TOPIC : GS 3 Science and Technology- Developments and their Applications and Effects in Everyday Life.

Slowing the pace of India’s mucormycosis threat

What is the news?

• The alarming rise in India recently in the incidence of mucormycosis a rare fungal infection in patients who have been diagnosed and treated for COVID­19 has come as no surprise to those of us in the medical oncology community.
• Greatest fear as the administration of dexamethasone and other steroids began to become common.
• Oncologist rely on steroids in many of protocols and having managed several cases of mucormycosis
• Inability of treating physicians to create individualized treatment protocols under this burden.
• Some States, including Tamil Nadu, have declared mucormycosis as a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act.
• Guidelines and protocols need to be adapted and modified rapidly to arrest this growing epidemic.

The risk of mucormycosis

• The estimated burden of mucormycosis in India is 14 per 100,000 in a study published in Current Fungal Infection Reports
• The rough estimate of proven mucormycosis was around 40 cases on an average over a 21­month period observed at each centre.

Focus on diabetes

• It must be made absolutely clear that mucormycosis is not transmitted from one individual to the other the way COVID­19
• The most common cause is uncontrolled diabetes mellitus raised blood sugars.
• Other causes include the treatment of some cancers, steroids, chemotherapy or immunotherapy, and solid organ or stem­cell transplantations.
• The common sites of presentation include rhino­cerebral involvement the fungus can damage the nose, paranasal sinuses, the eyes and the brain, and pulmonary involvement the fungus can cause pneumonia.
• The highest prevalence of diabetes was observed in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Delhi.
• SARSCoV­2 can potentially multiply in pancreatic cells and contribute to increased blood sugar levels in COVID­19 patients.
• Steroids when used excessively or prematurely, and without medical supervision can be

Treatment approach

• Its treatment requires a multi­disciplinary team approach that includes:

Microbiology, pathology, radiology, infectious diseases, surgery, pediatrics,  hematology, intensive care, dermatology, and pharmacology.

• The golden standard drug is liposomal amphotericin B

Monitoring is essential

• Steroid use at home for COVID­19 should be only under the supervision of a health care worker.
• Health authorities may consider arranging for blood glucose monitoring for patients at home on steroids
• Promoting awareness campaigns on the importance of controlled blood sugar levels.
• Patients on steroids for COVID­19 should report symptoms of mucormycosis at the earliest.
• COVID­19 treatment experts and policy­makers may consider widespread training of health­care personnel
• Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and nursing professionals to raise awareness on mucormycosis while educating people locally.

Way forward

• The prolonged requirement for hospital admission linked to COVID­19 will also lead to a rise in other hospital­acquired infections necessitating the use of multiple antibiotics.
• The grim reality of managing large numbers of patients with other long­standing side­effects of steroids.
• The concern is the alarming increase in multidrug resistant bacterial infections for which we are grossly unprepared.

Mains question

The experience of oncologists who rely on steroid based protocols offers lessons in preventing and managing cases . Examine

 Sources :  https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/slowing-the-pace-of-indias-mucormycosis-threat/article34644652.ece

PRELIMS PUNCHERS

1. Mount Nyiragongo

It  is an active stratovolcano with an elevation in the Virunga Mountains associated with the Albertine Rift. It is located inside Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, of the town of Goma and Lake Kivu and just west of the border with Rwanda. The main crater is about two kilometres wide and usually contains a lava lake.

The crater presently has two distinct cooled lava benches within the crater walls. Nyiragongo’s lava lake has at times been the most voluminous known lava lake in recent history. The depth of the lava lake varies considerably. Nyiragongo and nearby Nyamuragira are together responsible for 40 per cent of Africa’s historical volcanic eruptions.  It’s cone consists of pyroclastics and lava flows. Lavas are low-silica, alkali-rich, ultramafic extrusive rocks essentially free of feldspars.

