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Amid spike in COVID cases in Singapore an HK, Ministry issues advisory, allays fears

Amid spike in COVID cases in Singapore an HK, Ministry issues advisory, allays fears

New delhi/Chennai, May 19 (UNI) Amid rising concerns over increasing COVID cases in Singapore and Hong Kong, which is said to be not life threatening, Union Health Minister J P Nadda allayed the fears of the public and reviewed the situation at a High Level Meeting on Emergency Health Systems Preparedness to prevent spread in India.
An official release said the Health MInistry said urgent and comprehensive measures were taken to strengthen Health Systems and Resources across the Country ensuring availability of medicines in hospitals, including equipment and beds to tackle any emergency.
The current status of medical preparedness for handling emergency cases was presented to him and the Ministry was closely monitoring the situation.
He was apprised of the actions taken regarding deployment of ambulances; ensuring adequate availability of medical supplies including equipment, medicines, supply of blood vials and
consumables; hospital readiness in terms of beds, ICU and HDU; deployment of BHISHM Cubes, advanced mobile trauma care units etc. .
Hospitals and medical institutions have been advised to ensure availability of essential drugs, adequate supply of blood, oxygen, trauma care kits etc. AIIMS New Delhi and other central
government hospitals have mobilised doctors and nurses with supplies for ready deployment.
The Minister also directed to develop ground level linkages at State level and all districts, besides armed forces to tight the emergency response system.
They have been advised to coordinate with state and district administration, armed forces and
regional associations of doctors, nurses, paramedics, private sector hospitals, charitable institutions etc., to strengthen the emergency response networks in a collaborative manner.
Additionally, nationwide mock drills for disaster preparedness have been conducted at AIIMS, PGIMER, JIPMER and other premier hospitals.
For capacity building in emergency healthcare, additional training modules for CPR, first aid, and basic life support are being rolled out with support from Indian Red Cross Society, National Institute
of Health & Family Welfare (NIHFW), AIIMS, New Delhi and iGOT.
The Union Health Secretary apprised about series of her meetings with states/UTs, and central government hospitals and healthcare institutes for seamless coordination with relevant stakeholders at the centre and within the states for ensuring effective response.
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Union Health Minister has directed to ensure that all medical emergency response health systems be adequately equipped and functional at all times. He also directed to ensure that ground level
linkages with all state governments particularly at the district levels, especially border states, be effectively established to ensure immediate emergency healthcare, if required.
He also directed that a 24 x7 control and command centre in the Ministry should monitor ongoing efforts and support states in the present times.
Union Health Ministry is closely monitoring the situation and remains committed to ensuring uninterrupted healthcare services and emergency response across all regions.
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ICMR study found Covid vaccination didn't raise risk of unexplained sudden deaths among young adults: J P Nadda
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Time of India

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ICMR study found Covid vaccination didn't raise risk of unexplained sudden deaths among young adults: J P Nadda

New Delhi: An ICMR study has found that Covid vaccination did not increase the risk of unexplained sudden deaths among young adults in India, Union Health Minister J P Nadda told Lok Sabha on Friday. Past Covid hospitalization, family history of sudden death and certain lifestyle behaviours increased the likelihood of unexplained sudden deaths. Responding to a question, Nadda said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has informed that it and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) explored two approaches to investigate the causes of sudden death. The first approach was a retrospective case-control study to determine the risk factors associated with sudden death and the second approach of the study was to prospectively investigate sudden deaths in young adults using a virtual autopsy approach. The ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE) conducted a study titled "Factors associated with unexplained sudden deaths among adults aged 18-45 years in India - A multicentric matched case-control study" at 47 tertiary care hospitals located across 19 states and Union territories during May-August 2023. Cases were apparently healthy individuals without any known co-morbidity, who suddenly (less than 24 hours of hospitalization or seen apparently healthy 24 hours before death) died of unexplained causes during October 1, 2021-March 31, 2023, Nadda stated. Four controls were included per case matched for age, gender and neighbourhood. Information was collected regarding data on COVID-19 vaccination/infection, post-Covid conditions, family history of sudden death, smoking, recreational drug use, alcohol frequency, binge drinking and vigorous-intensity physical activity two days before death among the cases or interviewed controls, he said. A total of 729 sudden death cases and 2916 controls were included in the analysis. It was observed that receiving two doses of Covid vaccine significantly reduced the odds of unexplained sudden death, Nadda stated. Past COVID-19 hospitalization, family history of sudden death, binge drinking 48 hours before death/interview, use of recreational drug/substance and performing vigorous-intensity physical activity 48 hours before death/interview increased the odds of sudden death. "Hence, the study observed that COVID-19 vaccination did not increase the risk of unexplained sudden death among young adults in India. Past COVID-19 hospitalization, family history of sudden death and certain lifestyle behaviours increased the likelihood of unexplained sudden death," he said. The second study, titled "Establishing the cause in sudden unexplained deaths in young" conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi with funding and in collaboration with ICMR, is a prospective work aimed at determining the common causes of sudden deaths in young adults. Early analysis of data from the study indicates that heart attacks, or myocardial infarction (MI), continue to be the leading cause of sudden death in this age group. Importantly, no major changes in the pattern of causes have been observed when compared with previous years before the Covid pandemic. Together, these two studies offer a more comprehensive understanding of sudden unexplained deaths in young adults in India, Nadda said. It has also been revealed that Covid vaccination does not appear to increase the risk, whereas, the role of underlying health issues, genetic predisposition and risky lifestyle choices does play a role in unexplained sudden deaths, he said.

