Latest news with #SARS-CoV2
News18
14 hours ago
- Health
- News18
Cough, Cold, Or Something Worse? Why You Shouldn't Ignore Monsoon Flu Symptoms
Last Updated: Monsoon offers a breeding ground for the spread of viruses and bacteria. What looks like a common cold or viral fever might actually indicate something deeper. As the monsoon clouds roll in and bring a welcome respite from the heat, there's another problem that creeps up alongside – one filled with the heightened risk of infections. While many of us dismiss the flu during the rainy months as just a product of the weather change, this approach can be dangerous. The monsoon season in India is a breeding ground for numerous infections, and flu is one of the most commonly misinterpreted illnesses. What starts as a mild cold or fever is often treated with over-the-counter remedies, including antibiotics, which can actually worsen the problem. The onset of monsoon is accompanied by high humidity and pathogens, all of which create the perfect storm for the spread of viruses and bacteria. People often confuse flu-like symptoms with a common cold or the seasonal bug. This delay in recognising the illness can lead to more severe complications. Dr. Mahua Das Gupta, Director of Medical Affairs (Infectious Diseases) at HaystackAnalytics, says, 'Infections caused by respiratory viruses such as Influenza A (H1N1), H3N2, SARS-CoV2 and RSV can be severe, especially for those with compromised immune systems or pre-existing conditions like asthma, diabetes, and heart disease." The Risk of Misdiagnosis: Self-Treatment and Antibiotic Resistance In the rush to feel better, many people opt for self-medication, often reaching for antibiotics at the first sign of fever or cold. Dr Gupta says, 'This overuse of antibiotics has contributed to a growing problem – antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The WHO identifies AMR as one of the top ten global health threats, with an estimated 5 million deaths annually attributed to drug-resistant infections." 'The overuse of antibiotics accelerates the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, making future infections more difficult to treat. More dangerously, the symptoms can escalate into complications like pneumonia or even organ failure, requiring hospitalizations that could have been avoided with earlier, more accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment," adds Dr Gupta. Early Diagnostics: The Key to Preventing Serious Illnesses The good news is that early diagnostic tools can help prevent the flu from escalating into more severe conditions. Dr Gupta says, 'Advanced technologies, like Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS), enable clinicians to identify pathogens at the genomic level with speed and accuracy that surpass traditional methods. NGS can detect the specific virus or bacteria causing the infection, even those that are difficult to culture or detect, using older diagnostic methods." NGS can detect a wide range of pathogens in a single test, including bacterial, fungal, and viral agents responsible for respiratory infections, and even reveal the antimicrobial resistance profiles of these pathogens. With a turnaround time as quick as 24 hours, this technology empowers clinicians to initiate the most effective treatment without delay. How Genomics Can Help with Flu Diagnosis NGS-based diagnostic tests can help physicians move beyond broad-spectrum antibiotics and make data-driven treatment decisions. These tests provide a clear picture of which pathogens are involved, whether viral, bacterial, or fungal, allowing for targeted treatment. Dr Gupta explains, 'By providing a comprehensive pathogen profile, genomic tests also enable doctors to understand the exact nature of a patient's infection. Instead of relying on trial-and-error, doctors can make informed decisions about whether to prescribe antiviral medications, manage symptoms, or employ more aggressive treatments." A Call for Vigilance: The Role of Preventive Care As the monsoon season approaches, it's crucial to stay vigilant about flu and other infections. Flu-like symptoms during this time shouldn't be dismissed as just the weather. Early intervention with proper diagnostics can prevent complications, reduce unnecessary antibiotic use, and combat antimicrobial resistance. view comments Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
2 days ago
- Health
Alberta wastewater unlocked key information about COVID-19. Could it help with measles too?
