Six months after the Covid-19 pandemic began, the World Health Organisation has warned that the worst is yet to come.&nbsp;WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus&nbsp;told a virtual briefing on Monday that if governments fail to implement the right policies, many more people could be infected. He shared that while countries are making progress, the pandemic is actually speeding up. He urged governments and health authorities&nbsp;to stick to&nbsp;the 'Test, Trace, Isolate and Quarantine' plan.&nbsp;

Six months after the Covid-19 pandemic began, the World Health Organisation has warned that the worst is yet to come. WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing on Monday that if governments fail to implement the right policies, many more people could be infected. He shared that while countries are making progress, the pandemic is actually speeding up. He urged governments and health authorities to stick to the 'Test, Trace, Isolate and Quarantine' plan.

Billionaire businessman and SpaceX and Tesla CEO&nbsp;Elon Musk has spilled some details about Neuralink, his startup that is developing a brain-machine interface technology. Founded in 2016, Neuralink is focused on creating a neural interface, an Artificial Intelligence symbiosis through a chip implanted in the brain. Musk claims that the technology could be used to treat addiction and depression and is both great and terrifying. In a tweet, he said that more details about Neuralink will be revealed on August 28th.

American pharma&nbsp;company Gilead Sciences Inc has said that&nbsp;additional data from a late-stage study shows that its antiviral drug&nbsp;remdesivir significantly improved clinical recovery of critically ill Covid-19 patients. The company said&nbsp;74.4% of remdesivir-treated patients recovered by Day 14 versus 59% of patients on standard care Dr. Susan Olender from Columbia University said in the Gilead statement to Reuters that the analysis 'draws from a real-world setting and serves as an important adjunct to clinical trial data even though it is not as vigorous as a randomized controlled trial.'&nbsp;In contrast, a University of Pittsburgh&nbsp;medical professor said it is a 'joke' to compare&nbsp;clinical trial data with observational data and conclude anything definitive about death risk.&nbsp;

Nearly 5.5 crore unintended pregnancies, 18 lakh unsafe abortions and 30,000 maternal deaths were prevented thanks to the use of contraceptives in India in 2019, said Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.&nbsp;In a virtual meeting on World Population Day, Vardhan&nbsp;also credited&nbsp;substantial investment in the family planning programme for this feat.&nbsp;
India's crude birth rate has reduced from 21.8 in 2011 to 20 in&nbsp;2018, while the total fertility rate has declined from 2.4 in 2011 to 2.2 in 2018, Vardhan&nbsp;said in a statement.&nbsp;The health minister emphasised that family planning provides dignity to women, especially who are poor and marginalised.

Chinese researchers have found a link between elevated blood sugar levels without a previous diabetes&nbsp;diagnosis with higher Covid-19&nbsp;death risk in a study. A team including scientists from Tongji&nbsp;Medical College China examined fasting blood glucose (FBG) level of Covid-19 patients at the time of admission in reference to their 28-day mortality. Publishing their results in the journal&nbsp;Diabetologia, the team found that patients in the highest FBG group were 2.3 times more likely to die than those in the lowest. Based on the findings, they recommend&nbsp;blood sugar testing and control for Covid-19 patients, even those who don't have a history of diabetes.&nbsp;

India's drug regulator has approved itolizumab, used to treat skin condition psoriasis, for restricted&nbsp;emergency use for the treatment of Covid-19 patients facing moderate to acute respiratory problems.&nbsp;
The drug is manufactured and marketed by India's Biocon Ltd and has now been repurposed for Covid-19, the indigenous pharma&nbsp;company said.&nbsp;The firm presented the phase II clinical trial results to the drug regulator which were deliberated upon by the Subject Expert Committee of the DCGI's office.&nbsp;The use of the medicine is subject to some conditions including the requirement of informed consent of patients, a risk management plan and usage restricted to a hospital setup.

A new study on over 92,000 patients in Brazil suggests that an&nbsp;inactivated trivalent flu shot could help prevent people from getting infected with severe Covid-19 by improving immunity. However, the study has not been peer reviewed yet and is still in its pre-print phase. The researchers found that the flu shot can reduce mortality by 20 percent when taken before the onset of Covid-19 and by 27 percent when a vaccine was given after the onset of the infection.&nbsp;This non-specific&nbsp;immunity has been seen with other vaccines like&nbsp;MMR and BCG. The study also mentions certain similarities between the coronavirus and the flu virus.&nbsp;So, chances are that our immune system recognises both these viruses through similar receptors.

