(In the weekly Health Matters newsletter, Ramya Kannan writes about getting to good health, and staying there. You can subscribe here to get the newsletter in your inbox.)
On July 1, an adolescent girl succumbed to Nipah infection in Kerala. Nipah, has, since, come to occupy headlines in health news. With two people in Kerala, including the adolescent, testing positive for Nipah, memories of a terrible outbreak in the State in 2018, where 17 of the 19 people who contracted the infection died, surfaced, sending the health and civic authorities into overdrive. While attempts are on to trace the source of the infection, hectic activity also takes the form of tracing the contacts of those who have tested positive for Nipah, isolating them, treating and testing those with symptoms. As many as 425 people who are in the contact lists of the two Nipah-infected persons in three districts in Kerala have been identified and are under surveillance. Of these, 228 are from Malappuram district, where Patient Zero was identified this time, 110 in Palakkad and 87 in Kozhikode. A significant number of them in all three districts are healthcare workers. Why are we so bothered about two cases of Nipah? Because studies show that Nipah has a very high mortality rate of between 45 and 70%. Do read updates here: Nipah virus resurfaces in Kerala, two cases reported; Palakkad, Malappuram administrations step up vigil against Nipah.
It might be worth your while to sit through this deep dive into the current Nipah situation by Abdul Latheef Naha: The return of the dread . While providing a backgrounder to the patient, the article also looked at possible sources of fruits/foods contaminated by fruit bats, believed to be the reservoirs of the virus, besides detailing the process that the health teams are following and mentioning how anthropometric activities such as urbanisation and deforestation are destroying natural habitats and influencing the spread of pathogens.
C. Maya wrote on how Kerala will launch antibody surveillance studies on Nipah virus. While Kerala has primed its response to Nipah infections, with experience built over the years and outbreaks since 2018, there are some loopholes. Researchers have identified several missing links or knowledge gaps, pertaining to the exact virus spillover mechanism from bats to humans; the recurrence of the spillover events/outbreaks in a specific geographic belt in northern Kerala and how exactly human behaviour, land use and bat ecology interactions are facilitating the virus spillovers.
In this context, we also had an edit on the subject: Batting for prevention: On Nipah cases in Kerala
The other top news this week was a bunch of studies that were heartening to read, considering the huge anti-vaccine movement that seems to have seized the world. Independent studies established that there was no link between COVID-19 vaccination and sudden cardiac deaths in India. Bindu Shajan Perappadan reported the health ministry’s claim that Lifestyle and pre-existing conditions, and not COVID-19 vaccination were key causes of sudden deaths among adults post COVID. The ministry was itself quoting from studies conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) which found no major changes in the patterns of causes of death when compared to previous years. In the majority of unexplained cases, genetic mutations were found to be a likely contributing factor. She followed it up with an interview with Manoj Murhekar, director, National Institute of Epidemiology, an ICMR institution, who debunked claims linking Covid vaccines to sudden deaths as baseless and warned that they can can hamper vaccination programmes.
Meanwhile, Afshan Yasmeen wrote on an observational study run by Karnataka’s Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research (SJICSR) that did not find any association between premature cardiovascular disease and a prior history of COVID-19 infection, or COVID vaccination. On the contrary, COVID vaccination has been shown to be protective against cardiac events in the long term, the report stated. Read it, here. Amid mounting public anxiety over the rising trend of sudden cardiovascular events (heart attack, sudden cardiac death) post-COVID-19 pandemic, the Karnataka government had, in February this year, set up an expert committee headed by Jayadeva director K. S. Ravindranath to evaluate the temporal and potential causal links with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or COVID-19 vaccination.
Ashna Butani also reported on the AIIMS press conference, that came a day after the Health ministry’s announcement delinking vaccines and sudden deaths. Hit this link for more information: No evidence that COVID-19 vaccination is causing sudden deaths in young people: AIIMS doctors
This week had a long list of stories on tuberculosis, from Puducherry and Tamil Nadu, anchored by Bindu Shajan Perappadan: Do read them here:
Puducherry accelerates its fight against TB; ranks number one in IRL for chest diseases
This week we looked elaborately at various health issues along the age spectrum. Rupsy Khurana wrote about BHARAT, where the attempt is to establish baseline healthy ageing parameters for the Indian population. Last year, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, launched a large-scale study called BHARAT, short for ‘Biomarkers of Healthy Aging, Resilience, Adversity, and Transitions’, as part of its Longevity India Program. The study aims to map the physiological, molecular, and environmental indicators that drive ageing in the Indian population. This will possibly create an India-specific database which we can then evaluate ageing parameters, rather than the western standards that are being used now.
In context, do check out this story on how the unchecked anti-ageing, wellness supplement market in India could pose huge health risks. We had Naresh Shetty and Avani Prabhakar discussing Integrating compassion, and prioritising palliative care while Dr.Meenakshi V.V. and Vinutha Suresh elaborated on how Palliative care is more than just end-of-life care. Also read about a study that compared industrialised, indigenous groups, and found that inflammation was not always linked with ageing. Researchers highlighted that a holistic approach, looking at culture, environment and lifestyle factors, needs to be taken while studying ageing processes.
