The Maharashtra health department is sending samples from poultry workers in Nandurbar district to the National Institute of Virology for human avian flu testing as a precautionary measure after a bird flu outbreak.
Health ministry advisory urges rational use of cough syrups in children after 11 deaths in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Findings of the first in-depth analysis of clinical and genomic characteristics of the Clade Ib strain, published in the journal Virology, showed seven of the 10 individuals had a history of travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Two suspected cases of Nipah virus have been detected in West Bengal, prompting a national outbreak response team to be deployed. The central government is providing full support to the state.
The Union health ministry has deputed a high-level multi-disciplinary team to Pune to aid state authorities in instituting interventions and managing the spurt in suspected and confirmed cases of Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) in the city.
The test kit has the advantage of testing 90 samples together in a single run of 2.5 hours, so that healthcare professionals can proceed quickly with necessary next steps.
This is the second Nipah-related death reported in Kerala in recent days.
Pune, India, has reported 59 suspected cases of Guillain-Barr syndrome (GBS), an immunological nerve disorder. The sudden rise in cases has prompted the state health department to form a team to investigate. GBS is a rare condition that causes sudden numbness and muscle weakness. Most suspected patients are within the age group of 30 years. Authorities are investigating the cause of the outbreak and have collected samples for testing. Doctors have assured the public that GBS is not contagious and most patients recover fully with treatment.
Maharashtra Health Minister Prakash Abitkar has linked 80% of suspected Guillain-Barr Syndrome (GBS) cases in Pune to water contamination around a well in Nanded village. The state health department and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) are taking measures to address the issue. The well is a source of water for surrounding villages, and officials suspect contamination is leading to the spike in GBS cases. The minister emphasized that GBS affects individuals with weak immunity, and campylobacter jejuni bacteria, usually causing stomach infection, can trigger the disease. The PMC has conducted water sample tests, with some showing evidence of norovirus and campylobacter jejuni. Clean drinking water is being provided through tankers to affected areas.
The number of suspected Guillain-Barr Syndrome (GBS) deaths in Pune district, Maharashtra, has reached six after a 63-year-old man died. The outbreak has been linked to water contamination caused by campylobacter jejuni, a common bacterial pathogen that causes gastroenteritis and can trigger GBS. The number of suspected GBS cases has risen to 173, with 140 diagnosed with GBS. 34 patients are in Pune Municipal Corporation limits, 87 from newly added villages in PMC area, 22 from Pimpri Chinchwad civic limits, 22 from rural parts of the district, and eight from other districts. Of the 173, a total of 72 have been discharged, 55 are in ICU and 21 are on ventilator support.
Police have arrested a doctor for alleged negligence and registered a case against the manufacturer of a 'toxic' cough syrup after the death of 14 children in Chhindwara due to suspected renal failure, officials said on Sunday.
Authorities have sealed three houses belonging to the affected families and shifted 21 their close relatives to government accommodation to be kept under strict monitoring.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has detected 22 suspected cases of Guillain-Barr syndrome (GBS), an immunological nerve disorder, in the city. Samples from the affected patients have been sent to ICMR-NIV for testing. Most of the cases were detected in the Sinhgad Road area. According to doctors, GBS is a rare condition that causes sudden numbness and muscle weakness. While the condition is prevalent in both pediatric and young age groups, it does not lead to an epidemic or pandemic. The PMC has constituted a committee of experts to investigate the outbreak and conduct detailed surveillance of the patients. The civic health department has assured that there is no need for panic as of now.
The man, in his thirties, is not a contact of the first reported case of monkeypox in the national capital, they said, adding that he has a history of foreign travel.
The Centre on Sunday held a high-level review meeting after a 34-year-old man from the national capital with no history of foreign travel tested positive for the monkeypox virus, making it the fourth case of the disease reported in India.
The recent death of six people from bites by an unidentified animal in Madhya Pradesh's Barwani district prompted a massive search operation by the forest department after villagers reported sightings of a hyena in the area, officials said on Wednesday.
National Institute of Virology, Pune, needs research assistants for an upcoming project. Walk-in interview on 12 July 2007.
