Tag: covid vaccine

Categories
COVID-19 Government Guidelines Medical Updates Medicine & Health

‘Disease X’ could be 20 times deadlier than COVID-19, says expert

'Disease X' could be 20 times deadlier than COVID-19, says expert

UK healthcare professionals are preparing for a potential new pandemic known as ‘Disease X,’ which could be more deadly than COVID-19, with the capacity to result in 20 times more fatalities. Disease X could potentially cause up to 50 million deaths.

As COVID-19 transitions into a recurring and more familiar health concern, healthcare professionals in the UK are now gearing up for a potential new pandemic known as “Disease X.” They caution that this new virus could have a similar impact to the devastating Spanish Flu of 1918-1920.

Health experts are sounding the alarm about “Disease X,” a term coined by the World Health Organization. They warn that this potential new pandemic has the capacity to result in 20 times more fatalities than the coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020 and has tragically claimed the lives of over 2.5 million people worldwide. Here are the top 10 points about Disease X.

1. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Kate Bingham, who served as the chair of the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce from May to December 2020, expressed her belief that Disease X is expected to be considerably more perilous than COVID-19.

 

2. Based on expert estimates, Disease X could potentially result in up to 50 million fatalities. “Let me put it this way: the 1918-19 flu pandemic killed at least 50 million people worldwide, twice as many as were killed in World War I. Today, we could expect a similar death toll from one of the many viruses that already exist,” she told the Daily Mail.

In response to Disease X, Bingham asserted, “the world will have to prepare for mass vaccination drives and deliver the doses in record time.”

'Disease X' could be 20 times deadlier than COVID-19, says expert

3. She disclosed that while scientists have identified 25 virus families encompassing thousands of individual viruses, she holds the view that there are millions of viruses yet to be discovered, and these have the potential to evolve into pandemics.

4. “In a sense, we got lucky with Covid-19, despite the fact that it caused 20 million or more deaths across the world. The point is that the vast majority of people infected with the virus managed to recover. Imagine Disease X is as infectious as measles with the fatality rate of Ebola [67%]. Somewhere in the world, it’s replicating, and sooner or later, somebody will start feeling sick.”

5. The rise in outbreaks, according to Bingham, is attributed to the growing trend of more people congregating in urban areas. She also emphasizes that the continual destruction of millions of acres of natural habitat each year is contributing to this increase.

6. “This reason is particularly important, because around three-quarters of emerging infectious diseases originate in animals and then leap from species to species until they can, in certain circumstances, infect human beings.”

Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels :rocket: Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights! Click here!

7. According to Bingham, one of the initial actions that need to be taken is to allocate the necessary financial resources, essentially putting “the money on the table.” Bingham said, ” The monetary cost of inaction is seismic. After all, even Covid-19 – a milder virus than Disease X – managed to leave us holding a bill for $16 trillion in both lost output and public health expenditure.”

8. Regarding vaccines for Disease X, there are currently no approved vaccines available. Nevertheless, Bingham underscores the importance of scientists developing a collection of “different prototype vaccines for every threatening virus family”. She stressed that only a ‘head start’ on vaccines could help to target specific features of Disease X.

9. Bingham explained about the portfolio strategy – vaccines countering different facets of the virus. She explains by saying that ‘different types of vaccines stimulate different immune responses and therefore they provide different levels of protection’.

10. She further noted that the manufacturing capabilities vary enormously across countries and regions. Some vaccine formats may be suitable for large-scale production, while others may be easier to produce in the third world. Third, we need to address the shortcomings of current vaccines, not all of which are durable, easy to transport or cheap. Fourth, researchers must be encouraged to trial new technologies and approaches to vaccine design, potentially leading to more effective and efficient vaccines in the future.”

Read more at-https://shorturl.at/einQ3

 

Categories
COVID-19 Medical Equipments Medical Updates Medicine & Health

Older adults with COPD had depression during COVID pandemic: Study

Older adults with COPD had depression during COVID pandemic: Study

According to a new longitudinal study published online in the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), older persons with COPD were at a higher risk of depression during the early phases of the COVID-19 epidemic

The study looked at 875 people with COPD from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Ageing, a national study of Canadian seniors. Using longitudinal data, researchers were able to distinguish between 369 COPD patients who had a history of depression previous to the pandemic and 506 patients who had never experienced depression prior to the pandemic.

