Mass testing of the 14 million residents of Tianjin, a city near China’s capital Beijing, began after a score of COVID-19 cases were discovered. At least two cases of the Omicron variant were found. Lockdowns continue in Xi’an and Yuzhou, two other large cities affected by outbreaks. Cases have also been identified in Hong Kong. […]
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Global Health Newsletter XXI
The Omicron coronavirus variant dampened New Year festivities around much of the world, with Paris cancelling its fireworks show, London relegating its one to television, and New York City scaling down its famous ball drop celebration in Times Square. The illuminated ball made of Waterford crystal panels slids down its pole at the midnight hour […]
Global Health Newsletter XX
For COVID-19, small seems to be beautiful. First we had BioNTech, a tiny operation headed by a Turkish immigrant couple in Germany that gave us the Pfizer vaccine. Now along comes a small Maryland biotechnology company, Novavax, finally joining the ranks of high-profile COVID-19 vaccine developers, winning emergency authorisations for its candidate. (www.science.org/content/article/novavax a). The […]
Global Health Newsletter XIX
As we stagger towards 2022, the words of that old Carpenters’ song come back suddenly: “Its yesterday once more!” Unlike that song, this is a nightmare, not nostalgia. COVID-19 devastated the world back in 2020 when vaccines were a faint glimmer at the end of a seemingly endless tunnel. The vaccines arrived at the threshold […]
Global Health Newsletter XVIII
Two weeks after the Omicron variant was identified, hospitals are bracing for a COVID-19 tsunami, according to a report in economist.com (www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/12/11/early-data-on-omicron-show-surging-cases-but-milder-symptoms). In South Africa, where it has displaced Delta, cases are rising faster than in earlier waves. Each person with Omicron may infect 3-3.5 others. Delta’s most recent rate in the country was 0.8. […]
Does Omicron mean an endemic COVID-19?
COVID-19 becoming an endemic condition has been discussed as an eventuality since the start of the pandemic. Omicron, with the assumption that cases are often less severe, may be the start of this. Given the virality of COVID-19 – and the sheer number of conditions and pace at which it spread – it was always […]
India needs Big Data boost for cardiac disease
The Cardiological Society of India (CSI), the apex body of cardiologists has announced the need to gather more data on every cardiac condition that is present in the country. The intention is to use machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) technology to assess all known heart conditions in the country. The data will then be […]
Global Health Newsletter XVII
It’s been just a year since the first anti-COVID-19 vaccine surfaced. And the virus has again turned up as a complicated avatar, its fifth since the original emerged from Wuhan in China two years ago. The World Health Organization (WHO) has christened it Omicron. Since its emergence in South Africa on 24 November, cases have […]
Scrub typhus, an overlooked condition
Scrub typhus is a little known disease that goes overlooked in India. Its burden is thought to be significantly underestimated due to a lack of available data and low public awareness. Scrub typhus is caused by being bitten by chiggers (larval mites) infected with the bacteria Orientia tsutsugamushi, which belongs to the Rickettsiaceae bacteria family. […]
Global Health Newsletter XVI
There is a new version of COVID-19 and the World Health Organisation has labelled it a “variant of concern.” First identified in South Africa on 25 November, preliminary evidence suggests that it carries a greater risk of reinfection than other strains. (www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/11/26/a-new-covid-19-variant-has-emerged) Just a day after its emergence, the world turned hyper. The EU imposed […]