Morning MEDtalks with Dr KK Aggarwal

New Delhi, September 25, 2018 :

Newborn becomes first PMJAY beneficiary in Jharkhand. Punam Mahato has become the first beneficiary of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) in Jharkhand after giving birth to a baby girl at a hospital here, minutes after the scheme was rolled out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ranchi. The baby was delivered by caesarean section at 1.10 pm on Sunday at the Sadar Hospital here in East Singbhum district. 24-year-old Mahato, a resident of Basurda village under Gamariah Police Station of adjoining Seraikela-Kharswan district, was admitted to the hospital on Sunday morning.

Puppies sold at six pet store companies led to campylobacter infections in 118 people in 18 states from January 2017 through February 2018, according to CDC. It can cause diarrhea, abdominal pain and fever. No deaths were reported, but 26 people were hospitalized. Samples of the bacteria showed resistance to all antibiotics commonly used to treat the infections. People with weakened immune symptoms and infants are most at risk. Out of the 118 people infected, 28 were pet store employees, and 101 people reported contact with a pet store puppy.

Campylobacter enteritis is an important cause of acute diarrhea worldwide. It is typically caused by Campylobacter jejuni or Campylobacter coli, and is largely a foodborne disease. The organism inhabits the intestinal tracts of a wide range of animal hosts, notably poultry; contamination from these sources can lead to foodborne disease. Campylobacter infection can also be transmitted via water-borne outbreaks and direct contact with animals or animal products.

The mean incubation period is 3 days. Early symptoms include abrupt onset of abdominal pain and diarrhea. The acute illness is characterized by cramping periumbilical abdominal pain and diarrhea. Patients frequently report 10 or more bowel movements per day. Bloody stools are observed on the second or third day of diarrhea in about 15% of adults; in children bloody stools may be present in more than half of cases. Diarrhea is self-limited and lasts for a mean of 7 days. Antibiotics are not needed for most cases of C. jejuni gastroenteritis.

East Singhbhum district Civil Surgeon, Dr Maheshwar Prasad said, her entire medical expenses would be borne as part of the scheme. The hospital has provided all the services, including food, medicines, consultation and pathological test, free of cost to the patient. The expense for the delivery was Rs 18,500, the civil surgeon said. As the baby was born through caesarian section, the mother and the baby will be kept under observation in the hospital for a week… (PTI, Sept. 24, 2018).

Doctors’ handwriting:  The Jharkhand government has mandated that all doctors of private nursing homes and government hospitals have to write prescriptions in legible, capital letters and also write down the generic names of the drugs prescribed, following the guidelines of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002. This is an attempt to reduce the risk of misinterpretation in the prescriptions.

Dosing of routine antihypertensive medication in the morning or evening does not affect ambulatory BP levels, whether 24-hour (daytime or nocturnal) or clinic blood pressure levels in hypertensive patients with reasonably well-controlled BP, says the randomized crossover HARMONY trial published in the October 2018 issue of the journal Hypertension. The study participants received their usual treatment either in the morning (6 am–11 am) or evening (6 pm–11 pm) for 12 weeks, and then they crossed over to the alternative timing for a further 12 weeks. It was found that morning and evening dosing had no differential impact on the mean daytime (7 am–10 pm) and nighttime (10 pm–7 am) BP levels or on clinic BP levels. No between-group difference was observed in mean 24-hour systolic and diastolic BP. Patients should take their antihypertensive drugs when it best suits them, suggests the study.

Vedic Health – A Dialogue with Ashwini Kumar Choubey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdorsM5IZTQ

TEDx Video: Doctor-patient relationship https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9ml1vKK2DQ

Dr KK Aggarwal
Padma Shri Awardee
President Elect CMAAO
President HCFI