Researchers discovered that 1 in 6 people with COPD who had no prior history of depression experienced depression for the first time during the early phases of the pandemic. These findings show the toll that the epidemic inflicted on many people who had previously been depression-free.

“Our findings highlight the substantial burden of COVID-19 on those who were mentally healthy prior to the pandemic,” said first author Aneisha Taunque, research assistant at the Institute for Life Course and Aging at the University of Toronto. “It is evident that the pandemic has had a detrimental impact on the mental health of many individuals, even those who had no lifetime history of depression.”

When the analysis was restricted to those who had a history of depression prior to the pandemic, the prevalence of depression was substantially higher, with approximately one-half of these individuals experiencing a recurrence or persistence of depression during the autumn of 2020.

Older adults with COPD had depression during COVID pandemic: Study

“Older adults who have a history of depressive episodes are a highly vulnerable subset of the population, particularly those who faced numerous challenges with managing their chronic health conditions during the pandemic when access to regular health care was severely disrupted,” said co-author Grace Li, PhD candidate in the Sociology Department at the University of Victoria.

“The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated the risk of depression among those with COPD,” says co-author Ishnaa Gulati, a Master of Public Health Student at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. “There was already an established higher risk of depression among individuals with COPD when compared to those without COPD prior to the pandemic,” Gulati said. “When considering the mental health stressors during the pandemic, such as extended periods of lockdown, economic precarity, and concerns about contracting or spreading COVID-19, it is unsurprising that this group experienced major mental health challenges during this period.”

Although there is a burgeoning body of research examining depression during the pandemic, very little research has specifically examined the vulnerabilities among those with COPD. Understanding the risk factors for depression in subpopulations of older adults can aid health professionals in more effectively targeting treatment.

The study’s researchers highlighted several risk factors for both incident and recurrent depression among those with COPD, including loneliness, family conflict, and functional limitations.

“We found that experiencing functional limitations approximately doubled the risk of depression among older adults with COPD,” said co-author Ying Jiang, Senior Epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Canada.

“Physical activity is integral for maintaining functional status and reducing functional limitations among COPD patients, however many individuals with COPD are hesitant to engage in physical activity. Increases in time spent sedentary during periods of lockdown may have further ramifications for this population, potentially contributing to increases in depression.”

Women with COPD also had nearly double the risk of recurrent depression when compared to their male counterparts.

“During the pandemic, many women experienced an exacerbation of gendered roles, such as increased time spent caregiving and doing household labour, which may have contributed to declines in their mental health,” said co-author Margaret de Groh, Scientific Manager at the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Among individuals with no history of depression, experiencing disruptions to healthcare access was associated with approximately double the risk of incident depression.

“Many people with COPD encountered difficulties accessing pulmonary rehabilitation services during the pandemic, which are essential for supporting both the physical and mental health of COPD patients,” said co-author Andie MacNeil, research assistant at the University of Toronto’s Factor Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW).

“Our finding that disruptions to healthcare access were associated with incident depression highlights the reverberating consequences when healthcare is inaccessible.”

Senior author, Esme Fuller-Thomson, a Professor at FIFSW and Director of the Institute for Life Course & Aging says she hopes the study’s findings can help inform healthcare workers and social service providers about the pandemic’s impact on the mental health of people with COPD. “Future research should continue to examine depression among older adults with COPD to better understand the pandemic’s cascading impact, even in the post-COVID era,” Fuller-Thomson said.

Read more at-https://shorturl.at/lmEJV

Categories
COVID-19 Medical Updates Medicine & Health

Covid vaccines used in India and risk of heart attack are not related: Study

Covid vaccines used in India and risk of heart attack are not related:

The study emphasising on the effect of jabs has stated that the risk of heart attacks is not associated with covid vaccines.

There is no association between the Covid-19 vaccines used in India — Covishield and Covaxin — and increase in the risk of heart attacks, according to an observational study which emphasises the protective effect of the jabs.

