Order of the National Green Tribunal (Eastern Zone Bench, Kolkata) in the matter of Haripriya Patel Vs State of Odisha & Others dated 24/03/2025. The matter related to the dumping yard at Baliapanda which is situated 50-100 meter away from Puri sea beach and a few km away from Puri …
indian researchers have developed a rapid test for chikungunya virus, which they claim to be "more sensitive' and "more specific' than current diagnostic techniques. The test will detect the viral gene in serum samples of patients. This new reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (rt-lamp) test is developed by India's Defence …
us scientists have produced a device that could potentially screen patients for lung cancer. The new device works from a known principal: lung cancer cells give off different chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (vocs), that healthy cells don't. Earlier experiments had established that dogs with their heightened sense of …
To identify the presence and degree of bacterial contamination on stethoscopes used by physicians and physician assistants in an outpatient setting, the researchers swabbed and cultured 60 stethoscopes. They defined the degree of contamination as follows: minimal contamination, 1-2 isolates; moderate contamination, 3 isolates; and severe contamination.
In the African meningitis belt, epidemics of meningococcal disease occur periodically, although unpredictably, every few years. These epidemics continue to cause havoc but new efforts to control the disease, through the use of conjugate vaccines, are being made. Original Source
defective blood-testing kits sold to West Bengal government clinics, blood banks and hospitals may have resulted in thousands of people receiving hiv or Hepatitis B- and C-infected blood. Infections through blood transfusion are being reported across the state. The government is seizing kits and has issued a warning to all …
scientists at the Imperial College, London, are close to finalising a simple blood test for tuberculosis (tb), which will be useful, especially in detecting the disease in children. The test involves looking for certain proteins, or markers, in the blood that are present only if the patient has tb. The …
us scientists have developed a chip smaller than a rupee one coin that can scan for thousands of disease-causing microbes in an air sample in just 24 hours. Called the dna Phylochip, it would be especially useful in the aftermath of disasters
mosquito repellent: A bird found in Alaska is believed to emit a natural mosquito repellent, according to Hector Douglas, a researcher at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. The crested auklet gives off a citrus smell that repels mosquitoes and pests such as ticks and lice. An analysis of the chemicals …
The terms of reference of the National Commission on Macroeconomics & Health, included among others, a critical appraisal of the present health system — both in the public and the private sector — and suggesting ways and means of further strengthening it with the specific objective of improving access to …
Simple solutions are most often the best. A double-barrelled syringe could prevent blood samples from becoming contaminated with skin bacteria, thereby giving wrong test results. To test for blood infections, the sample is drawn from the vein. Ideally, the skin-punctured site should be thoroughly sterilised. But as this takes up …
In 1816, when a young French physician Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec fashioned a paper tube out of 24 sheets of paper and used it to hear voices from a patient's chest, a new era in medical diagnosis was inaugurated. For, Laennec's tube was actually the progenitor of the modern stethoscope, …
At Down To Earth (DTE) we believe that truth withheld is truth denied. Fresh evidence suggests a web of lies and deceit was weaved to declare that the pesticide endosulfan is not responsible for the horrendous mutations and ailments that many in the villages of Kerala’s Kasaragod district are suffering …
x-rays, the largest human-made source of radiation exposure for the general population, are adding in hundreds of more cancer cases every year across the world, indicates a study published in The Lancet (Vol 363, No 9406, January 31, 2004). In the uk
How important is it for a laboratory to go for accreditation? Accreditation is extremely essential as it is a question of standardisation. Standards for labs were set as late as December 1999. Before, there were only guidelines. The present iso 17025 addresses technical competency; training requirements; equipment maintenance; calibration traceability …
easy rabies cure: Tobacco plants have been genetically modified to produce proteins used to combat the rabies virus. Till now, the only way to fight the virus was to use antibodies derived from either horses or humans; but they are difficult to get. Researchers from the Thomas Jefferson University, USA, …
a group of haemophiliacs, who contracted aids and Hepatitis b through blood transfusion, recently filed a lawsuit in the federal court in San Francisco against four manufacturers of clotting agents. The two components of blood
subha (not her real name), 35, had been married for over 10 years, but was still childless. Doctors attributed this condition to her husband's low sperm count. Her craving for motherhood drove her to three infertility clinics in Kolkata, West Bengal, where she underwent several insemination sessions. Sadly what she …
the Union government's recent declaration that India does not have any cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (sars) may have allayed the fear the disease had generated during the past few weeks. But there's more to the authorities' flip-flop on the issue than what meets the eye. A closer look …
the diagnosis of tuberculosis is likely to be faster and more reliable in the future with researchers from the uk-based University of Oxford developing a new diagnostic kit called elispot. A study carried out to compare the results of elispot with that of the conventional skin-prick test shows that the …
Last November, a trader in Foshan, a small industrial town in Guangdong province in China, fell seriously ill with an incurable high fever and cough. He was suspected to be suffering from pneumonia, a non-infectious disease common in the area. But then four health workers who had been treating him …
