 and can still have plenty of time for preparation and reappearance for the next NEET PG 2022 exam if they failed to secure a seat this year. However, the AIQ Counselling anticipated to be completed by the end of March 2022, is still in process and is uncertain if it will end by May 7. The several States will also be finishing the counselling around the middle of May 2022,” it said.

The IMA stated that the time between the NEET PG 2022 test date and the end of AIQ counselling for NEET PG 2021 is too short for a candidate to study and appear for such an incredibly challenging exam as NEET-PG.

“Another innocent five to ten thousand interns, who served as COVID warriors during COVID-19 pandemic, are ineligible to appear for NEET-PG due to delay in completion of their final examination and consequently their internship beyond eligibility criteria set for the examination,” the IMA said.

Pointing out various scenarios and Supreme Court judgments on the timetable for postgraduate courses, the IMA stressed the need to defer NEET 2022 examinations as it “concerns career paths of lakhs of medical graduates”.

“Since the NEET PG 2022 examination date is 21st May 2022, we request your timely intervention and urgent consideration of postponement of the NEET PG 2022 for a reasonable period of time, so that, the current NEET PG 2021 aspirants have adequate time to prepare and appear for the upcoming NEET-PG 2022 examination and the eligibility of all interns is also ensured,” the IMA said.

“We are sure that the issue shall be dealt with urgency by granting the prayer as made herein above in larger academic and societal interest as a whole,” it further said.

According to the authors of a recent study, asking people to cease using social media for one week might result in significant changes in their wellbeing, sadness, and anxiety and could be advised as a technique to assist people manage their mental health in the future.

A team of researchers from the University of Bath (UK) investigated the mental health impacts of a week-long social media hiatus. For some research participants, this meant saving about nine hours per week that they would have otherwise spent browsing through Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok.

Their findings, published today (Friday, May 6, 2022) in the US journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour, and Social Networking, reveal that only one week away from social media enhanced people’s general well-being and decreased symptoms of despair and anxiety.

For the study, the researchers randomly assigned 154 people aged 18 to 72 who used social media every day to one of two groups: intervention (they were asked to cease using all social media for one week) or control (they may continue browsing as usual). Baseline ratings for anxiety, depression, and well-being were obtained at the start of the research.

At the outset of the study, participants reported spending an average of 8 hours per week on social media. One week later, individuals who were instructed to take a one-week vacation showed significantly higher levels of happiness, despair, and anxiety than those who continued to use social media, indicating a short-term advantage.

Participants asked to take a one-week break reported using social media for an average of 21 minutes compared to an average of seven hours for those in the control group. Screen usage stats were provided to check that individuals had adhered to the break.

Lead researcher from Bath’s Department for Health, Dr Jeff Lambert explains: “Scrolling social media is so ubiquitous that many of us do it almost without thinking from the moment we wake up to when we close our eyes at night.

“We know that social media usage is huge and that there are increasing concerns about its mental health effects, so with this study, we wanted to see whether simply asking people to take a week’s break could yield mental health benefits.

“Many of our participants reported positive effects from being off social media with improved mood and less anxiety overall. This suggests that even just a small break can have an impact.

“Of course, social media is a part of life and for many people, it’s an indispensable part of who they are and how they interact with others. But if you are spending hours each week scrolling and you feel it is negatively impacting you, it could be worth cutting down on your usage to see if it helps.”

Source: University of Bath

According to a recent study performed by UTHealth Houston, individuals diagnosed with cancer more than a year ago and those not getting active treatment were no more sensitive to worse COVID-19 results than those without cancer.

Youngran Kim, PhD, and Liang Zhu, PhD, researchers in the Department of Neurology with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, were co-leading authors of the study, which was published today in PLOS ONE. Kim, a postdoctoral research fellow in the department, is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Management, Policy, and Community Health with UTHealth School of Public Health, and Zhu, a former associate professor of neurology, has since left UTHealth Houston.

A team of researchers from UTHealth Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Kentucky, and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center collaborated to assess the relationship between COVID-19 outcomes and existing cancer-specific characteristics using electronic health records from over 700 hospitals and 700 clinics in the United States.

Many studies have revealed that persons with cancer had a greater risk of mortality and hospitalisation after being diagnosed with COVID-19 than those without cancer, but Kim believes that the timing of the patients’ previous cancer diagnosis and current treatment condition is crucial.

“We found that recent cancer diagnoses were associated with a 17% increased risk for death and 10% increased risk for hospitalization,” Kim said. “However, a history of cancer more than one year before COVID-19 diagnosis was not significantly associated with increased mortality or hospitalization. Our study also confirmed other risk factors and racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes among COVID-19 patients with cancer.”

The researchers analyzed 271,639 adult patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between June 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020. Of those patients, 18,460 also had at least one cancer diagnosis, including 10,426 patients diagnosed with cancer within one year before their COVID-19 infection.

