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A Dynamic Disease Model Portraying the Challenges and Management of COVID-19 in Puducherry, India: A Narrative Review
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The fatal novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic disease smashes the normal tempo of global socioeconomic and cultural livelihood. Most of the countries impose a lockdown system with social distancing measures to arrest the rapid transmission of this virus into the human body. The objective of this study is to examine the status of air quality during and pre-COVID-19 lockdown and to recommend some long-term sustainable environmental management plan. The pollution data like PM 10 , PM 2.5 , O 3 , SO 2 , NO 2 and CO have been obtained from State Pollution Control Board under Govt. of West Bengal. Similarly, various land surface temperature (LST) maps have been prepared using LANDSAT-8 OLI and LANDSAT-7 ETM + images of USGS. The maps of NO 2 and aerosol concentration over Indian subcontinent have been taken from ESA and NASA. The digital thematic maps and diagrams have been depicted by Grapher 13 and Arc GIS 10.3 platforms. The result shows that the pollutants like CO, NO 2 and SO 2 are signiicantly decreased, while the average level of O 3 has been slightly increased in 2020 during the lockdown due to close-down of all industrial and transport activities. Meanwhile, around 17.5% was the mean reduction of PM 10 and PM 2.5 during lockdown compared with previous years owing to complete stop of vehicles movement, burning of biomass and dust particles from the construction works. This study recommends some air pollution-tolerant plant species (in urban vacant spaces and roof tops) for long-term cohabitation among environment, society, and development.
India, which has the second-largest population in the world is suffering severely from COVID-19 disease. By May 18th, India investigated ∼1 lakh (0.1million) infected cases from COVID-19, and as of 11th July the cases equalled 8 lakhs. Social distancing and lockdown rules were employed in India, which however had an additional impact on the economy, human living, and environment. Where a negative impact was observed for the economy and human life, the environment got a positive one. How India dealt and can potentially deal with these three factors during and post COVID-19 situation has been discussed here.
Since the first case of COVID-19 traced in India on 30th January 2020, the total no. of confirmed cases is amplified. To assess the inter-state diversity in spreading potentiality of COVID-19, the exposure, readiness and resilience capability have been studied. On the basis of the extracted data, the outbreak scenario, growth rate, testing amenities have been analysed. The study reflects that there is an enormous disparity in growth rate and total COVID-19 cases. The major outbreak clusters associated with major cities of India. COVID-19 cases are very swiftly amplifying with exponential growth in every four to seven days in main affected states during first phase of lockdown. The result shows the vibrant disproportion in the aspect of, hospital bed ratio, coronavirus case-hospital bed ratio, provision of isolation and ventilators, test ratio, distribution of testing laboratories and accessibility of test centres all over India. The study indicates the sharp inequality in transmission potentiality and resilience capacity of different states. Every state and union territory are not well-prepared to contain the spreading of Covid-19. The strict protective measures and uniform resilience system must be implemented in every corner of India to battle against the menace of Covid-19.
The emergence and rapid spread of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as a potentially fatal disease is swiftly evolving public health crises worldwide. The origin of SARS-CoV-2 infection was first reported in people exposed to wet animal market in Wuhan City, China in December 2019. It was suggested that the infection is likely to be of zoonotic origin and transmitted to human through yet unknown intermediary. As of (22/05/2020), there are around 4,995,996 confirmed cases reported by WHO with 327,821 deaths. SARS-CoV-2 infection is transmitted via inhalation or direct contact of infected people's droplets. It has an incubation period ranging from 2 to 14 days or more. The rate of spread of SARS-CoV-2 is more than partially resembled coronavirus (SARS-CoV and MERS). The symptoms are similar to influenza like, breathlessness, sore throat and fatigue therefore, infected person is isolated and administrated with effective treatments. Infection is mild in most but in elderly (>50 years) and those with cardiac and respiratory disorder, it may progress to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and multi organ failure. People with strong immunity or those developed herd immunity are asymptomatic. Fatality rate ranges to 3-4% on case basis. Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 is recommended in respiratory secretions by special molecular tests like PCR, chest scan and common laboratory diagnosis. Currently, the existing treatment is essentially supportive and role of antiviral agents is yet to be established as there is no vaccination or therapy available. This review focuses on epidemiology, symptoms, transmission, pathogenesis, ongoing available treatments and future perspectives of SARS-CoV-2.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a humanitarian emergency, which started in Wuhan in China in early December 2019, brought into the notice of the authorities in late December, early January 2020, and, after investigation, was declared as an emergency in the third week of January 2020. The WHO declared this as Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 31th of January 2020, and finally a pandemic on 11th March 2020. As of March 24th, 2020, the virus has caused a casualty of over 16,600 people worldwide with more than 380,000 people confirmed as infected by it, of which more than 10,000 cases are serious. Mainly based on Chinese newspapers, social media and other digital platform data, this paper analyzes the timeline of the key actions taken by the government and people over three months in five different phases. It found that although there was an initial delay in responding, a unique combination of strong governance, strict regulation, strong community vigilance and citizen participation, and wise use of big data and digital technologies, were some of the key factors in China’s efforts to combat this virus. Being inviable and non-measurable (unlike radioactive exposure), appropriate and timely information is very important to form the basic foundation of mitigation and curative measures. Infodemic, as it is termed by WHO, is a key word, where different stakeholder’s participation, along with stricter regulation, is required to reduce the impact of fake news in this information age and social media. Although different countries will need different approaches, focusing on its humanitarian nature and addressing infodemic issues are the two critical factors for future global mitigation efforts.
The outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has thus far killed over 3,000 people and infected over 80,000 in China and elsewhere in the world, resulting in catastrophe for humans. Similar to its homologous virus, SARS-CoV, which caused SARS in thousands of people in 2003, SARS-CoV-2 might also be transmitted from the bats and causes similar symptoms through a similar mechanism. However, COVID-19 has lower severity and mortality than SARS but is much more transmissive and affects more elderly individuals than youth and more men than women. In response to the rapidly increasing number of publications on the emerging disease, this article attempts to provide a timely and comprehensive review of the swiftly developing research subject. We will cover the basics about the epidemiology, etiology, virology, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and prevention of the disease. Although many questions still require answers, we hope that this review helps in the understanding and eradication of the threatening disease.
COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory disease caused by a newly discovered SARS-CoV-2 virus and identified in the city of Wuhan, China in December 2019. WHO has declared this disease as a pandemic, and warned other countries. Presently this has affected 216 countries, areas or territories worldwide, spreading of this disease is very fast in USA, Brazil, and Russia than in the country of its origin, China. Like other coronaviruses, this may develop respiratory tract infections in the patients range from mild to fatal illness like pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). As of now, no effective drug, vaccine, or any procedure is available and experiments are underway. However, empirical therapy is being followed to manage and save the lives of the patients. There is a need for pharmacological alternatives to combat this deadly virus and its complications. Based on the previous experiences with similar coronavirus management and present preliminary data from uncontrolled studies, drugs like chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, lopinavir/ritonavir, and favipiravir have been recommended by the researchers to manage COVID-19. This review had assessed the potential mechanisms, safety profile, availability and cost of these drugs. This review concludes that the drugs mentioned above are having different properties and act differently in combating the COVID-19 viruses. Instead of single drug, combination of antivirals with different mechanism of action may be more effective and at the same time their adverse events should not be underestimated.
For the first time, we have a comprehensive database on usage of AYUSH (acronym for Ayurveda, naturopathy and Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) in India at the household level. This article aims at exploring the spread of the traditional medical systems in India and the perceptions of people on the access and effectiveness of these medical systems using this database. The article uses the unit level data purchased from the National Sample Survey Organization, New Delhi. Household is the basic unit of survey and the data are the collective opinion of the household. This survey shows that less than 30% of Indian households use the traditional medical systems. There is also a regional pattern in the usage of particular type of traditional medicine, reflecting the regional aspects of the development of such medical systems. The strong faith in AYUSH is the main reason for its usage; lack of need for AYUSH and lack of awareness about AYUSH are the main reasons for not using it. With regard to source of medicines in the traditional medical systems, home is the main source in the Indian medical system and private sector is the main source in Homeopathy. This shows that there is need for creating awareness and improving access to traditional medical systems in India. By and large, the users of AYUSH are also convinced about the effectiveness of these traditional medicines.
The Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a new killer respiratory disease caused by the MERS coronavirus (CoV) first reported from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in September 2012, after identification of a novel betacoronavirus from a Saudi Arabian patient who died from a severe respiratory illness (1, 2). Retrospective study of stored samples later showed that, earlier in April 2012, a cluster of severe respiratory illness occurred in a public health hospital in Zarqa, Jordan, where eight healthcare workers (HCWs) were among the 11 people affected, with two deaths attributed to MERS-CoV (3). The appearance of any new fatal infectious disease, and uncertainty about its origin and mode of transmission, invariably threatens global health security and its detection in western countries rapidly focuses political and scientific attention. Unfortunately, at the same time, it evokes unnecessary and unwarranted fierce scientific competition and discourse, as was illustrated by the HIV, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and avian influenza epidemics (4-8). Disappointingly, the events surrounding the MERS-CoV have been no different (6). MERS-CoV was first isolated, sequenced and patented by Erasmus Medical Centre (EMC) researchers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and initially it was named after their centre as HCoV-EMC (2).
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) reached Hong Kong in March 2003.1 From 11 March up to 6 June, a total of 1750 cases had been identified (Figure 1), and during the same period 286 people died of the disease. Before the advent of SARS in Hong Kong, the nearby Guangdong Province in Mainland China had experienced an intense outbreak of the atypical pneumonia later termed SARS. This outbreak started in November 2002 and reached its peak in February 2003; up to 5 June 2003, Guangdong had recorded 1511 cases and 57 deaths. Later in April 2003, SARS cases were reported in other provinces and cities of Mainland China including Beijing, Shanxi, Neimonggol, Tianjin and Hebei. Up to 5 June 2003, Mainland China had a total of 5329 cases with 336 reported deaths.2
Figure 1
Severe acute respiratory syndrome cases, Hong Kong, March-June 2003
From March onwards, SARS was detected in other countries and areas in the Asia-Pacific region. By the beginning of June, Singapore had had 205 cases with 28 deaths, Vietnam 63 cases with 5 deaths and Taiwan 686 cases with 81 deaths.
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