The research, published recently in the journal PLOS One, determined the impact of COVID-19 vaccination on mortality following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or heart attack.

The retrospective study used data from 1,578 people admitted to G B Pant hospital in Delhi between August 2021 and August 2022. As many as 1,086 (68.8 per cent) were vaccinated against COVID-19 while 492 (31.2 per cent) were unvaccinated.

Among the vaccinated group, 1,047 (96 per cent) had received two doses of the vaccine while 39 (4 per cent) had received only a single dose.

“Our study found that vaccines used in India are safe. There was no association of vaccination in India with heart attack. In fact, the study found that there were less chances of death after heart attack in vaccinated individuals,” Mohit Gupta, who led the study, from G B Pant Hospital, told PTI.

Covid vaccines used in India and risk of heart attack are not related:

The adverse effects (AEs) of COVID-19 vaccines have mostly been mild, transient and self-limiting. However, concerns have been raised regarding the cardiovascular adverse effects of these vaccines.

Any side effect can have catastrophic effects especially in large densely populated countries such as India, the authors noted.

In all the enrolled patients, data regarding the patient’s vaccination status including details on type of vaccine, date of vaccination and adverse effects were obtained.

The researchers found that the analysis did not show a specific clustering of AMI at any particular time post vaccination, suggesting there was no significant association between COVID-19 jabs and heart attacks.

On 30-day follow-up, all-cause mortality occurred in 201 (12.7 per cent) patients with adjusted odds of mortality being significantly lower in the vaccinated group.

Similarly, at six months of follow-up, the vaccinated AMI group had lower odds of mortality as compared to the non-vaccinated group.

COVID-19 vaccines showed a decrease in all-cause mortality at 30 days and six months following AMI, according to the study.

However, increasing age, diabetics and smokers had a higher risk of 30-day mortality, the researchers said.

“Findings of our study showed that the 30-day and six months all-cause mortality risk was significantly lower in the vaccinated subjects as compared to the unvaccinated population,” the authors of the study said.

This study is the first to be conducted among a larger population of AMI patients which has shown COVID-19 vaccine to be not only safe but also have a protective effect in terms of reduction of all-cause mortality both on short term as well as at six months of follow-up, the authors of the study said.

They noted some limitations, saying that this was a single centre retrospective study, and the findings need to be validated in further larger studies from different ethnic groups.

Read more at-https://shorturl.at/oxY25

Categories
COVID-19 Government Guidelines Medical Equipments

Covid-19 vaccine boosters are the best defence: Older adults shouldn’t rely on previous infection for immunity

Covid-19 vaccine boosters are the best defence: Older adults shouldn’t rely on previous infection for immunity

Despite researchers’ efforts to understand SARS-CoV-2, the virus continues to hold many secrets.

Despite researchers’ efforts to understand SARS-CoV-2, the virus continues to hold many secrets. As much as we’ve tried to shoehorn it into our thinking about how respiratory viruses work, it will simply not comply. Some thought the virus would settle into a strictly seasonal pattern. It hasn’t. Some thought we could we move to a single annual vaccine every autumn. That was upended by having multiple waves of infection each year, that seem to occur in the late summer.

Some variants we thought would be terrible turned out to be mild, while others have turned out to be very problematic.

Surprising study results

Now we have a new puzzle.

Through the first couple of years of the pandemic before the emergence of the Omicron variant, it was believed the combination of vaccination and prior infection — which is called hybrid immunity — provided the highest level of protection against future infections.

Our research group has been studying vaccinated older adults in long-term care and retirement homes throughout the pandemic, and our recent findings have jolted us.

We found that those who had battled the BA.1-2 variant of Omicron in early 2022 had a 30-fold higher risk of contracting the BA.5 variant later in the year. That was exactly the opposite of what we, or anyone, would have predicted.

This new knowledge is critically important, not just to other older adults, but to all of us.

Covid-19 vaccine boosters are the best defence: Older adults shouldn’t rely on previous infection for immunity

Does this surprising twist apply to the broader population? Possibly, but until we know how infections work to increase susceptibility to reinfection, we can’t know if this susceptibility is specific to older adults. Does it apply to other variants, including the newest ones in circulation? That’s unclear.

