Morning MedTalks with Dr KK Aggarwal

Morning Health Talk :

New Delhi,May 26, 2018 :

Bats Update

• Bats are natural reservoirs of rabies and Hendra virus. Other diseases carried by bats include histoplasmosis, leptospirosis, Salmonella.
• Bats are natural reservoirs of many viruses, many of which are emerging human pathogens. These include Ebola virus, Marburg virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses, Nipah and Hendra viruses.
• Some bacterial spps such as Salmonella, Pasteurella, Bartonella and fungal spps like histoplasma capsulatum are also known to spread by bats.

Nipah Update

• Nipah outbreak is not likely to spread
• The outbreak that caused widespread panic among residents of Siliguri remained limited to that area
• The infection is not air borne unlike H1N1 or SARS. It can spread only if there is close contact with the infected person’s body fluids.
• Adequate precautionary measures include total quarantine of infected persons and personal protection of those in close contact with the infected persons including the health staff.
• A statement issued by Rajeev Sadanandan, additional chief secretary at the Kerala Department of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday said travelling to any part of Kerala is safe and that the situation was under control. However, if travellers wish to be extra cautious, they may avoid Kozhikode, Malappuram, Wayanad and Kannur districts.

WHO NIPAH Key facts

• Nipah virus is an RNA virus that is part of the Paramyxovidae family that was first identified as a zoonotic pathogen after an outbreak involving severe respiratory illness in pigs and encephalitic disease in humans in Malaysia and Singapore in 1998 and 1999.
• Nipah virus can cause a range of mild to severe disease in domestic animals such as pigs.
• Nipah virus infection in humans causes a range of clinical presentations, from asymptomatic infection (subclinical) to acute respiratory infection and fatal encephalitis.
• Nipah virus can be transmitted to humans from animals (bats, pigs), and can also be transmitted directly from human-to-human.
• Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are the natural host of Nipah virus.
• There is no treatment or vaccine available for either people or animals. The primary treatment for humans is supportive care.
• Nipah virus is on the WHO list of Blueprint priority diseases

Legal

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Delhi awarded Rs. 10 lakh compensations to Bihar-based, Ramadhar Singh, whose wife Bachan Devi, died after being in coma for five years. Her abdominal hysterectomy was performed by Dr Sudhir Mohan Kant, on August 14, 2005. After being operated by Dr Kant, Singh’s wife didn’t gain consciousness. An investigation revealed heavy amounts of ether was used as anaesthesia by Dr Kant and his anaesthetist.

Wellness

5 steps to lower Alzheimer’s risk

1.     Maintain a healthy weight

2.     Check your waistline

3.     Eat mindfully

4.     Exercise regularly

5.     Keep an eye on important health numbers

Clinical

• Heart disease. Rheumatoid arthritis. Diabetes. Alzheimer’s. These and other chronic diseases, affecting the lives of millions of Americans, have something in common — and that is inflammation.
• Not only is routine CT to check for recurrence after evacuation surgery for chronic subdural hematoma unnecessary, but patients scanned on an as-needed basis actually experience better outcomes, a new prospective, randomized study Chronic Subdural Hematoma After Neurosurgical Evacuation (TOSCAN) trial
• New classification system, with hypertension being diagnosed at a blood pressure of 130 mm Hg systolic, an analysis published May 23 in JAMA Cardiology estimates that the new definition of hypertension means that 45.4% of the US population (105 million adults) are now considered hypertensive, up from 32.0% (74.1 million) according to the definition in the 2014 guidelines. That’s an increase in the number of US adults with a diagnosis of high blood pressure of 31 million, with 11 million of these qualifying for antihypertensive treatment.

Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, antihypertensive clinical trials, and population-based cohort studies, investigators calculate that achieving the 2017 hypertension guideline treatment goals in every individual would reduce major cardiovascular events by an additional 340,000 and total deaths by an additional 156,000 annually compared with the 2014 guideline. But this would also lead to an increase of 62,000 hypotension and 79,000 acute kidney injury or failure events.

Public Health

• Views: I personally do not agree with this. In India we can not compare the backward area as the representative of India. Kerala in India may be comparable to the rest of the world. I always say Bharat in India may have poor health parameters, but India in India may have the best of the parameters.

IMA NDB Update

• WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY – BEATING PLASTIC POLLUTION on 3rd Jun at India International Centre, New Delhi, 9am to 4pm incorporating HEALTHCARE IN NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASE. For registration WhatsApp/ SMS 9911966050 or 9891051067

Dr KK Aggarwal
Padma Shri Awardee
Vice President CMAAO
President HCFI