In what appears to be an astonishing revelation, a US-based scientist who worked at a controversial research lab in China's Wuhan, has said that Covid-19 was a "man-made virus" that leaked from the facility.
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.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Zika has been reported in Kerala and it was not unexpected as it is spread by the Aedes Aegypte mosquitoes, which causes dengue and Chickungunya.
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.
AIIMS-Delhi is among the 12 sites selected by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting Phase I and II randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled clinical trials of Covaxin.
Asserting that the present situation is not alarming, the minister said the emphasis should be more on COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and people should come forward to get vaccinated to shield themselves from Coronavirus and its variants.
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.
A 39-year-old man tested positive for the Nipah virus, which was transmitted to him through direct contact with an infected person who died on August 30, State Health Minister Veena George said in Kozhikode on Friday.
The Rhesus macaque monkeys, used worldwide in medical research, are believed to be the best non-human primates for such studies.
The ICMR claimed that no country has yet reported successful isolation and culture of the UK-variant of SARS-CoV-2.
The Nipah virus has killed two people and infected two others in Kerala's Kozhikode district, the state government said on Tuesday.
According to respective company sources, Biological E is holding 200 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax while Bharat Biotech is sitting on a stockpile of 50 million doses of Covaxin.
The Union health ministry has also directed airport and port health officers to be vigilant, they said.
These include the 25 cases which were announced till Thursday. "All the 29 persons are in physical isolation in health facilities," an official 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.
He asserted that all efforts are on to contain the spread of the virus in Kerala.
The research revealed that coronaviruses and their hosts are engaged in an evolutionary arms race that promotes genetic variety in the virus.
The Budget outlay for health and well being is Rs 2.23 lakh crore in 2021-22 as against BE of Rs 94,452 crore and marks an increase of 137 per cent," she said while presenting 2021-22 Budget in the Lok Sabha.
The virus was detected in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes after samples from six water bodies in Chikkaballapura were collected and sent for examination.
Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others. Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on, the ministry said.
The ICMR-National Institute of Virology has been regularly undertaking studies to understand the protective efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines against emerging variants.
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.
The National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune under the ICMR has isolated the monkeypox virus from the clinical specimen of a patient, which can pave the way for development of diagnostic kits and vaccines against the disease, officials said on Wednesday.
After having received the government purchase order for 55 lakh doses, Bharat Biotech shipped the first batch of vaccines (each vial containing 20 doses) to Gannavaram (Vijayawada), Guwahati, Patna, Delhi, Kurukshetra, Bangalore, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Chennai and Lucknow.
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.
All these people have been kept in single room isolation in designated healthcare facilities by respective state governments and their close contacts have also been put under quarantine, the ministry said.
The number of cases due to the mosquito-transmitted disease in the southern state went went up to 14 on Friday following confirmation of 13 additional samples by the National Institute of Virology.
After identifying the man who was the patient zero or index case of the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala, the state government on Saturday began looking for the source and place from where he got infected by seeking details of his mobile tower locations.
The Vaccine War leans towards stoking nationalistic fervour, but that shouldn't stop you from watching a film that is solemn about the Indian scientific community's achievement, notes Mayur Sanap.
National Institute of Virology, Pune, needs research assistants for an upcoming project. Walk-in interview on 12 July 2007.
The tourism industry expects a short-term impact, as it is counting on the state's proven expertise in managing such crises.
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.
A passenger, who arrived at the Bengaluru International Airport from Netherlands with suspected symptoms of the H1N1 flu, has been quarantined, a top health official said on Monday. "The passenger, who arrived at BIA from Netherlands via Frankfurt late on Sunday night, has been quarantined at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases," Usha Vasunkar, director of Health & Family Welfare Services, said. The man's throat culture samples have been sent for further tests.
New strains of coronavirus found in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil have not been detected in Amravati, Yavatmal and Satara districts of Maharashtra where cases have spiked recently, the state government said on Friday.
India is currently using two vaccines for COVID-19 -- one developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca and the other developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology. Both the vaccines are being manufactured within the country by domestic firms.
Health experts have questioned the Bihar government's delay in declaring Acute Encephalitis Syndrome, a disease that has killed 135 children in the state, as an epidemic. "Bihar should declare the disease as an epidemic so that doctors can collect brain tissue of the deceased for further tests," said Director of National Institute of Virology Dr A C Mishra.
Covaxin is being developed by Bharat Biotech, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research - National Institute of Virology.
"The blood test result of the first patient from Thrissur, from the National Institute of Virology (NIV) testing centre at Alappuzha, shows a negative result. But we need confirmation from the NIV at Pune," a senior medical officer said.
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.
