Containers | Drugs | Vaccine | Infections | COVID-19

Risks faced by dead bodies after natural disasters

Most of the microbes do not survive after the human the body dies, but in certain cases, there is a risk to the healthy people after the dead too (Cholera and hemorrhagic).

Healthcare workers who routinely handle these things may have a risk of getting Tuberculosis, Bloodborne viruses( Hepatitis B and C, HIV) and gastrointestinal infections (eg., cholera, E.coli, typhoid/paratyphoid fevers. In the case of gastrointestinal infections, workers may be directly transmitted from feces leaked from dead bodies. In the case of COVID-19, there is no such incidence of transmission after death, since it is a new disease. The main transmission in COVID-19 is through droplets.

Note: The family of the patient can view the dead body at the time of removal with standard precautions.

DNA vaccine enters into human clinical Trials 

This is the second vaccine that enters into human trials for COVID-19.

The U.S based Inovio pharmaceuticals enter into phase 1 human trial after showing prominent results in preclinical studies.

Mechanism of action: INO-4800 DNA vaccine works by injecting a genetically engineered plasmid that enters into the patient cells, that could produce desired and targeted antibodies and fight the infection. The availability of this vaccine in the market would take at least a year.

Note: DNA vaccine has not yet been approved across the globe in human use.

 New Antiviral drug enters into clinical stage

Researchers hope that a new drug called EIDD 2801 could help COVID-19 patients. This drug has been found to reduce lung damage in in-vitro studies. This research is under study by The University of North California.

EIDD-2801 is an orally available form of antiviral compound EIDD-1931. This can be taken as a pill and get absorbed to travel to the lungs. As per in-vitro study data, when this drug was given as treatment  12 or 24 hrs. EIDD-2801 has found to reduce weight and lung damage in mice. If this drug is found to treat COVID-19 in human trials. In future cases, it can also be used to study other pandemic viruses.

Shipping containers to be turned into hospitals for COVID-19 treatment

Since there is a lot of demand for Intensive care units, ship containers are to be converted into two-bed intensive care units. One such earliest design is called RUAGField Hospital, it uses a combination of standard ISO Shipping containers and expandable or foldable containers to build field hospitals. 

Another type of design called Cura ( Connected units for Respiratory Ailments), In this type they use previously used shipping containers to build pop-up shops and co-working spaces. These containers can be shipped to any locations by means of transport. So, this could be ready to support treating patients. Their team got the first prototype to manufacture in Turin, Italy. Italy has 12.5 critical care beds per 100,000 people, while Germany has 29.2 beds per 100,000 people. Whereas researchers estimated that the UK will need 200 beds per million people. 

Some Countries repurposed convention centers and filled with as many as beds as possible. There is a problem in this type, as an intense concentration of contaminated air in these field hospitals, and the second solution is prefabricated hospitals. These prefabricated hospitals have full mechanical ventilation, in addition to negative pressure systems.