As Alberta's measles outbreaks grow, researchers are now watching the province's wastewater for the highly contagious virus and hoping to determine if the technology could eventually serve as an early detection tool. The magnitude of Alberta's outbreaks and the speed at which cases are climbing has sparked widespread concern. As of midday Tuesday, 1,323 cases (new window) had been confirmed since the outbreaks began in March. Piggybacking off weekly wastewater samples, collected through the provincial COVID-19 surveillance program, the team has designed a test that can identify both the wild type measles virus (indicating actual infection) and vaccine-related shedding in the wastewater. Wastewater surveillance was shown to be very useful globally — internationally — during COVID-19, said Dr. Bonita Lee, a co-lead with the pan-Alberta Network for Wastewater Monitoring, which includes researchers from both the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. Samples are taken from 12 Alberta wastewater treatment plants sites each week and sent to the provincial lab for analysis. Once the testing for SARS-CoV-2 is complete, the researchers analyze the same samples for measles. Without any additional funding, the team began looking for the virus at the beginning of April, after the first cases were confirmed in Edmonton, according to Lee. They found measles virus signals in the water for that time period and they've since tracked provincial trends. Basically we have a lot of measles activity and it's increasing, said Lee, a professor of infectious diseases in the department of pediatrics at the University of Alberta. Scientists can't identify individual cases through this molecular testing. Instead they get a population-level view, she explained. Enlarge image (new window) Dr. Bonita Lee is a professor of infectious diseases in the department of pediatrics at the University of Alberta and a co-lead with the PAN Alberta Network for Wastewater Monitoring. Photo: Bonita Lee Alberta's official measles case count is widely believed, by doctors and scientists, to be an underestimate. And the provincial government's website (new window) acknowledges cases are likely going unreported and undetected in the hardest hit parts of the province. According to Lee, wastewater monitoring could be most helpful in areas where measles cases may be going undetected and public health officials want to better understand what's happening. It's never useful by itself. It will always be useful as a supplementary surveillance tool, she said. Early detection hopes Dr. Xiaoli Pang recently retired after working as a virologist in the provincial lab for 25 years and leading the wastewater surveillance program. Pang developed the initial SARS-CoV2 wastewater monitoring technology for the provincial lab and she designed the molecular test for measles as well. I believe measles is going to continue — probably getting worse and worse, she said, noting funding for wastewater monitoring has been dwindling since the peak of the pandemic. Our wastewater plays a very important role. So we really need to continue. The incubation period for measles can last up to two weeks, according to Pang, and this has sparked hopes that the technology could lead to earlier detection and provide information that could be used by health officials to take action. With SARS CoV2 monitoring, the team was able to identify peaks one to two weeks before actual case counts would rise, she said. They want to know if wastewater signals will work in the same way for measles. Enlarge image (new window) Dr. Xiaoli Pang is a professor in the department of laboratory medicine and pathology at the University of Alberta. She recently retired after working for 25 years as a virologist in the provincial lab and leading the provincial wastewater surveillanec program. Photo: University of Alberta More research is needed, she said, and it would require access to clinical case information data to determine the science behind how the wastewater signals correlate with actual confirmed case counts. We want to get clinical information … to compare the correlation. Are we really able to do earlier detection and provide useful information to public health [so they can] make some kind of decisions? said Pang, a professor in the department of laboratory medicine and pathology at the University of Alberta. For an effective monitoring program, more frequent sampling would be needed as well, according to the researchers. Alberta's wastewater surveillance program has been scaled back since the peak of the pandemic. Testing is done weekly rather than daily, she said, and they have to wait for access to the samples, which means real-time monitoring for measles is not possible. Measles is highly contagious and can lead to serious complications including pneumonia, brain inflammation, premature delivery and even death. The vast majority of Alberta's cases are among the unimmunized and more than 100 Albertans have been hospitalized due to the illness this year. The team has shared its early findings with provincial health officials. A spokesperson from the Alberta government confirmed it is aware of the research. Researchers from the University of Alberta have been exploring the use of wastewater surveillance for measles, an emailed statement said. Public health officials are reviewing this data to assess its relevance in the context of the current outbreak. In the long-term, Pang believes wastewater could play a key role in fighting new and emerging pathogens and even help identify the next pandemic. She hopes funding will be increased. Something may be new coming. If something really causes a huge problem in the near future, I think wastewater [will] play some kind of important role, she said. Wastewater we see as a really important complementary tool, especially for pandemic preparation. Jennifer Lee (new window) · CBC News · Reporter Jennifer Lee is a CBC News reporter based in Calgary. She worked at CBC Toronto, Saskatoon and Regina before landing in Calgary in 2002. If you have a health or human interest story to share, let her know.
CBC
2 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Alberta wastewater unlocked key information about COVID-19. Could it help with measles too?