Sources : https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/volcano-erupts-near-congolese-city-of-goma-residents-flee/article34624861.ece

2. National Archives of India

The National Archives of India (NAI) is a repository of the non-current records of the Government of India and holds them in trust for the use of administrators and scholars. Originally established as the Imperial Record Department in 1891, in Calcutta, the capital of British India, the NAI is situated at the intersection of Janpath and Rajpath, in Delhi. It functions as an Attached Office of the Department of Culture under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

The National Archives of India also holds regular exhibitions such as the display of declassified files and the recent exhibition, “The Jammu and Kashmir Saga”, commemorating 70 years of Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India which was held from 10 January 2018 to 10 February 2018. Between 1973 and 2015 NAI has held 108 exhibitions on various themes. Abhilekh patal is an online portal to access National Archives of India’s reference media and its digitized collections via the internet

Sources : https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/why-uprooting-the-national-archives-of-india-is-bad-news-for-indian-history-7326748/

3. Community Based Inclusive Development Program

It is Launched recently by the Union Ministry of Social Justice. Its features includes  program aims to create a pool of grass-root rehabilitation workers at community level who can work alongside ASHA and Anganwadi workers to handle cross disability issues and facilitate inclusion of persons with disabilities in the society.

The program has been designed to provide competency based knowledge and skills among these workers to enhance their ability for successfully discharging their duties. These workers will be called ‘Divyang Mitra’ i.e. friends of persons with disabilities. The National Board of Examination in Rehabilitation under the Rehabilitation Council of India will conduct examinations and award certificates to pass-out candidates.

Sources : https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1719914

4. 
   DIPCOVAN

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a Covid-19 antibody detection kit that offers results in just 75 minutes. The testing kit is called DIPCOVAN and it offers a “significantly faster turn-around-time as it requires to conduct the test without any cross reactivity with other diseases

The kit has been developed in association with Vanguard Diagnostics Pvt Ltd, a development and manufacturing diagnostics company based out of New Delhi.

Sources : https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/diagnostics/drdo-develops-covid-19-antibody-detection-kit/82849209

PRELIMS QUESTIONS

Qn 1. Consider the following statement with reference to National Archives of India

1. It functions under Archaeological Survey of India
2. It also holds regular exhibitions such as the display of declassified files and the recent exhibition

Select the correct statement using code given below.

(a). 1only                                 (b) 2 only

(c). Both of them                 (d). None of the above

Answer : B

The National Archives of India (NAI) is a repository of the non-current records of the Government of India and holds them in trust for the use of administrators and scholars. Originally established as the Imperial Record Department in 1891, in Calcutta, the capital of British India, the NAI is situated at the intersection of Janpath and Rajpath, in Delhi. It functions as an Attached Office of the Department of Culture under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

The National Archives of India also holds regular exhibitions such as the display of declassified files and the recent exhibition, “The Jammu and Kashmir Saga”, commemorating 70 years of Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India which was held from 10 January 2018 to 10 February 2018. Between 1973 and 2015 NAI has held 108 exhibitions on various themes. Abhilekh patal is an online portal to access National Archives of India’s reference media and its digitized collections via the internet

 

Qn 2.Mount Nyiragongo is situated in

1. Nigeria
2. Ethiopia
3. Democratic Republic of the Congo
4. Tanzania

Answer : C

It  is an active stratovolcano with an elevation in the Virunga Mountains associated with the Albertine Rift. It is located inside Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, of the town of Goma and Lake Kivu and just west of the border with Rwanda. The main crater is about two kilometres wide and usually contains a lava lake.

The crater presently has two distinct cooled lava benches within the crater walls. Nyiragongo’s lava lake has at times been the most voluminous known lava lake in recent history. The depth of the lava lake varies considerably. Nyiragongo and nearby Nyamuragira are together responsible for 40 per cent of Africa’s historical volcanic eruptions.  It’s cone consists of pyroclastics and lava flows. Lavas are low-silica, alkali-rich, ultramafic extrusive rocks essentially free of feldspars.