Migrating to the opposite side of the spectrum and turning our attention to the health of children, you might want to check out the range of stories we had this past week. Vijaita Singh recorded how Bihar has consistently lagged in registering births. Continuing in the series on the importance of registering births and deaths for the second week, this article talked about how the Civil Registration System (CRS) reports of the past two decades show that Bihar has been lagging far behind the rest of the country in registering births. The level of registration of births in Bihar in 2000 stood at 3.7% compared to the national average of 56.2% the same year. The total number of births registered across the country in 2000 was 1,29,46,823.
Dr. Christianez Ratna Kiruba elaborated on an analysis published recently in The Lancet on the Global Burden of Diseases Study, estimates that an alarming 1.44 million zero-dose children live in India, based on 2023 data. While focussing on the importance of ensuring that all children are vaccinated, she also spent time to talk about why India also needs to integrate and sustain its immunisation goals.
As per this story, India’s health survey data revealed that 13% children are born prematurely, and 17%, with low birth weight. In a different article, Geetha Srimathi wrote on a Study that linked air pollution to preterm births, low birth weight in India. The following is an important article on the PM-POSHAN scheme by Kiran Narayanan and Laasya Shekhar to get a sense of How India’s midday meal programme struggles on the ground.
For Doctors Day, we had specialists who chimed in about the significance of the day that commemorates the birthday of B.C. Roy, Indian physician and former chief minister of West Bengal.
Dr. Jacob Jose wrote: Understanding the history and significance of Doctor’s Day in India
Dr. K. Ganapathy stressed that the patient is a teacher par excellence
Dr. C. Aravinda reasoned: Why the prestige of doctors is eroding
In welcome news, content moderators for Big Tech have pledged to unite to tackle mental trauma. Content moderators from the Philippines to Turkey are uniting to push for greater mental health support to help them cope with the psychological effects of exposure to a rising tide of disturbing images online. The people tasked with removing harmful content from tech giants like Meta Platforms or TikTok, report a range of noxious health effects from loss of appetite to anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Another report is on Researchers in U.K., Chennai are exploring the use of AI and social robots for early dementia detection and support. Dr. Sumanth C. Raman brought his twin expertise in health care and technology to elaborate on the potential of AI-based Electronic Medical Records to transform healthcare delivery in India.
And then, up comes this seamy underbelly of employing technology: It’s too easy to make AI chatbots lie about health information, a study finds. Sahana Venugopal tapped into The dark side of period tracking apps to reveal some startling facts about the vulnerability when submitting personal health information..
At a time when rabies has been causing concern in the country, with rabies deaths making a comeback, we felt it pertinent to record these stories. Athira Elssa Johnson explained how Uneven access to rabies care might be the reason for the deaths, based on a survey that flagged gaps in vaccine and immunoglobulin availability in India.
Also read about this unique case: Australian man dies from ‘extremely rare’ rabies-like infection after bat bite.
Given the way infectious diseases have dominated this newsletter, it is time we did justice to non communicable diseases as well: Rashikkha Ra Iyer in this interesting article discussed The weight of the mind: how psychophysiology holds the key to tackling India’s obesity epidemic.
Other stories in this segment that might interest you include:
WHO pushes countries to raise prices on sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco by 50%. Suparna Mukherjee offers advice on how to Channel your cravings into conscious choices for better health, starting with dark chocolate.
Researchers at IIT-Bombay have found that collagen I — a structural protein commonly found in the body –may worsen Type 2 diabetes by helping harmful clumps of a hormone called amylin form in the pancreas. Read about it, here.
Tail piece
This article slid into our tail piece section discussing about how Stimulating brain with weak electric currents may help improve learning maths. While mathematics continues to challenge students, generation after generation, and with parents hoping for tricks to get their wards interested in the subject, this gains importance. Of course, you would have to be a real tiger parent if you would consent to the extreme of using electric currents to get your child to do well in mathematics!
In our explainers section, we have a bounty this week. Do hit on the ones that catch your fancy:
Andjela Milivojevic wrote on How do unsafe cancer drugs reach patients? (as part of the collaboration with The Hindu and the The Bureau of Investigative Journalism).
How genetic factors influence the onset and progression of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Zubeda Hamid in the All you need to know about series focussed on: tinnitus
Dr. Vernon Neville Lee spent time explaining a rare and often a rare and often misunderstood cancer: sarcoma
Dr. J. Naveen Kumar, Dr. S. Elengkumaran, Dr. Kalpa Pandya on oral cancer care: Understanding treatment options and the importance of rehabilitation.
If you can steal a few more moments away from your daily rigour, also read the following stories:
Indulekha Aravind: What India must get right about treating snake bites
Pakistan records one more poliovirus case; countrywide tally reaches 14
NMC brings in new regulations to expand medical education infrastructure, manpower
Blood and its components can be transported safely with drones by following guidelines: ICMR study
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