What the findings do tell us is that older adults who have had a previous COVID-19 infection shouldn’t rely on that to protect them against reinfection this fall. To protect against severe illness, keeping booster shots up to date is recommended.

We can’t let our guard down

We were able to make this discovery because our study participants in long-term care and retirement homes are part of the most frequently tested, highly vaccinated and closely observed group in the entire population.

The end of frequent PCR testing and documentation of infection for those who are sick (after all, we researchers don’t know if you tested positive on a rapid test) left us without much data about COVID infections and reinfections in the broader population, so these seniors are helping us see things we’d otherwise have missed.

Through them, we’ve realized the virus has evolved in a way that means one infection doesn’t necessarily guarantee immunity from another.

Though we still have so much to learn about many aspects of COVID-19 — including its lingering health effects and the mechanics of its endless mutations — we do know enough to say one thing: we can’t let our guard down.

Among other conclusions, we know that while vaccines mitigate the worst consequences of subsequent COVID infections, the virus is still developing new ways to elude our immune systems.

Protecting ourselves and our communities

So, do we still need masks and boosters? Yes. However tiresome they have become, they’re still crucial. This is especially true for our most vulnerable, including older adults, people with chronic conditions or who are immune compromised and those who work with them.

We know the protective value of multiple COVID vaccines does not accumulate like money in a bank account. It’s the recency of our boosters that will determine our degree of protection.

Though imperfect, timely boosters are still our best shields. It’s time to think of them less like our childhood vaccines, where we expect to be protected for long periods of time, and more like annual flu vaccines where we need to be vaccinated for the strain that is circulating and can only expect that protection to reduce symptomatic infection, last a few months but — importantly — help keep us out of hospital.

We need to remain vigilant and to continue to keep our vaccines up to date, to protect against COVID infections and their threat of debilitating long-term effects and even death.

Protecting ourselves and our communities

Our participants have been great partners in our work. As a group, and are willing to participate in this research because they are interested in helping others. They helped us discover that hybrid immunity does not always protect older adults from future COVID-19 infection, suggesting that some assumptions about COVID-19 infection risk may need to be revisited, and that we need to study how different variants evade the immune system.

These research partners deserve the thanks of the community for contributing to this important lesson. We can all honour them by heeding that lesson and taking precautions against spreading COVID-19 this fall, including wearing masks and getting a booster shot.

Read more at-https://shorturl.at/uEFJ7

Categories
COVID-19 Government Guidelines Medicine & Health

New Covid-19 variant ‘Pirola’ or BA.2.86 is different from others, Coronavirologist shares 5 important facts

New Covid-19 variant ‘Pirola’ or BA.2.86 is different from others, Coronavirologist shares 5 important facts

Coronavirologist Dr Pavithra Venkatagopalan says that Pirola or BA.2.86 variant has as many changes as Omicron had from Delta.

Coronavirus has been changing and evolving ever since it was first discovered in the year 2019 and became a global concern in a matter of few months. The original Covid strain soon turned into the ‘deadly Delta’ taking a huge toll across the globe. With massive vaccination drive all across India and other parts of the world, and the efforts of Covid warriors including scientists, medical practitioners, doctors, nurses, this health crisis could be curbed. As Covid transformed into a way milder Omicron variant, the symptoms became less severe and the fears regarding the spread of the virus eased.

Coronavirologist Dr Pavithra Venkatagopalan says that Pirola or BA.2.86 variant that has been increasing cases in US, UK, China and other countries, seems to have as many changes as Omicron had from Delta. The coronavirologist also added that we are yet to understand the severity of the strain and the impact of the new mutations the virus has.

Dr Pavithra Venkatagopalan, corona-virologist and Covid awareness specialist at Rotary Club of Madras NextGen in a telephonic interview with HT Digital shares 5 important facts about Pirola or BA.2.86 that everyone wants to know.

