India reports 91,702 #Covid-19 cases, 1,34,580 discharges & 3,403 deaths in last 24 hrs, as per Health Ministry.
Total cases: 2,92,74,823
Total discharges: 2,77,90,073
Death toll: 3,63,079
Active cases: 11,21,671
Total vaccination: 24,60,85,649
India reports 94,052 Covid cases in 24 hours with 1,51,367 discharges. 6148 deaths were reported in 24 hours, the highest number of single day deaths, as per a report by Health Ministry.
Total cases: 2,91,83,121
Total discharges: 2,76,55,493
Death toll: 3,59,676
Active cases: 11,67,952
Doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi have reported successful use of monoclonal antibody therapy in two Covid-19 patients with fast progression of symptoms within the first seven days.
The two patients, who were administered the REGCov2 (Casirivimab and Imdevimab), designed to produce resistance against the SARS-CoV-2, recovered and were discharged within 12 hours of being given the doses.
A 36-year-old healthcare worker with high-grade fever, cough, myalgia, severe weakness, and leucopenia was administered REGCov2 on day six of the disease, according to the press release of the hospital.
“Patient’s parameter improved within 12 hours and was discharged,” the release added.
Monoclonal antibodies are identical copies of an antibody that targets one specific antigen. This treatment has previously been used to treat infections such as Ebola and HIV.
The second case was of the 80-year-old RK Razdan who was both diabetic and hypertensive and had high-grade fever and cough.
Razdan’s oxygen saturation was more than 95% on room air. Monoclonal antibody and a CT scan confirmed mild disease.
“A CT scan confirmed mild disease. He was given REGCov2 on day 5. The patient’s parameter improved within the next 12 hours,” the hospital said in a statement.
Dr Pooja Khosla, Senior Consultant, Department of Medicine, SGRH, said monoclonal antibody therapy could prove to be a game-changer if used at an appropriate time.
“Monoclonal antibody could prove to be a game-changer in times to come if used at an appropriate time. It can avoid hospitalisation in high-risk groups and progression to severe disease. It can help escaping or reducing the usage of steroids and immunomodulation which would further reduce the risk of fatal infections like Mucormycosis, secondary bacterial and viral infections like CMV,” she said.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which developed 2 -Deoxy-D-Glucose (2-DG), a drug used for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, has called for Express of Interest (EOI) to transfer the technology to Indian pharmaceutical industries for production.
The 2-DG is developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of DRDO, in collaboration with Dr Reddy’ Laboratories.
The third phase trials of 2-DG began in January, while the phase trials were conducted over three month period between June and September last year and involved 110 patients.
The DCGI had granted permission in May last year to Dr Reddy’s Laboratories for conducting a clinical trial of 2 DG for “acute treatment of moderate to severe Covid-19 patients.”
The government has recently launched 2-DG as an anti -Covid-19 therapeutic application of the drug 2-Deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG).
Patients treated with 2-DG have shown negative RT-PCR in COVID-19 patients.
Administering dexamethasone — one of the few drugs shown to reduce the risk of death from Covid — to pregnant women may cause major congenital malformation in babies, according to a study that looked at how safe common Covid-19 medications were for pregnant women.
The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Montreal in Canada and Université Claude Bernard in France and published in the medical journal The Lancet, showed that several repurposed drugs that are in different stages of trials or have been approved for use in Covid patients are associated with adverse outcomes in pregnant women.
The team from Canada and France looked at data of women who delivered a baby between 1998 to 2015 in Canada.
“Medications already available to treat other conditions are presently being studied in clinical trials as potential treatments for COVID-19. Given that pregnant women are excluded from these trials, we aimed to investigate their safety when used during pregnancy within a unique population source,” the researchers wrote in the study.
As many as 231,075 women who gave birth to a single child were included in the study. Of these, at least 8,213 pregnancies were exposed to at least one Covid-19 repurposed drug.
These included drugs such as chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, HIV medications (indinavir, lopinavir/ritonavir, raltegravir, and saquinavir), and multiple sclerosis study medications (interferon beta-1a, beta-1b, and alfa-2b).
While the use of these drugs varies according to the approvals given by countries, one of the drugs analysed in the study was dexamethasone — an oral steroid that is recommended for use in moderate to severe Covid patients, reported ThePrint.
