IISc develops tech as RT-PCR alternative – ET HealthWorld

IISc develops tech as RT-PCR alternative – ET HealthWorld

Bengaluru: A team of Indian Institute of Science (IISc) researchers has reported a new technique for detection of viruses that could help overcome the limitations and challenges of real-time Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). RT-PCR is the standard test used to detect viruses such as Ebola and SARS-CoV-2. A throat swab or a blood sample … Read more

Coronavirus Testing: DDMA allows only ICMR certified labs to collect Covid-19 samples

Coronavirus Testing: DDMA allows only ICMR certified labs to collect Covid-19 samples

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has directed that only ICMR-licensed labs can collect COVID-19 samples. According to an order issued by a Delhi High Court on May 31st, all labs should ensure that their collectors must take all biosafety and biosecurity precautions, including the BioMedical Waste Management Rules, while collecting the samples. Those who … Read more

Phase III trials of Covid-19 drug Movfor show positive results, confirms Hetero

Phase III trials of Covid-19 drug Movfor show positive results, confirms Hetero

No fatalities were reported during the study, it added. Drug firm Hetero on Saturday announced positive results of Phase III trials of Movfor (Molnupiravir), an investigational oral antiviral COVID-19 medicine. The results, presented as an Oral Abstract at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) held virtually February 12–16, 2022, demonstrated that Molnupiravir along … Read more

New guidelines for international travellers: No 7-day quarantine or Covid-19 testing

airport reuters

Passengers have been given the option of either uploading their negative RT-PCR test report or their certificate of full vaccination. The government has eased quarantine and Covid-19 testing requirements for international travellers, with daily Covid-19 positive cases declining by 80% from peak levels a month ago and test case positivity falling below 5%. V K … Read more

Covid-19: Can RT-PCR tests detect Omicron variant infection?

Covid Test Lab

Timely detection of the variant is, as a result, key to checking its spread. (File) The coronavirus’ Omicron variant has emerged as a big threat with the World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday assessing a “very high” global risk. Preliminary data suggests that the variant could have higher transmissibility, and also a greater ability to … Read more

Tamil Nadu government bars entry of public to beaches on Sundays, bans religious festivals

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Tamil Nadu on Monday announced closure of beaches on Sundays for the public besides extending the ban on places of worship on weekends and also in holding religious festivals due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister M K Stalin at the Secretariat, which … Read more

The role of emerging technologies in managing the COVID situation – ET HealthWorld

the role of emerging technologies in managing the covid situation

By Abhishek Agarwal Even before the pandemic hit us, start-ups had already begun working on the development of technology-driven solutions that could help medical professionals achieve better outcomes. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used in conjunction with medical imaging techniques to improve the quality of diagnosis. Start-ups specializing in Machine Learning are developing algorithms with decision-making … Read more

Role of virtual reality in healthcare and life science research

virtual realty

Digital reality is a hypernym for augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality and a gamut of other associated technologies. By Amit Chopra,  Our current world is amid a fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, which encompasses the Internet of Things (IOT), additive manufacturing, digital reality, big data, artificial intelligence (ML, DL, robotics), hybrid … Read more

Meet Hasmukh Rawal, MD, Mylab Discovery Solutions; Developer of CoviSelf, India’s first Covid-19 self-test kit

Hasmukh Rawal image 1

Hasmukh Rawal, MD, Mylab Discovery Solutions The second wave of Covid-19 put immense pressure on India’s healthcare system especially on the diagnostic front. There was a long waiting time to get the Covid-19 test reports at the peak of the second wave in April and May. In order to make Covid-19 testing easier, ICMR or the … Read more

Covid-19 self-testing: ICMR gives nod to Meril, Mylab self-testing kits; safety of these kits explained

Meril CoviFind Self Test

The kits can be easily used by people at home. With a massive increase in Coronavirus cases during the second wave has surely impacted testing infrastructure. Delays in Covid-19 testing led to late detection in positive cases. Following this, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has given a nod to self-testing kits including the … Read more