New Covid-19 variant ‘Pirola’ or BA.2.86 is different from others, Coronavirologist shares 5 important facts

1. Pirola or BA.2.86 has 35 new mutations

All viruses change with time including SARS-Cov2. These changes are designated as variant depending on how different they are based on their genetic sequence as compared to the previous variant. One of the recent variants that has been discovered is BA 2.86. This variant is interesting because it has a lot of 35 new mutations that sets it apart from previously known prevalent Covid variants.

2. BA.2.86 has limited samples so severity is unknown

We don’t know the severity of this strain because worldwide we have received just 9 samples. This does not mean that there are only 9 cases. This simply means that all the Covid virus cases that were tested for the genetic sequence, 9 have been identified in different parts of the world suggesting it’s prevalent worldwide.

3. Pirola may not be really new

It is important to remember that just because we have detected a variant now doesn’t mean it’s new. Covid is no longer considered a global crisis. The efforts put into genetically sequencing the virus have also come down, so we don’t know for how long this variant has been travelling undetected. There is no evidence to suggest that this variant is a lot more severe in terms of symptoms they cause or how quickly they transmit from each other simply because we have just 9 identified sequence samples which simply don’t know about genetic makeup of other variants that may be spreading.

4. Why BA.2.86 is a variant of interest

It is variant of interest because it has around 30 genetic changes from its parent which is B82 variant which is dubbed as omicron in the media. Omicron was designated as a different variant from its ancestral Covid variant which was delta which was the B 1.617.8.2. This seems to have as many changes as Omicron had from Delta.

5. Will previous vaccines work to prevent Pirola?

Whether the previous vaccines will work or not, we will have to wait and see because we do not know how long this variant has been getting transmitted. All those people who have had Covid and had more global vaccines and not specific RNA vaccines are expected to have some level of leverage. These companies have been updating their vaccines as the virus is evolving. If you have those vaccines in access and are eligible to take those vaccines, please continue to take them as advised by your local health body.

Read more at-https://shorturl.at/bfisY

Categories
COVID-19 Government Guidelines Medical Equipments Medicine & Health

ICMR study: Who’s more at risk after leaving the hospital with COVID-19?

ICMR study: Who's more at risk after leaving the hospital with COVID-19?

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recently published a research paper highlighting varying vulnerability to post-discharge mortality in COVID-19 cases. The study highlights three risk factors for death after discharge while also highlighting the importance of vaccinating prior to contracting the coronavirus.

“Post-discharge mortality” refers to the occurrence of death after a person has been discharged from a medical facility, such as a hospital, following treatment for a specific medical condition.
The new ICMR study, titled “Determinants of post-discharge mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients,” identifies three prominent risk factors associated with post-discharge mortality among COVID-19 survivors. People over the age of 40, men with co-morbidities and individuals who endured moderate to severe COVID-19 cases have a more pronounced risk of post-charge mortality.
On a more positive note, the study reveals that those who received at least one dose of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine before contracting the virus experienced a 60 percent reduction in the risk of post-discharge mortality.
The research accumulated results from 14,419 participants hailing from 31 hospitals nationwide, who were followed up for a period ranging from four weeks to one-year post-discharge. 942 individuals (6.5 percent) had succumbed, while the remaining 93.5 percent were documented as alive during the year-long follow-up.
“Similar trends were seen in participants, 18-45 years of age,” the ICMR team said.
ICMR study: Who's more at risk after leaving the hospital with COVID-19?
While the findings offer valuable insights, the study acknowledges limitations stemming from telephonic follow-ups, which could lead to symptom underreporting. Also, the study’s focus was exclusively on hospitalised COVID-19 patients, which restricts the generalisability of the conclusions to the broader population.
In parallel to this study, the ICMR is currently overseeing a multicentric hospital-based matched case-control study, which seeks to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 vaccine on heart attacks among individuals aged 18–45 years in India.
Furthermore, the ICMR is actively researching factors associated with sudden deaths among adults aged 18–45 years in India.
Meanwhile, PK Mishra, the principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday, held a high-level meeting to review the global and national COVID-19 situation in view of the new variants, Pirola (BA.2.86) and Eris (EG.5).
During the meeting, Mishra highlighted the need for states to monitor trends of influenza-like illnesses despite the stable COVID-19 situation, and prepared healthcare systems. He also focused on the need to send enough samples for genome sequencing.
Read more at-https://tinyurl.com/v7zjzezx
Categories
COVID-19 Government Guidelines Medical Equipments Medicine & Health