Two experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) are spending two days in the Chinese capital to kick off a larger mission to investigate the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.&nbsp;A health and an epidemiology expert are setting the&nbsp;scope and terms of reference' for the mission which aims to understand how the virus jumped from an animal host to a human body, said a UN statement.
Experts believe that the virus may have originated from bats, before possible being carried by a civet cat or an armadillo-like pangolin and then made its way to the human population in the Wuhan&nbsp;fresh food market.&nbsp;More than 120 nations called for an investigation into the origins of the virus at the World Health Assembly in May.&nbsp;

A study, published in the&nbsp;American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, has identified differences in lung physiology and immune function in children that may explain why they are less susceptible&nbsp;to severe Covid-19 illness than adults.&nbsp;The study suggests that children naturally have less ACE2 in the lungs than adults.&nbsp;These molecules&nbsp;acts as doors that allow the novel&nbsp;coronavirus&nbsp;into cells. Moreover, the&nbsp;lung tissue in children naturally has a higher concentration of regulator T-cells,&nbsp;capable of fighting off or limiting inflammation.&nbsp;The findings from the study require further examination, researchers have said.

Singapore-based Strides Pharma Global PTE&nbsp;Limited, a subsidiary of Strides Pharma Science, has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for Butalbital, Acetaminophen, Caffeine, and Codeine Phosphate capsules used to treat headaches. In a press statement, the company shared that the product is a generic version of Teva's Fioricet with Codeine capsules. The product, known to provide relief from muscle contraction headache, will be marketed by Strides Pharma in the US market.

Russia said Wednesday that a remote Far Eastern region near Mongolia had begun testing rodents for bubonic plague after cases of the disease were confirmed in Mongolia and China. Public health officials have appealed to residents of the mountainous Tuva and Altai regions not to hunt or eat marmots after two bubonic plague cases were confirmed in Mongolia last week. Both cases involved brothers who had eaten marmot meat. The WHO has said it is also monitoring a case of bubonic plague in China after being notified by the authorities in Beijing.

US-based&nbsp;Lupin Pharmaceuticals has announced that it is&nbsp;voluntarily recalling all batches of Metformin Hydrochloride Extended tablets, as part of an ongoing dialogue with the FDA. Analysis of the diabetes drug revealed that&nbsp;certain tested batches were above the Acceptable Daily Intake Limit for the impurity NDMA. The statement explained,&nbsp;NDMA is a known environmental contaminant and found in water and foods, including meats, dairy products and vegetables. The company, however,&nbsp;said that all&nbsp;Metformin products manufactured and marketed in India have been tested for NDMA levels and are safe as per relevant regulatory norms.

American researchers have developed an air filter&nbsp;that can trap the virus responsible for spreading&nbsp;Covid-19 and kill it instantly. The team from the University of Houston and Medistar&nbsp;Corp&nbsp;reported that in their virus tests, 99.8% of the novel SARS-CoV-2 was killed in a single pass through the filter they developed. The team published their findings in the journal Materials Today Physics. An author from the paper said, 'the filter could be useful in airports and aeroplanes, office buildings, schools and cruise ships' to control virus spread. The filter is made from&nbsp;commercially available nickel foam heated to about 392 degrees Fahrenheit.&nbsp;

Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) claim that the number of Covid-19 cases recorded per day in India may rise to&nbsp;2.87 lakh by early 2021 if a vaccine or treatment isn&rsquo;t developed soon. Although USA&nbsp;is currently the worst-hit in the world, the team from MIT's&nbsp;School of Management says that India will surpass US soon. According to their prediction, daily new cases will be second highest in the US by Feb 2021 at 95,000 per day, followed by South Africa, Iran and Indonesia.&nbsp;
The same study also claims that the actual number of cases is 12 times higher and death rate is 50 per cent than the reported numbers. Even so, all nations are still below herd immunity levels.&nbsp;

A man from Brazil with AIDS has shown no sign of the disease for over a year since he stopped HIV medicines. He was given an intense drug therapy aimed at targeting the hidden, dormant virus in the body. Dr. Ricardo Diaz of the University of Sao Paulo conducted a study to test ways in which the reservoir established by the virus can be removed. Scientists cautioned that the case needs independent verification and too soon to speculate about a possible cure. If confirmed, it will be the first time HIV has been eliminated in an adult without a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. The man had been taking a standard three-drug combo to suppress his virus. In September 2015, Diaz added&nbsp;dolutegravir,&nbsp;maraviroc&nbsp;and&nbsp;nicotinamide&nbsp;to his treatment.&nbsp;After nearly a year, the patient went back to the standard three drugs for two more years, then stopped all HIV medicines in March 2019. The virus has not been found in his blood and tissue samples since then. Tests show that the man has lost nearly all antibodies to HIV. However, the same treatment did not work for four other patients.