Covid vaccine didn't raise risk of deaths among young adults: Nadda
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time4 hours ago

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Covid vaccine didn't raise risk of deaths among young adults: Nadda

An ICMR study has found that Covid vaccination did not increase the risk of unexplained sudden deaths among young adults in India, Union Health Minister J P Nadda told Lok Sabha on Friday. Past Covid hospitalization, family history of sudden death and certain lifestyle behaviours increased the likelihood of unexplained sudden deaths. Responding to a question, Nadda said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has informed that it and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) explored two approaches to investigate the causes of sudden death. The first approach was a retrospective case-control study to determine the risk factors associated with sudden death and the second approach of the study was to prospectively investigate sudden deaths in young adults using a virtual autopsy approach. The ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE) conducted a study titled "Factors associated with unexplained sudden deaths among adults aged 18-45 years in India -? A multicentric matched case-control study" at 47 tertiary care hospitals located across 19 states and Union territories during May-August 2023. Cases were apparently healthy individuals without any known co-morbidity, who suddenly (less than 24 hours of hospitalization or seen apparently healthy 24 hours before death) died of unexplained causes during October 1, 2021-March 31, 2023, Nadda stated. Four controls were included per case matched for age, gender and neighbourhood. Information was collected regarding data on Covid vaccination/infection, post-Covid conditions, family history of sudden death, smoking, recreational drug use, alcohol frequency, binge drinking and vigorous-intensity physical activity two days before death among the cases or interviewed controls, he said. A total of 729 sudden death cases and 2916 controls were included in the analysis. It was observed that receiving two doses of Covid vaccine significantly reduced the odds of unexplained sudden death, Nadda stated. Past Covid hospitalization, family history of sudden death, binge drinking 48 hours before death/interview, use of recreational drug/substance and performing vigorous-intensity physical activity 48 hours before death/interview increased the odds of sudden death. "Hence, the study observed that Covid vaccination did not increase the risk of unexplained sudden death among young adults in India. Past Covid hospitalization, family history of sudden death and certain lifestyle behaviours increased the likelihood of unexplained sudden death," he said. The second study, titled "Establishing the cause in sudden unexplained deaths in young" conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi with funding and in collaboration with ICMR, is a prospective work aimed at determining the common causes of sudden deaths in young adults. Early analysis of data from the study indicates that heart attacks, or myocardial infarction (MI), continue to be the leading cause of sudden death in this age group. Importantly, no major changes in the pattern of causes have been observed when compared with previous years before the Covid pandemic. Together, these two studies offer a more comprehensive understanding of sudden unexplained deaths in young adults in India, Nadda said. It has also been revealed that Covid vaccination does not appear to increase the risk, whereas, the role of underlying health issues, genetic predisposition and risky lifestyle choices does play a role in unexplained sudden deaths, he said.

Allot NEET PG centres close to home for female candidates: MP
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Allot NEET PG centres close to home for female candidates: MP

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