Social Distancing | Tan re Qing | Leronlimab | COVID-19

Mylab Discovery Solutions who are they? Everyone may know the COVID testing kit made in India. But there is an interesting story about this organization. We all may not know that, Yes it is a start-up  business firm founded in 2016 and based in Pune. They were the first company in India to make ID-NAT (Individual Donor –Nucleic acid testing ) screening kits for quantitative HIV, Hepatitis  B vaccine and Hepatitis  C vaccines. Their area of interests includes medical diagnostics, drug discovery, biomedical research and agricultural genomics.

At least 8 strains of the coronavirus are spreading across the globe. The outbreak is traceable and the virus is mutating on average 15 days. Based on this a universal vaccine could be developed by comparing their genome and protein sequences. Since these strains share a common evolution throughout history.

Leronlimab, A CCR5 antagonist, has been suggested for the treatment of critically ill COVID-19 patients. This drug is treated for HIV, metastases and other diseases.

China is promoting bear bile as a traditional treatment for coronavirus treatment. Chinese  National Health Commission has now recommended using Tan re Qing (Traditional Chinese  medicine formula). Bile is secreted by the liver and stored in the gall bladder. Bile contains high levels of ursodeoxycholic acid(ursodiol) that help to dissolve gall stones. This Ursodiol has been available as a synthetic drug across the globe. But Some medicines such as pain relievers and cough syrup can treat symptoms associated with the disease. Traditional Chinese medicine such  as Tan re Qing is used to treat bronchitis and upper respiratory infections.

The FDA  has approved a process that would be helpful to clean N95 protective masks and it can be reused. Columbus-Ohio based Battelle used a vapor phase hydrogen peroxide process to decontaminate the masks used by healthcare workers.

Social Distancing is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures are taken to prevent the spread of a contagious disease.

How this can help in preventing COVID-19?

They are more effective when the infectious disease spread via droplet, direct physical contact. There is also drawback such as stress, anxiety, depression depending upon the individuals.

MADE IN INDIA | TESTING KIT | DIAGNOSTIC LABS | COVID-19 | MIGRANT WORKER

Made in India, yes  India’s first testing kit for COVID-19. As some may know that India was criticized for a low number of screening patients. Previously  India depended on imported kits, for diagnosing the coronaviruses. We can proudly now say that we too have our own kit, yes Mylab discovery a Pune based firm got approval to make and sell the kits. There is quite an interesting story in this, Ms.Bhosale  the head of this team, designed this testing kit called Patho detect. This was done in 6 weeks of time (a record). And this scientist was undergoing her pregnancy time that added a big challenge to her. Last week she delivered a girl baby. She added a statement that their 10 member team worked very hard during an emergency crisis. Big applause to the team. Just before she was admitted in the hospital, she submitted the proposal to CDSCO ( central Drug Standard control organization) for approval. The cost of the kit is something around 1200 and the results could be obtained within 3hrs.  On the other side, a large group of migrant workers was moving towards their hometown.

Who are migrant workers?

They are the working people who migrate within a county, they do not have a permanent residence to stay. Now, These people are jobless and penniless by the lockdown. Certain measurements have been to help those people. Uttar Pradesh government has made arrangements for 1000 buses and some of the relief camps have been made in different states of India.

Coronavirus – how this infect humans?

Once the coronaviruses enter through eyes, nose, and mouth. It attaches to the healthy cells in the body. The spike proteins of coronaviruses attach to ACE2(Angiotensin converting enzyme) receptors in the lungs. Now the healthy cells are been killed. Now, these viruses attack the respiratory tract as this region has more ACE2 receptors. After this, our immune system provides a signal to the foreign particle. Those are called signs/symptoms. Many viral infections cause pneumonia at this condition airways will be filled with fluid that leads to ARDS( Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome).

Does COVID-19 infects TB patients?- Maybe but having TB does not make you more likely to fall ill with COVID-19. But if the patient had pulmonary TB they are more vulnerable to COVID-19.

Facts provided by the CDC( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

• COVID-19 can infect regardless of race and ethnicity.
• Older people and people underlying medical conditions are higher risks for the disease.
• Wash your hands often with soap and alcohol-based rub for 20 seconds.