Dengue outbreaks: 9 reasons why dengue cases are getting more severe; what role does global warming play

Dengue outbreaks: 9 reasons why dengue cases are getting more severe; what role does global warming play

Prenatal genetic testing is now quite affordable and being increasingly used for improving reproductive outcomes in every pregnant woman as genetic testing prenatally, a.k.a before birth has given the opportunity to screen for a variety of severe genetic abnormalities and take necessary action in time. This helps in preventing the birth of children with genetic birth defects thus saving financial and emotional burden on the family.

With the advent of such testing, couples are now able to obtain information about genetic disorders of their foetus and make an informed decision about the same. In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Veronica Arora, Assistant Consultant at Institute of Medical Genetics and Genomics at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, revealed, “Genetic testing is not offered to obtain information about the foetus to predict non-disease-related traits. Such practice is strongly condemned. Some common myths about prenatal genetic testing include that it is only done for older women, it is very expensive, it is only done for Down syndrome, not required in the absence of family history, or done only for high-risk women.”

Highlighting that testing in the prenatal scenario includes non-invasive and invasive genetic tests, she elaborated –

  • Non-invasive tests: Biochemical markers, non-invasive prenatal screening are those which are performed on the blood of the mother. Testing for common aneuploidies and thalassemia is included in this category, and these are offered universally to all pregnant women.
  • Invasive genetic testing: Amniocentesis or Chorionic villus sampling is limited to fetuses at risk of having a genetic disorder. This includes those at risk due to positive family history, advanced maternal age, positive screening tests for aneuploidies or ultrasound abnormalities.

Dengue outbreaks: 9 reasons why dengue cases are getting more severe; what role does global warming play

Addressing myths on prenatal genetic testing, Dr Ramesh Hariharan, CEO and Co-Founder of Strand Life Sciences, shared –

  1. Prenatal genetic testing can help determine if the baby, while still in the mother’s womb, has a genetic abnormality.
  2. Pre-natal testing need not be invasive for the baby; some abnormalities in the baby can be detected from the mother’s blood; these include large scale genomic abnormalities that cause Down’s syndrome.
  3. Not all abnormalities can be easily detected from the mother’s blood though, particularly finer genetic abnormalities, those may need a procedure called amniocentesis or CVS to access cells from the baby.
  4. All positive results detected from mother’s blood should be confirmed by an amnio or CVS.

Read more at-https://shorturl.at/eoSZ7

Categories
COVID-19 Government Guidelines Medical Equipments

Covid-19 poses high chances of death to people above 40: ICMR study

Covid-19 poses high chances of death to people above 40: ICMR study

The latest research paper released by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has revealed that covid-19 people above 40 years of age, men with co-morbidities and those individuals who suffered moderate to severe covid-19 were associated with higher odds of post-discharge one-year mortality, whereas 60% protection was conferred by vaccination before the covid-19 infection.

Of the 14,419 participants from 31 hospitals across the country who were followed up at least once between four weeks and one year post discharge, 942 (6.5%) had died and the remaining (93.5%) were reported alive at any contact during one year of follow up.

The study titled– “Determinants of post discharge mortality among hospitalized covid-19 patients: Nested matched case-control analyses from the National Clinical Registry for covid-19″ has now been published in the latest issue of Indian Journal of Medical Research (IJMR) was conducted by the National Clinical Registry for covid-19 study team.

“Participants who had received at least one dose of the anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine before their covid-19 infection had a lower risk of post-discharge mortality,” the study said.

Covid-19 poses high chances of death to people above 40: ICMR study

“Emphasis was put on the 18-45 years of age to understand the factors associated with post discharge death in young adults. Factors associated with death in them after discharge were similar to the ones observed in other age brackets. Prior anti-covid-19 vaccination did lend some protection against all-cause post discharge death in this age group, although this cannot be claimed conclusively as the association was not statistically significant,” the study said.