Social Sharing As Alberta's measles outbreaks grow, researchers are now watching the province's wastewater for the highly contagious virus and hoping to determine if the technology could eventually serve as an early detection tool. The magnitude of Alberta's outbreaks and the speed at which cases are climbing has sparked widespread concern. As of midday Tuesday, 1,323 cases had been confirmed since the outbreaks began in March. Piggybacking off weekly wastewater samples, collected through the provincial COVID-19 surveillance program, the team has designed a test that can identify both the wild type measles virus (indicating actual infection) and vaccine-related shedding in the wastewater. "Wastewater surveillance was shown to be very useful globally — internationally — during COVID-19," said Dr. Bonita Lee, a co-lead with the pan-Alberta Network for Wastewater Monitoring, which includes researchers from both the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. Samples are taken from 12 Alberta wastewater treatment plants sites each week and sent to the provincial lab for analysis. Once the testing for SARS-CoV-2 is complete, the researchers analyze the same samples for measles. Without any additional funding, the team began looking for the virus at the beginning of April, after the first cases were confirmed in Edmonton, according to Lee. They found measles virus signals in the water for that time period and they've since tracked provincial trends. "Basically we have a lot of measles activity and it's increasing," said Lee, a professor of infectious diseases in the department of pediatrics at the University of Alberta. Scientists can't identify individual cases through this molecular testing. Instead they get a population-level view, she explained. Alberta's official measles case count is widely believed, by doctors and scientists, to be an underestimate. And the provincial government's website acknowledges cases are likely going unreported and undetected in the hardest hit parts of the province. According to Lee, wastewater monitoring could be most helpful in areas where measles cases may be going undetected and public health officials want to better understand what's happening. "It's never useful by itself. It will always be useful as a supplementary surveillance tool," she said. Early detection hopes Dr. Xiaoli Pang recently retired after working as a virologist in the provincial lab for 25 years and leading the wastewater surveillance program. Pang developed the initial SARS-CoV2 wastewater monitoring technology for the provincial lab and she designed the molecular test for measles as well. "I believe measles is going to continue — probably getting worse and worse," she said, noting funding for wastewater monitoring has been dwindling since the peak of the pandemic," she said. "Our wastewater plays a very important role. So we really need to continue." The incubation period for measles can last up to two weeks, according to Pang, and this has sparked hopes that the technology could lead to earlier detection and provide information that could be used by health officials to take action. With SARS CoV2 monitoring, the team was able to identify peaks one to two weeks before actual case counts would rise, she said. They want to know if wastewater signals will work in the same way for measles. More research is needed, she said, and it would require access to clinical case information data to determine the science behind how the wastewater signals correlate with actual confirmed case counts. "We want to get clinical information … to compare the correlation. Are we really able to do earlier detection and provide useful information to public health [so they can] make some kind of decisions?" said Pang, a professor in the department of laboratory medicine and pathology at the University of Alberta. For an effective monitoring program, more frequent sampling would be needed as well, according to the researchers. Alberta's wastewater surveillance program has been scaled back since the peak of the pandemic. Testing is done weekly rather than daily, she said, and they have to wait for access to the samples, which means real-time monitoring for measles is not possible. Measles is highly contagious and can lead to serious complications including pneumonia, brain inflammation, premature delivery and even death. The vast majority of Alberta's cases are among the unimmunized and more than 100 Albertans have been hospitalized due to the illness this year. The team has shared its early findings with provincial health officials. A spokesperson from the Alberta government confirmed it is aware of the research. "Researchers from the University of Alberta have been exploring the use of wastewater surveillance for measles," an emailed statement said. "Public health officials are reviewing this data to assess its relevance in the context of the current outbreak." In the long-term, Pang believes wastewater could play a key role in fighting new and emerging pathogens and even help identify the next pandemic. She hopes funding will be increased. "Something may be new coming. If something really causes a huge problem in the near future, I think wastewater [will] play some kind of important role," she said.
