Development of the India COVID-19 vaccine tracker

COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. Since then, efforts were initiated to develop safe and effective vaccines. Till date, 11 vaccines have been included in the WHO’s emergency use list. The emergence and spread of variant strains of SARS-CoV-2 has altered the disease transmission dynamics, thus creating a need for continuously monitoring the real-world effectiveness of various vaccines and assessing their overall impact on disease control. To achieve this goal, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) along with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, took the lead to develop the India COVID-19 Vaccination Tracker by synergizing three different public health databases: National COVID-19 testing database, CoWIN vaccination database and the COVID-19 India portal. A Vaccine Data Analytics Committee (VDAC) was constituted to advise on various modalities of the proposed tracker. The VDAC reviewed the data related to COVID-19 testing, vaccination and patient outcomes available in the three databases and selected relevant data points for inclusion in the tracker, following which databases were integrated, using common identifiers, wherever feasible. Multiple data filters were applied to retrieve information of all individuals ?18 yr who died after the acquisition of COVID-19 infection with or without vaccination, irrespective of the time between vaccination and test positivity. Vaccine effectiveness (VE) against the reduction of mortality and hospitalizations was initially assessed. As compared to the hospitalization data, mortality reporting was found to be much better in terms of correctness and completeness. Therefore, hospitalization data were not considered for analysis and presentation in the vaccine tracker. The vaccine tracker thus depicts VE against mortality, calculated by a cohort approach using person-time analysis. Incidence of COVID-19 deaths among one- and two-dose vaccine recipients was compared with that among unvaccinated groups, to estimate the rate ratios (RRs). VE was estimated as 96.6 and 97.5 per cent, with one and two doses of the vaccines, respectively, during the period of reporting. The India COVID-19 Vaccination Tracker was officially launched on September 9, 2021. The high VE against mortality, as demonstrated by the tracker, has helped aid in allaying vaccine hesitancy, augmenting and maintaining the momentum of India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive

Inter-laboratory testing as a strategy for external quality assessment for qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 by real-time RT-PCR testing in India

To implement the strategy of test, track and treat to tackle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the number of real-time RT-PCR–based testing laboratories was increased for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 in the country. To ensure reliability of the laboratory results, the Indian Council of Medical Research initiated external quality assessment (EQA) by deploying inter-laboratory quality control (ILQC) activity for these laboratories by nominating 34 quality control (QC) laboratories. This report presents the results of this activity for a period of September 2020 till November 2020. A total of 597 laboratories participated in this activity and 86 per cent of these scored ?90 per cent concordance with QC laboratories. This ILQC activity showcased India’s preparedness in quality diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2.

Role of Vitamin B Complex as an Add-on Therapy to Diclofenac in Patients with Primary Osteoarthritis of the Knee

Objective: This study was conducted with the aim to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Vitamin B complex as an add-on therapy to diclofenac in patients with primary osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. Materials and Methods: In this prospective, open-labeled, randomized, and comparative clinical study, a total of 130 patients of age >40 years with primary OA of knee attending orthopedics OPD were randomly allocated into two groups of 65 each, i.e., Group D and Group B. In Group D, patients received tablet diclofenac 75 mg and in Group B, patients received tablet Vitamin B complex along with diclofenac once daily for 4 weeks, respectively. Clinical assessment was done at baseline and at the end of 4 weeks and 8 weeks by the visual analog scale (VAS), WOMAC index, and Lequesne index. Results: During the intergroup comparison, it was found that Vitamin B complex as an add-on therapy to diclofenac produced statistically significant reduction in mean VAS pain score (P < 0.05). However, the difference in mean WOMAC index and Lequesne index was not statistically different at 4 and 8 weeks between the two groups (P > 0.05). Mild side effects were seen at 4 weeks, but no side effects persisted up to 8 weeks in both the groups. Conclusion: The present study suggested that Vitamin B complex as an add-on therapy was found to cause a significant reduction in pain score. It could be a promising drug in patients with OA to improve the analgesic effect, when combined can reduce the dose of diclofenac, thereby minimizing the side effects.

Serum uric acid levels in patients of acute myocardial infarction

Background: Following Myocardial Infarction some proteins and enzymes, CPK-MB/ Troponin-I, T, are released into the blood from the necrotic heart muscle. Serum Uric Acid (SUA) may be a risk factor and negative prognostic marker for cardiovascular diseases. Aim of the study was to study serum uric acid levels in patients of acute Myocardial infarction with congestive heart failure, its relation with stages of congestive heart failure as per Killip classification and the role of serum uric acid levels as a marker of mortality.Methods: The case control study was conducted on 120 patients divided into two groups. Group A included 60 patients of acute Myocardial infarction. Group A was further divided into two categories. One includes 30 patients of with congestive heart failure and another includes 30 patients without congestive heart failure. Group B consists of 60 control patients. Serum uric acid levels were measured in Group A on 1st, 3rd and 7th day of hospital admission and in Group B on 1st day.Results: The study showed females have higher degree of hyperuricemia than males. SUA was significantly higher in patients of acute myocardial infarction than control group patients. SUA were also higher in patients with history of IHD, in patients with BNP >100 and it correlates with Killip class and mortality rates. Patients of acute myocardial infarction with diabetes mellitus had higher degree of hyperuricemia than nondiabetic and control group. No significant difference in SUA levels were observed with regard to age, alcohol intake, lipid profile, ejection fraction and hypertension.Conclusions: In acute myocardial infarction, patients with hyperuricemia had higher mortality and may be considered as poor prognostic biomarker.

In vitro Evaluation of Corn Germ Meal as Ruminant Feed

The present study was taken up to assess the chemical composition and in vitro nutritional worth of corn germ meal (CGM) in comparison to conventional oilseed cakes used in livestock feeding. The CP content of protein sources varied from 18.59% in CGM to 49.41% in soybean meal (SBM). CGM had the highest ether extract (EE) content, neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and total carbohydrates. However, total ash, acid detergent insoluble crude protein (ADICP) and neutral detergent insoluble crude protein (NDICP) was lowest in CGM. In vitro net gas production in CGM (267.91 ml/g DM/24 h) was higher (P<0.05) than other conventional oil cakes. The digestibility of organic matter varied from 85.12% in DMC (deoiled mustard cake) to 96.19% in SBM. The ME availability was highest (P<0.05) in CGM (9.63 MJ/kg DM). Ammonical nitrogen in CGM was lower (P<0.05) than SBM and GNC (groundnut cake).The total volatile fatty acids (TVFA) production (mM/dl) was highest (P<0.05) in GNC (12.56) and lowest (P<0.05) in CGM (9.31). Methane production was lowest (P<0.05) in CGM than other conventional oil cakes. Hydrogen recovery (%) was higher (P<0.05) in CGM (65.76) and SBM (65.78) than other protein sources tested. Fermentation efficiency (%) was higher (P<0.05) in SBM (77.02) and GNC (76.75) while volatile fatty acids utilization index (VFA UI) was higher (P<0.05) in CGM (2.92) and DMC (2.84) than other protein sources tested. The results revealed that CGM can be used as a potential protein source for ruminants.