Morning MEDtalks with Dr KK Aggarwal

Morning Health Talk :

New Delhi,June 1st 2018 :

• WHO Priority Diseases: Marburg virus disease: Marburg virus disease (MVD), earlier known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever, is a highly fatal illness caused by the Marburg virus, which belongs to the Filoviridae family. It was first identified in 1967 following simultaneous outbreaks of severe febrile illness associated with hemorrhage and shock in Marburg and Frankfurt am Main in Germany and in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

Lassa fever

• Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic illness caused by Lassa virus, a member of the Arenavirus family of viruses.

• Lassa virus is endemic in Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria and other countries in West Africa.

• It is a zoonotic disease. Rodents (multimammate rats) are the animal reservoirs and shed the virus in their urine and feces.

• Humans acquire the infection from contact with infected rodents through rodent urine or feces, inhalation of aerosolized rodent excretions, or consumption of infected rodents as a food source.

Public Health

• In Brazil, NGO Habitat for Humanity is using advertising to fight against mosquito-borne diseases, with a poster that dissolves during rain to emit an insecticide that kills mosquito larvae. It uses an environmentally-friendly larvicide applied on soluble rice-paper sheets with an organic glue. The poster informs the community about the dangers of mosquitoes with educational messages but on rainy days it performed another function, with water releasing the larvicide. Standing water therefore becomes a mosquito-killing trap, with one poster capable of treating 200 litres of water and lasting up to 60 days.

• The current scenario in terms of the number of infants that die due to Critical Congenital Heart Disease is grim. It further necessitates the need to implement a policy at the national level at the earliest. A pulse oximetry screening is not only inexpensive but takes less than 2 to 3 minutes per baby, with the benefits far outweighing the costs. The screening can even be carried out by an ASHA health worker with basic training. We are sure that this high-level meeting and discussion among relevant stakeholders will help us reach a consensus and get positive results,” said Dr BD Bhatia, President, The National Neonatology Forum.

• India, the world’s second most populous nation at 1.3 billion people after China (1.4 billion) may outstrip China’s as early as 2022

• The 2017 Revisionreport estimates that the fertility rate of Indians (measured as the number of children born to a woman), has plummeted from 4.97 during the 1975-80 period to 2.3 for the current period of 2015-20. By 2025-30, the report projects, the rate will be 2.1, touching 1.86 from 2045-50 and 1.78 from 2095-2100. A fertility rate of about 2.2 is generally considered the replacement level, the rate at which the population would hold steady. When the fertility rate dips below this number, the population is expected to decline. (thediplomatdotcom)

Dr KK Aggarwal
Padma Shri Awardee
Vice President CMAAO
President HCFI