Indian Express
11-06-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
Mumbai, Pune account for 70 per cent of Covid-19 infections this year
Mumbai and Pune account for 70 per cent of the Covid-19 infections this year. A statewide analysis of 1,700 cases reported from January till June 10 this year also found that the dominating lineage in Maharashtra is the XFG variant of the SARS-CoV2 virus, which causes Covid. The Whole Genome Sequencing of 184 Covid-19 samples from across Maharashtra found that 84 samples had the XFG variant, making it the dominating lineage. The LF.7 variant was detected in 34 samples while 27 samples reported the JN.1 variant. The NB.1.8.1 variant was found in one sample from a 29-year-old woman in Pune, who had previously travelled to Hyderabad on May 16 and later had symptoms like fever, sore throat, headache and stomach pain. Her sample was collected on May 26 and sent for genome sequencing, according to state health authorities. Overall, a total of 18,885 suspected samples were tested this year of which 1,700 were Covid-19 positive. Of these, 753 Covid cases were reported from Mumbai and 443 from Pune and the Covid positivity rate stands at 9 per cent. The maximum number of cases were reported in May (742) and June (951). Presently, 105 patients have been hospitalised of which 34 are from Pune, 22 from Navi Mumbai, 15 from Mumbai and 11 from Thane. Fifteen persons require intensive care while one is on ventilator support. A total of 21 deaths have been reported. As per the report a total of 1,064 persons have recovered. Meanwhile, of the 1,700 cases, an equal number of men and women had the infection while an age-wise analysis found that 291 persons are in the age group 21 to 30 years, 360 in the 31-40 age group, 262 in the 41 to 50 age group and 190 in the 51 to 60 age group. There were 208 persons in the 61-70 years age group, who had Covid infection, while 170 were in the 71-80 age group. Since 2020, Maharashtra reported over 81.80 lakh cases and 1.48 lakh deaths. The state authorities conducted a review of the Covid situation and as per the report since 2020, Maharashtra has reported a total of 81,80,064 Covid cases and 148,623 deaths. Last year there were 5,528 Covid cases and 35 deaths while in 2023 Maharashtra had reported 36,173 cases and 137 deaths. A mock drill of the state's preparedness to deal with Covid cases also indicated that there were 2572 ventilator supported beds, 3781 ICU beds, 13871 oxygen supported beds and 9658 beds without oxygen support. Anuradha Mascarenhas is a journalist with The Indian Express and is based in Pune. A senior editor, Anuradha writes on health, research developments in the field of science and environment and takes keen interest in covering women's issues. With a career spanning over 25 years, Anuradha has also led teams and often coordinated the edition. ... Read More
Indian Express
02-06-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
Covid 19 this year: Over 100 cases in Pune, 500 in Mumbai
Maharashtra has so far reported a total of 873 Covid-19 cases, of which more than 100 are in Pune, while close to 500 are in Mumbai. While a district-wise analysis is underway at the health department, officials said they were following strict guidelines issued by the Union government and not testing everyone for SARS-CoV2 virus. This year, ten deaths have been reported till date. 'We are testing samples of patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) and 5 percent of those with Influenza-like Illness (ILI),' Dr Babita Kamalapurkar, joint director of health, Maharashtra told The Indian Express. In Pune, health authorities said that overall, there were 108 cases of Covid-19. A total of 12,011 samples suspected of Covid-19 have been screened, of which 873 have tested positive. Of these, 369 persons have recovered. On Monday, the state health department logged in 59 new cases of which 20 were from Mumbai, four from Thane, one from Pune rural areas, 17 from Pune Municipal Corporation areas, two each from Pimpri Chinchwad, Satara, Kolhapur, one from Sangli and eight from Sambhajinagar. A circular was also issued on Monday by the public health department secretaries Nipun Vinayak and Virendra Singh, instructing district surveillance units to closely monitor the SARI/ILI cases. Samples that have tested positive for Covid-19 will be sent to the regional Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratories for whole genome sequencing. A clear message has been relayed in the circular that advises elderly persons and those with co-morbid conditions to avoid large gatherings or alternatively wear a face mask. There has been seasonal upswings and a slow but steady rise in acute respiratory infections across the country, health officials said. More than 90 per cent cases are from Kerala, Maharashtra, New Delhi, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Covid cases, according to officials, largely have mild symptoms like fever, cough and sore throat. However, health authorities have now advised medical colleges and hospitals and corporations to ensure preparedness that includes adequate number of hospital ward and ICU beds, PSA plants and also conduct mock drills.