The limitations of the current investigation include reliance on telephonic follow-up, which could have led to underreporting of the symptoms. The present analyses only included patients who were hospitalized due to covid-19, and consequently, the findings cannot be generalized to all patients who had covid-19, the study stated. In addition to this, ICMR is also conducting a multicentric hospital-based matched case-control study   on the effect of covid-19 vaccine on heart attack among 18–45-year-old population in India in 2022 and on factors associated with sudden deaths among adults aged 18–45 years in India.

Read more at-https://t.ly/KwMYe

Categories
COVID-19 Government Guidelines Medical Equipments Medical Updates

New Covid variant Eris symptoms appear a week before positive test? Know all about this ‘pre-Covid’ phenomenon

New Covid variant Eris symptoms appear a week before positive test? Know all about this 'pre-Covid' phenomenon

Experts say this could be because when a person contracts a virus, it takes time for it to replicate within the body to trigger noticeable symptoms.

New Covid variant EG.5 has been spreading fast in different parts of the world and while the strain is good at escaping immunity, the symptoms remain mild, and experts say it doesn’t pose a significant threat. EG.5 has been declared as a variant of interest and will be monitored for its mutations. The strain may become dominant in many countries with its rapid spread. As the Eris and other Omicron variants are being detected, people are also reporting a ‘pre-Covid’ phenomenon that was even being reported in the initial days of pandemic. This means that people are showing signs of Covid even with a negative test and upon being tested again after a week or so, the result comes positive.

Experts say this is because when a person contracts a virus, such as Covid-19, it takes time for the virus to replicate within the body to trigger noticeable symptoms. The initial test comes negative due to low viral load and the same increases with each passing day. If you too are facing this ‘pre-Covid’ phenomenon, get tested again after a week for correct diagnosis.

The incubation period effect

“This phenomenon can be attributed to the virus’s incubation period. When a person contracts a virus, such as Covid-19, it takes time for the virus to replicate within the body to levels that trigger noticeable symptoms. This period between exposure to the virus and the appearance of symptoms is known as the incubation period. Eris is one of the two latest sub-variants of Corona virus. The symptoms of Eris variant start about a week before it could be detected by tests. The symptoms are nearly the same as those of Covid illness,” says Dr Anurag Saxena, HOD-Internal Medicine, Primus Super Speciality Hospital.

“In the case of Eris and similar illnesses, symptoms may manifest roughly a week before a positive test because the virus or pathogen has been present in the body long enough to cause noticeable symptoms, but it might still take a little more time for the viral load to reach a level detectable by the testing methods in use,” adds Dr Saxena.

New Covid variant Eris symptoms appear a week before positive test? Know all about this 'pre-Covid' phenomenon

Go for RT-PCR tests

“In some patients, they continue to test negative for Covid illness, because they don’t have it. In some cases, initial tests can be negative due to low viral load initially, i.e., load below the limit of detection of that particular test. In such cases, repeating a test after few days usually helps to confirm the diagnosis. In other patient, use of rapid antigen tests, improper sampling technique (when performed by self) etc. can be cause of negative result despite having Covid illness. In such cases, RT-PCR tests, a more accurate test than rapid antigen tests, should be performed, and sampling performed preferably by trained personnel. As of now, there is very limited data to suggest any significant difference compared to previously circulating variants with respect to transmissibility, immune evasiveness, severity, diagnostic modalities, or response to available treatment. Furthermore, more robust, large cohort-based data is needed, on viral dynamics of new emerging variants, and performance characteristics of various tests in such scenarios to ascertain such phenomenon and its plausible explanation,” says Dr Rohit Garg, Consultant, Dept of Infectious Disease, Amrita Hospital, Faridabad.

“Symptoms such as nasal congestion, sneezing, cough, fever and fatigue is commonly seen in the ‘pre COVID’ period. This can last upto first 7 days of the infection. It is seen with Eris variant as the transmissibility of this virus is higher than the previous variants. However, there is no need to panic and it becomes imperative to follow Covid appropriate behaviour, especially hand hygiene, during the monsoon season when the rate of airborne and droplet infections are already high,” says Dr Charu Dutt Arora, Infectious Disease Specialist, Consultant Physician, AmeriHealth, Asian Hospital.

