Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a respiratory virus that causes illnesses ranging from mild respiratory discomfort to severe complications. It spreads through respiratory droplets, similar to other respiratory viruses such as RSV and influenza. This article provides an overview of HMPV including its symptoms, transmission, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and how it differs from COVID-19.
Named after 'Feluda', the detective character in legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray's stories, the test has been developed by Debojyoti Chakraborty and Souvik Maiti as a simpler way of detecting SARS-coV2 presence in clinical samples, IGIB Director Anurag Agarwal said.
Thackeray directed officials to ensure that people follow health norms like wearing masks, and that violators be fined.
The bouquet of Covid-19 tests that most diagnostic labs are offering include antibody tests (blood tests), rapid antigen tests (point of care tests that detect the presence of an antigen from a nasal or throat swab in case of SARS-CoV-2), and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests.
The ICMR said people having symptoms like fever, cough, sore throat and runny nose and residing in hotspots or cluster areas and in evacuee centres will now be tested for coronavirus infection.
The ICMR has approved over 200 labs (both public and private) for COVID-19 testing through-PCR machines.
Experts feel the figures are modest for a count of the size of 1.3 billion and "much more number of tests" are needed to combat COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
The court noted that the daily number of new COVID-19 cases received for November 10 was at 8,593 and "still counting" and the number of containment zones in the city were 4,016.
'The problem is delaying (or missing) the second dose would probably keep you at a 20 per cent risk of still getting COVID-19, till you are fully immunised.'
As the number of COVID cases rise in Bihar, data indicates that the state is slowing down on testing. It is also relying more on the Rapid Antigen Test than the more accurate RT-PCR test.
Shooting is underway for Amitabh Bachchan's Goodbye, Shah Rukh Khan's Pathan, Salman Khan's Tiger 3 and Prabhas and Saif Ali Khan's Adipurush among other films.
Two kinds of diagnostic tests are being currently used in India -- RT-PCR test and rapid antibodies test -- as per the global health norms.
'The only way to contain this is to see that a lesser number of people are affected.'
Pulling up the Delhi government, a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad asked why it waited till the court intervened to take steps such as reducing the number of people attending weddings to 50 to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Most feel as the movement of people normalises, the in-patient volumes in hospitals will grow and by the end of May, occupancy should be around 50 per cent, and 75 per cent over a period of time.
These dedicated COVID-19 facilities will have a capacity of 1,06,719 isolation beds and 12,024 ICU beds reserved for such patients in the country.
The spending on a typical RT-PCR test would take up 23 per cent of the monthly income of an average Indian, compared to 2 per cent in China. This is one of the deepest cuts in the pocket of an individual, in comparison to 14 other countries, reports Abhishek Waghmare.
'There are only two bottlenecks for universal vaccination.' 'One, is availability of the vaccine.' 'Two, is the logistics for administering the vaccine.'
Experts also feel that north Indians could be succumbing to the vector-borne disease because of their "low immunity" to it.
'Unless we make our own testing kits, we will not get out of this disease faster.'
The disease could go down several paths. One possibility, the least likely, is that it will just disappear. The most likely is that it will have seasonal impact, says Devangshu Datta.
'It is not the test, but the symptomatic phase in this disease that really matters.'
'This health emergency has brought a lot of people together with the common purpose of getting Feluda to play detective as quickly as possible.' 'As a scientist, if we can make a small difference in people's lives, we are happy'
'This year, we know the virus. Last year we didn't know anything about it.' 'The best part is that for the Indian population there has been some amount of cross protection.'
'The situation has improved because oxygen tankers are now coming.' 'Before this it was chaotic.'
'The government had a vaccine from January.' 'The government should have given the vaccine to all population above the age of 45, right from the start.' 'Each state has its own problems, but as far as vaccine coverage in India is concerned, there have been mistakes.'
'We are already exhausted, but we can't give up.' 'The battle is still on.' 'We will see some respite by December 2021.'
'But to see the effects of that, it will take a week or two more.'
'Every disease has traits and we have found out that actually 99 per cent of people who have got COVID-19, should recover.'
As the issue becomes increasingly politicised and accusations are traded on national television, the average Delhi resident suffers debilitating blows from viral fevers, writes Manavi Kapur.
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