A Spanish study published in The Lancet journal has cast doubt over the feasibility of herd immunity, when enough people become infected with a virus to stop its spread, as a way of tackling the&nbsp;Covid-19&nbsp;pandemic.&nbsp;For herd immunity to work, at least 70% of a population needs to be immune to protect the uninfected people, experts say. The study of over 60,000 people has found that only 5% of the Spanish population has developed antibodies. Most of the population remains largely unexposed to the virus even in highly populated areas, according to researchers including those from the National Centre for Epidemiology in Spain.

Pune-based&nbsp;Mylab Discovery Solutions &amp; Serum Institute of India have developed the first fully-automated Sample-to-PCR-ready system for molecular diagnostics in India.&nbsp;Compact XL is a box machine that&nbsp;will help automate testing. It is&nbsp;believed to reduce errors and time required to carry out a Covid-19 test.&nbsp;The machine can take input of various sample types such as plasma, tissue, sputum and swab. It can test 32 samples per run and each machine can handle 400 samples a day. The machine is capable of testing&nbsp;HIV, TB, cancer markers,&nbsp;and also other genetic diseases.

The United Nations has warned that treating coronavirus&nbsp;symptoms and not the environmental cause&nbsp;is setting us up for more future pandemics in a new report.&nbsp;From Ebola to MERS&nbsp;and now Covid-19, diseases caused by&nbsp;viruses that have jumped from animal hosts into the human population are on the rise. Governments must take measures to prevent zoonotic diseases that kill almost 2 million people every year. The report calls for greater scientific enquiry into zoonotic diseases, promoting sustainable land management practices and improving biosecurity&nbsp;and control, among other measures. The authors propose a One Health approach that unites&nbsp;public health, veterinary and environmental experts.&nbsp;

Mumbai-based startup Qure&nbsp;uses an AI tool called 'qER' to speed up&nbsp;reading CT scans in emergency rooms, and also prioritise scans that indicate something critical like bleeding in the brain.&nbsp;After deployment in India and other countries, qER is now entering the United States where 75 million CT scans are performed every year.&nbsp;Qure&nbsp;has just received US FDA&nbsp;clearance for this product. What makes it special is a four-in-one clearance. The tool has been cleared four critical conditions -&nbsp;intracranial bleeds, mass effect, midline shift, and cranial fractures. However, qER is only allowed to suggest what a radiologist should read first. For an AI-based diagnosis on par with that of a radiologist, it would require further studies.

The novel coronavirus has wreaked havoc across the world, taking away numerous lives and halting progress against other illnesses like HIV. According to a report by UNAIDS, there are some big successes in numbers on the global AIDS epidemic like fewer deaths and new infections. There are also failures. Only 50% of the children with HIV are receiving treatment. The report added that 4 years ago, the United Nations had set goals of limiting HIV infections and improving treatment by end of 2020 but it seems like the deadline will be missed in the wake of the pandemic. In many countries, the resources used to fight HIV are involved in tackling Covid-19. In 2019, infections were 23% lesser compared to 2010. Additionally, 25.4 million people are on treatment, triple the number since 2010.&nbsp; Supplies of medicines and other essentials have been disrupted due to lockdowns and clinics being closed. Due to the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS, some are also afraid of getting their medicines home-delivered.

A Chennai-based company has developed the 'Etticos&nbsp;Covid-19 Patient Care System', a device that could bridge the gap between Covid-19 patients and health-care workers. A patient can easily communicate with health workers using the smart button. The CEO&nbsp;of the company,&nbsp;Vigneshwar shared with news agency ANI&nbsp;that the device can be used by&nbsp;Covid-19 patients in hospitals to communicate with the staff.&nbsp;A single press means the patient needs water and a double press means he or she requires medicines.&nbsp;More than 100 patients can be monitored on the display.&nbsp;Vigneshwar claims that the whole system is 'Made in India' and he also got a patent for the device.

Six months after the Covid-19 pandemic began, WHO&nbsp;has warned that the worst is yet to come.&nbsp;

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'The worst is yet to come': WHO on Covid-19

Jun 30, 2020 10:35 IST

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