“Understanding this timeline helps in both managing the illness and preventing further transmission, as individuals with symptoms can take appropriate precautions and seek medical attention promptly, reducing the risk of spreading the illness to others,” says Dr Saxena.

Eris symptoms

Dr Saibal Chakravorty, Senior Consultant – Internal Medicine, Metro Hospital Noida says the symptoms of the new variant as of now are same as we have seen and witnessed previously, though more research on this is being done.

As per limited evidence, the symptoms are:

  • Cough
  • High Fever
  • Severe Headache
  • Body ache
  • Weakness and Fatigue
  • Decreased Appetite

Read more at-https://shorturl.at/ceptO

Categories
COVID-19 Government Guidelines Medical Equipments Medical Updates

New Covid variants Eris vs BA 2.86: Is the one scarier than the other? Know difference between symptoms

New Covid variants Eris vs BA 2.86: Is the one scarier than the other? Know difference between symptoms

Eris vs BA 2.86, both are variants from XBB lineage which is a descendent of Omicron. Here’s what to know about their symptoms are transmissibility.

Even as pandemic threat subsides, Covid-19 virus continues to evolve and most recently two Covid variants namely Eris or EG.5 and BA 2.86 have been increasing the caseload in UK, China and other countries. While Covid symptoms seem to have become milder with course of time and newer variants, the mutations in the spike protein have increased due to which they are becoming good at escaping immunity and also infecting people faster. While EG.5 has been declared variant of interest, BA 2.86 is being called variant under monitoring by WHO. BA 2.86 is said to be highly mutated and this particular strain has some new symptoms associated with it, says Dr Pavithra Venkatagopalan, corona-virologist and Covid awareness specialist at Rotary Club of Madras NextGen in a conversation with HT Digital.

Why newer variants of Covid-19 are evolving

“The virus causing Covid-19 has continued to evolve from the time it was identified in December 2019. Over these last 3-3.5 years, we have seen lot of different variants come and go and each of these variants have lot of properties in common and some other varying ones. One of the common properties include the transmission via droplets. This has not changed in any of the variants that have come so far. We have seen the beta, gamma, delta, and Omicron variants. All these variants are causing Covid-19. What happens is when people with different symptoms of Covid-are identified, their sample is collected and sent for sequencing. Sequencing is a simple way of understanding what this virus is made of. Each of these variants behave differently because they have different genetic sequence changes,” says Dr Pavithra.

Eris or EG.5 and BA 2.86 are the two variants that have been making headlines as they are spreading very fast and are able to evade vaccine immunity or immunity acquired from an infection. Dr Pavithra explains the difference between the two strains.

Difference between EG.5 and BA 2.86 Covid variants

“We have a new ‘variant of interest’ and another fresh ‘variant under monitoring’ at this point – one is Eris EG.5 and the other is BA2.86. Both of these are variants from XBB lineage which is a descendent of Omicron. The difference is we have identified more of Eris cases worldwide which seems to have high rates of transmissibility. Whether we have more cases of BA2.86 or not, we have to see,” says Dr Pavithra.

New Covid variants Eris vs BA 2.86: Is the one scarier than the other? Know difference between symptoms

New Covid symptoms of BA 2.86

Dr Pavithra says BA 2.86 has few new extra symptoms which seem to be associated with this variant infection.

“People are getting rashes, there is some eye redness, there is some cases of diarrhoea,” she says.

Fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, loss of taste and smell, and sore throat are symptoms that are being reported with Eris infection.

Does this make BA 2.86 less or scarier? These aren’t overly surprising symptoms, but it’s a sudden change that shows the virus is continuously evolving, says Dr Pavithra.

New vaccines to fight new variants

“BA 2.86 has 36 new mutations that may allow it to evade the antibodies we already have. In the US and Germany they are upgrading PFizer and Moderna against the new strains. This doesn’t mean that the shots we took earlier are not effective, but they may be less effective. The battle between our immune system and the virus will be constantly faced as virus evolves. If not vaccinated, we must make sure you get it, especially if it’s been over a year.

Read more at-https://shorturl.at/lxEKY