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 …
A child with chest pain or tics, a toddler who is limping, a 12-year-old girl with abdominal pain or headaches, an infant whose fever does not respond to antibiotics — these are age-old challenges that pediatricians face. I have been teaching pediatrics to residents and medical students for more than …
INSPIRATION for innovation can come from painful experiences. As in the case of infarcSens or iSens, a portable device that in less than 10 minutes can tell if a person has suffered a heart attack. Soumyo Mukherji one of the innovators from IIT-Bombay says he started working on iSens after …
COLORECTAL cancer is a leading cause of mortality in both developed and developing countries. Screening methods for colon cancer depend on detecting the precancerous changes. Generally, colonoscopy is carried out but the test is expensive (Rs 25,000-Rs 30,000) and the procedure highly invasive. An alternative is Fecal Occult Blood Test …
IT TAKES over Rs 10,000 and over 24 hours to detect the presence of chikungunya, dengue or H1N1 virus in the body. US scientists have developed a biosensor that could detect viruses in 30 minutes and would cost about a dollar (Rs 45). Pathologists use ELISA (enzymelinked immunosorbant assays) and …
In 2009, giant African pouched rats trained to detect tuberculosis (TB) evaluated sputum samples from 10,523 patients whose sputum had previously been evaluated by smear microscopy. Microscopists found 13.3% of the patients to be TB-positive. Simulated second-line screening by the rats revealed 620 new TB-positive patients, increasing the case detection …
In 2009, giant African pouched rats trained to detect tuberculosis (TB) evaluated sputum samples from 10,523 patients whose sputum had previously been evaluated by smear microscopy. Microscopists found 13.3% of the patients to be TB-positive. Simulated second-line screening by the rats revealed 620 new TB-positive patients, increasing the case detection …
TUBERCULOSIS has been on the rise globally, and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis even more so. Of the estimated 9.4 million cases worldwide, around half a million are drug resistant. India accounts for 1.98 million cases. Smear microscopy that tests the presence of tuberculosis bacteria is 125 years old and routinely misses …
THREE Indian organisations have successfully developed H1N1 detection kits which give results in an hour and cost between 1,000 and 2,000. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Imperial Life Sciences and Ocimum Biosolutions have individually manufactured these kits. V M Katoch, director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, …
Although largely unregulated, genetic tests are increasingly used to diagnose conditions, map ancestry or predict disease risk. In this, the first of two related pieces, Arthur L. Beaudet advocates the US Food and Drug Administration banning direct-to-consumer medical tests but leaving the analysis of clinical diagnostics to specialists. In the …
Although largely unregulated, genetic tests are increasingly used to diagnose conditions, map ancestry or predict disease risk. In this, the second of two related pieces, Gail Javitt argues that the US Food and Drug Administration should implement a regulatory framework for all health-related tests. In the first, Arthur L. Beaudet …
Although progress has been made to reduce global incidence of drug-susceptible tuberculosis, the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis during the past decade threatens to undermine these advances. However, countries are responding far too slowly. Of the estimated 440 000 cases of MDR tuberculosis that occurred in …
Rapid expansion of the standardised approach to tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment that is recommended by WHO allowed more than 36 million people to be cured between 1995 and 2008, averting up to 6 million deaths. Yet tuberculosis remains a severe global public health threat. There are more than 9 million …
on april 7, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) stopped its cervical cancer vaccination drive in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, which it started in August last year. Several girls—10-14-year olds who were part of the vaccination drive—suffered side effects, and six died. The link between the vaccines and deaths …
RUSHATI SARKAR is a final year graduate student in Kolkata. Since her mother succumbed to vaginal cancer, she fears a similar fate. She also abhors the idea of going for invasive tests. Fortunately for her, scientists at the Stanford School of Medicine in USA could not have made their discovery …
Ebola hemorrhagic fever (Ebola HF) is a severe, often-fatal disease in humans and nonhuman primates (monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees) that has appeared sporadically since its initial recognition in 1976. The disease is caused by infection with Ebola virus, named after a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly …
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has released a document entitled Health, United States, 2009. Prepared for the US President and Congress from data gathered by state and federal agencies and continuing national surveys, the report provides an annual picture of …
Treating HIV infection aggressively before symptoms appear could help to control the spread of the disease, according to data presented at a retroviral conference. Independent studies in Canada, the United States and Africa support the strategy in both the developed and developing world. However, the studies are not definitive and …
India has played a crucial role in making essential medicines available and affordable for patients in the developing world through generic drugs. This has been possible by linking India’s patent policies and laws to public interest. Similarly, policies that align public funded R&D in India with public health have the …