Robots | Public Health | Infectious Disease | COVID-19

Robots in  managing public health and infectious diseases

The outbreak of COVID-19 has been declared pandemic. Yes, Robots have the capability of delivering disinfections, medications, food and assisting border controls. The above mentioned are just a proof of concept but they have limited use in china. Some of them may know that coronaviruses spread via close contact respiratory droplet transfer, in this case, robot-controlled noncontact ultraviolet (UV) surface disinfection could be used for disease prevention. Mobile robots have been used for diagnosis and screening. These mobile robots could repeatedly monitor the temperature of patients in public areas, hospitals and so on. The biggest challenge in an outbreak is sample collection, it requires a trained  staff but automated/robot-assisted nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabbing may speed up the process and may reduce the risk of infections. There are so many obstacles to be overcome in order to make it a successful one.

Is there any vaccine for COVID-19?

No, it is under the developmental stage. Before that, we will know what is a vaccine and its type. A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides acquired immunity to an infectious disease.  RNA vaccine is a novel type of vaccine composed of RNA packed within a vector(lipid nanoparticles). There are so many clinical trials that been going around the globe. We will be looking into some of them.

Oxford  University begins enrolling volunteers over 500 for a vaccine trial. This is a part of rapid vaccine response. These volunteers will receive nCOV-19 vaccine or control injection for comparison. This team had previously worked on the Ebola outbreak in Africa(2014). Several organizations are currently working on a vaccine against coronaviruses.

•    Moderna -  This US biotech firm is best known for personalized vaccines. The company has a history of involvement in public health threats. (Zika outbreak-2015). This firm has produced an RNA based vaccine which codes for a stabilized form of SARS-COV-2 spike protein. Phase 1 clinical trial is yet to start.
• Curevac- This German-based firm used mRNA to activate the production of coronavirus proteins by triggering immune cells to produce antibodies against it.

•  INOVIO- This US biotech uses DNA instead of RNA to make medicines. A preclinical stage began in January. It has produced 3000 doses for trials to be conducted in China,  USA, and  South Korea.
•  Zydus Cadila-  This Indian based Pharmaceutical  firm had initiated 2 approaches for developing the covid-19 vaccine. The first involves the ring of DNA designed to produce coronavirus protein once inside the human body. The latter involves genetically manipulating, an attenuated recombinant measles virus, So that it will induce antibodies against Covid-19.

Well, there are currently, 50 plus institutes are working on vaccine development for Covid-19. Don’t get panic, Stay safe and follow the instructions of Officials.

COVID-19 | Vaccine | Viruses | short updates

Who is COVID-19?

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new mutated version of coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans, coronaviruses cause respiratory tract infections that can be mild, such as some cases of the common cold such as SARS, MERS, and COVID-1.

Morphology

The diameter of the virus particles is around 120 nm. The viral envelope consists of a lipid bilayer where the membrane (M), envelope (E) and spike (S) structural proteins are anchored. A subset of coronaviruses called betacoronavirus subgroup also has a shorter spike-like surface protein called hemagglutinin esterase (HE). 

Mode of Transmission

Coronavirus disease spreads primarily through contact with an infected person when they cough or sneeze. It also spreads when a person touches a surface or object that has the virus on it then touches their eyes, nose, or mouth.

Covid-19 a scenario in India- Till 12pm on March 28,2020 the number of infected cases are 800 plus, so how we are going  to tackle this, kindly follow the instructions provided by CDC, WHO to save lives. The worldwide confirmed cases of COVID-19 as on 12pm, March 28 is 597,252.  It has been declared as pandemic a few days before but still, there are some groups of people who are not aware of it. Below are the statistics of COVID-19, in which the top infected countries have been mentioned.

Countries	Confirmed cases
USA	104,671
Italy	86,498
China	81,394
Spain	65,719
Germany	50,871

20 Indian institutes are working to find a vaccine for COVID-19. Some of them are ICMR, NIV, ITI Aayog and DRDO. IIT-Kanpur and IIT-Roorkee incubation centers are working on making portable ventilators.  India, with less than 1 lakh intensive care units and a bed ratio of 1:1,000, will be at risk if an outbreak reaches the third stage. The unique nature of the disease requires 3-4 week of recovery and 21-day ventilator support.

Prevention:

·       Wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds, with soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub.
·       Cover your nose and mouth with a disposable tissue or flexed elbow when you cough or sneeze.
·       Avoid close contact with people who are unwell.
·       Stay home and self-isolate from others.

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