What the study says
The team found records of 107 pregnant women who were given dexamethasone. Use of this drug, as well as antithrombotics and HIV medications, were all associated with a high risk of premature birth.
The use of dexamethasone and azithromycin was associated with major birth defects in the babies.
Antithrombotics and HIV medication use during pregnancy was associated with the risk of premature birth and low birth weight.
Previous studies have also shown that the risk of premature birth is higher in people who take dexamethasone during their pregnancy.
The study suggests that doctors need to exercise caution while treating pregnant women infected with Covid.
The study, though, had some limitations. The researchers used data made available through insurance records to study the patient’s use of medicines and other related parameters. However, the researchers point out that the women may have taken some over-the-counter drugs during their pregnancy that would not have been part of the records.
India has reported cases below 1 Lakh mark. 86,498 cases were reported in the last 24 hours. 1,82,282patients recovered during last 24 hours.
The country reported 2123 deaths in last 24 hours, the lowest in 47 days, according to a data by health ministry.
Total active cases: 1,308,806
Total recoveries: 2,73,41,462
Death Toll: 3,51,344
Total vaccines administered: 23,47,43,489
Delhi’s Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) ahad begun Monoclonal Antibody Cocktail used to treat mild to moderate “high risk” patients who are Covid positive, free of cost.
“We have received a Monoclonal Antibody Cocktail– a combination of Casirivimab and Imdevimab. We have started using it in LNJP hospital. Now we will be able to provide the latest medicines for the Covid-19 patients. These are the monoclonal antibodies and they are very useful,” said Dr Suresh Kumar, Managing Director, LNJP hospital”We will have first-time experience of these drug cocktails or antibody cocktails.
Earlier patients were going to the private hospitals to get this treatment, but now the government has made a provision and we are giving it in LNJP. We are giving it free of cost.”Roche India and Cipla had announced the launch of the Antibody Cocktail in India last week.
Priced at ₹59,750 for a dose, the therapy has been earlier introduced in private hospitals Fortis Escorts, Moolchand, Apollo, Sir Gangaram, and Max Hospital.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday said that seven states, including Delhi and Haryana, have less than 1,000 COVID-19 cases.The other states where COVID-19 cases are below 1,000 are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.
Addressing the meeting of the Group of Ministers on the COVID19 situation in the country, he said, “As of today, we have 14,01,609 active cases in the country.”He further said that the country’s recovery rate is continuously climbing up.
“Around 83 per cent of active cases are in 10 states and the remaining 17 per cent are in 26 states and UTs,” he said.He also said that five states, including Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Bihar Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh have less than 2,000 coronavirus cases.
“In the most-affected states, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, there is a decline in the number of cases and it is significant,” Vardhan added.
India continues to report dip in daily number of Covid cases with 1,00,636 cases being registered in last 24 hours. According to a report by health ministry, 2427 deaths and 1,74,399 discharges have been reported in the last 24 hours.
Total cases: 2,89,09,975
Total discharges: 2,71,59,180
Death toll: 3,49,186
Active cases: 14,01,609
Chandigarh: Over 50 per cent patients visiting the PGI with mucormycosis symptoms were also diagnosed with Covid-19 on the same day.
“A lot of people are presenting to our hospital with symptoms of mucormycosis (commonly known as black fungus) but they are found Covid positive as well on the same day,” said Dr Gyan Ranjan Nayak from the Department of ENT, PGI.
“The association may be partly explained by the fact that many of them were borderline diabetic or pre-diabetic and their blood sugar levels shot up when they contracted Covid-19. The patients can be asymptomatic for Covid but can develop mucormycosis symptoms,” said Dr Nayak.
Prof Arunaloke Chakrabarti, Head of Department, Medical Microbiology, PGI, said, “A lot of people in our country take medicines without consulting doctors. There is hardly any patient of mucormycosis in the PGI who does not have hyper glycemia.”
“Almost 80 per cent mucormycosis patients were also taking steroids. When they came to the PGI, they were found infected with the fungal infection as well as the Covid,” said Prof Chakrabarti.
The PGI has so far seen 189 patients of mucormycosis, of which 60 per cent (115) are Covid positive.