-The New Indian Express Lists Kerala and north-east states as vulnerable spots for outbreak BENGALURU: A recent study has revealed that the global ‘hotspots’ where the new deadly coronaviruses may emerge, driven by global changes in land use by humans. While China tops the list, the study mentions India’s Kerala and North-East states as vulnerable hotspots. The study ‘Land-use change and the livestock revolution increase the risk of zoonotic coronavirus transmission from...

-The Hindu Physicians are confronted with a complex problem that involves multiple organ systems Medical students are taught to classify diseases as either congenital or acquired. Acquired diseases are infectious or inflammatory, nutritional or metabolic, vascular or neoplastic (tumours, benign or malignant). COVID-19 is acquired, infectious/inflammatory. The microbe is SARS-CoV-2. What are co-morbidities and why do they make COVID-19 severe and life-threatening? Chronic nutritional/metabolic diseases start as diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome or obesity....

-Livemint.com A failure to protect incomes could widen the gap between have-nots and haves and thus hurt growth When the facts change, I change my mind," John Maynard Keynes is believed to have said almost a century ago. Responding to the economic after-shocks of the covid pandemic, governments and central banks have been living by this maxim. In the UK and US, supposedly fiscally conservative governments have spent with abandon to prop...

-The Hindu Antibody prevalence data derived from serosurveys must be interpreted with caution and correction factors The theory behind population-based serological surveys (seroprevalence surveys or serosurveys) to detect the prevalence of antibodies against  COVID-19 is robust. Their purpose is to measure the proportion of a population already infected, as evidenced by antibody positivity. When applied on a national scale, a random sample of the entire population is tested. Then, the data are...

-The Hindu As a COVID-19 vaccine is for all age groups, putting in place an innovative delivery platform in time is a must Everyone eagerly asks: will we get a COVID-19 vaccine this year or only next year? During a pandemic, expecting vaccines the same year or the next, illustrates the power of technology, human hope, media hype — all at unprecedented frenzy. Where India stands Globally, innumerable vaccine trials are progressing; in India,...