The ICMR's network of laboratories will take care of diagnostics and there is enough capability to step up the supply of diagnostic kits if required, they said.
Water samples from different parts of Pune have been sent to the public health laboratory for chemical and biological analysis.
Twenty-two confirmed cases of chikungunya have been reported from 12 villages of Maharashtra's Kolhapur following fever outbreak, the state's health authorities said on Wednesday.
A woman is suspected to have died of Guillain-Barr syndrome (GBS) in Maharashtra on Wednesday, while 16 new cases of the rare nerve disorder were reported in the state, health officials said.
All these persons have been kept in single room isolation in designated health care facilities by respective state governments.
George, who met the media in Malappuram, said the Pune NIV (National Institute of Virology) had confirmed the infection in the boy, who is currently under treatment at a private hospital.
A person who returned to Kerala from abroad and was hospitalised after showing signs of monkeypox tested positive for the disease, state Health Minister Veena George said on Thursday.
The Gujarat government has deployed specialist doctors and 50 medical teams in and around seven villages of two talukas in Kutch district after an undiagnosed fever has claimed the lives of 11 persons in a week, a state minister said on Wednesday.
A man suspected to have contracted Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) has died in Maharashtra's Solapur district, while the number of cases of the immunological nerve disorder in Pune rose to 110, health officials said on Monday.
The weather conditions in Pune could be conducive to the swine flu virus, which is spreading rapidly in the city, the National Institute of Virology said on Tuesday. "Pune's climate at present is not too hot nor too cold, which may be conducive for the survival of the swine flu virus," NIV Director A C Mishra said. The NIV has issued guidelines to authorities in Pune on how to deal with patients and on screening of suspected cases.
Union ministers Prakash Javadekar and Giriraj Singh, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari were among those who got the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on the fifth day of the second phase of vaccination on Friday.
The Indian government has advised states to intensify surveillance for respiratory illnesses, including influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illnesses (SARI), following the detection of five human metapneumovirus (HMPV) cases in the country. The decision comes amidst reports of a surge in HMPV cases in China. The Union Health Secretary, Punya Salila Srivastava, chaired a virtual meeting with states and union territories to discuss the situation and public health measures. While there is no cause for public concern, the government is emphasizing the importance of preventive measures such as handwashing, covering coughs and sneezes, and avoiding close contact with those showing symptoms.
The government has ordered monoclonal antibody from Indian Council of Medical Research to treat the child. It is the only available anti-viral treatment for Nipah virus infection, though it has not been clinically proven yet.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan reviewed the status of passengers coming from the UK to India and found positive in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Goa, Punjab, Gujarat and Kerala and their response measures in a meeting held through video conferencing.
Detection of about 12 Swine flu cases in the last fortnight has put the health authorities In Pune on an alert, as two patients are reported to be in a critical condition.
After reports claimed that filings in patent offices in India, the US, and Europe did not mention ICMR or its scientists, but only BBIL and its scientists, the Hyderabad-based biotechnology (biotech) company clarified that in the "rush" to develop vaccines and file appropriate patents, BBIL had missed adding ICMR's name in the original filings.
The Jharkhand government has asked health officials to remain on alert and arrange isolation beds in all district hospitals after a seven-year-old girl was detected with symptoms similar to monkeypox in Garhwa, an official said on Wednesday.
Till date eight cases of the disease have been detected in India, out of which five have foreign travel history, the minister of health and family welfare said.
The ministry said the mutated UK strain was detected in eight samples at the National Centre for Disease Control, one at the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani (near Kolkata), one at the National Institute of Virology Pune, seven at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences Hospital Bengaluru, two at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad and one at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi.
The Indian Council of Medical Research was in talks with the Serum Institute of India for local manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies (MABs). However, it did not take off, as the volume was much less in India.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, who hails from Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, on Monday spoke with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan after scores of people including children were hospitalised with an undiagnosed illness.
Shailaja, who had won accolades for containing the Nipah infection effectively in 2018, said the southern state has a protocol and standard operating procedure (SOP) to effectively fight the infection and prevent its spread.
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