Multiple outcomes were assessed, including all-cause 30-day mortality, hospitalization, admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), and ventilator use, which were compared using relative risks according to cancer status and treatments. Among the research team’s key discoveries:

• While cancer patients had higher risks for 30-day mortality and hospitalization, there were no significant differences in ICU admission and ventilator use compared to patients without cancer.
• Recent cancer diagnoses were associated with higher risks for worse COVID-19 outcomes, particularly among recent metastatic (stage 4), hematological, liver, and lung cancers, compared to the non-cancer group.
• Among COVID-19 patients with a recent cancer diagnosis, a higher chance of mortality was linked to chemotherapy or radiation treatments within three months before SARS-CoV-2 infection.
• Patients who were older, Black, received Medicare, and/or lived in the Southern U.S. were significantly more likely to die after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
• Diabetes and cardiovascular, liver, and renal diseases were also linked to an increased risk of death after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The researchers believe that their findings will provide health care practitioners with more precise risk information regarding how COVID-19 may affect cancer patients.

According to data from the Union Health Ministry, India saw a modest decrease in COVID-19 cases on Monday, with the country reporting 3,207 new infections in a single day.

In India, 3,451 COVID cases were recorded yesterday. With this, the country’s active COVID cases reach 20,403, accounting for 0.05 percent of all positive cases in India.

According to the Ministry, the weekly positivity rate of COVID in India is now 0.82 percent, while the daily positivity rate is 0.95 percent.

Also Read: Centre working holistically in healthcare: Union Health Minister

In the last 24 hours, 3,410 patients recovered from the virus, taking the cumulative tally of recovered patients, since the beginning of the pandemic, to 4,25,60,905.

29 Covid deaths reported

As many as 29 COVID deaths were also reported in the last 24 hours.

A total of 3,36,776 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, raising the cumulative tests in the country to over 84.10 crore (84,10,29,858).

India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 190.34 crore (1,90,34,90,396) as per provisional reports till 7 am today. “This has been achieved through 2,36,58,273 sessions,” the Ministry said.

Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Health Minister, stated on Monday that the Central Government is working holistically in the health sector, with an emphasis on preventative healthcare. The Health Minister was addressing the crowd during the opening of Lady Hardinge Medical College’s Outpatient Department (OPD) and Inpatient Department (IPD) blocks (LHMC).

Speaking on the occasion, the Health Minister said, “Whose responsibility is it to ensure health facilities for the people? State governments, the federal government, and the health-care workforce… We are all stakeholders. It is the demand of time to make health accessible and affordable. “

According to the Union Health Minister, Jan Bhagidari is important for the implementation of any action plan, programme, or strategy devised by the Government of India.

“We need to make the health accessible, affordable and patient-friendly. The patient only comes for treatment in the hospital, not to fight. We should always keep in heart the feeling of the nation first. We should think that as a student, how can I serve my country. Our ways can be different, but, our goal is the same – Nation First. If we will work with this vision, this new OPD/IPD building will be worshipped like a temple,” he added.

Mandaviya said that the country has moved away from a token to a total approach.

“Today, under the leadership of our respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the goal of the Central Government is to work holistically in the health sector and also to emphasize on preventive caregiving priority to modern treatment facilities. Along with reducing the cost of treatment of the poor, efforts are also being made to increase the number of doctors rapidly,” he said.

Vision Of India’s Health Infrastructure

The Health Minister said that the country has to work together with a vision of how India’s Health Infrastructure will be when we will complete 100 years of independence.

“We need to think holistically and make the roadmap for the long-term. This year, when we are celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, we need to work together with a vision of how India’s Health Infrastructure will be when we will complete 100 years of independence,” Mandaviya said.

He further said that states play a very crucial role in the implementation of any programme made by the Centre.

“During the latest 3-days Chintan Shivir, held at Kevadia, Gujarat, all State Health Ministers shared their best practices and had a very fruitful discussion about how can we make it universal,” he added

Mandaviya said that during Chintan Shivir all health ministers across the country and the Union Health Ministry discussed the roadmap of the health sector for the next 25 years.

“All states are implementing one or the other best practice – how can it be implemented universally – it was discussed extensively and on the basis of that a roadmap of the health sector will be drafted for the next 25 years,” he added.

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar said, “I am fully confident that new OPD and IPD block will be helpful in providing affordable and best healthcare services to patients.”

Dr Ram Chander, Director Professor of Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC), said that the hospital will now also have OPD facilities, medicines, investigations and consultations on Sunday.

“There will be a patient-friendly environment under one roof all clinical departments will be started, and we will also have OPD facilities, medicines, investigations and consultations on Sunday,” said Dr Chander.

He further said that the Kalawati saran Institute of Medical Sciences for Children which is the only Central Government Children’s hospital will soon have more than 1000 beds.

“The project is underway to increase beds for paediatric patients. We will have more than 1000 beds of paediatric patients. Currently, Kalawati saran Institute has 320 beds,” Dr Chander added.

Mansukh Mandaviya and Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar dedicated the new OPD and IPD block.

All hospital departments, including surgery, gynaecology, and medicine, will relocate to the new hospital block, and the old structure will be demolished.

Also Read: Retinal cell mapping could promote accurate therapies for blindness: Scientists

The new IPD Block will enhance LHMC’s bed strength from 877 to over 1000 beds.

An extra advanced CT scanner is housed in the IPD Block.

The new multi-specialty OPD Block has extra facilities for holistic health care, such as Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, and Homeopathy, in addition to all medical and surgical specialties.

The inaugural event was attended by Dr. Atul Goel, Director General Health Services, Dr. Ram Chandra, Director, Lady Hardinge Medical College, faculty members, employees, and students from the school.