Thomas Kurien’s research while affiliated with Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences and other places

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Publications (4)


Strengthening India’s Response to HIV/AIDS Epidemic Through Strategic Planning, Innovative Financing, and Mathematical Modeling: Key Achievements over the Last 3 Decades
  • Literature Review
  • Full-text available

September 2022

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96 Reads

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8 Citations

Journal of the Indian Institute of Science

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Kurapati Sudhakar

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Thomas Kurien

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Arni S. R. Srinivasa Rao

Indian HIV/AIDS numbers during the 2000s did not reach the high proportion of estimations provided by the WHO and UNAIDS. The number of HIV infections was high around 2.4 million in the 2020s, but given the country’s population of 1.38 billion, the general positivity rate remained very low compared with several countries. There were several reasons for a successful control of the epidemic in India, for example, setting-up of the National AIDS Control Programs, strategic priorities, surveillance and data management, mathematical modeling, and coordinating with the civil society and galvanizing public response. In this review article, we will provide a recollection of India’s response and management of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, challenges, and successful model building, and future challenges that play important role in sustaining the epidemic at a lower level and plan for reducing the future transmissions.

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Figure 1. Demonstration of average number of secondary infections observed through tracing and diagnosing. In (a), let and be the two primary COVID-19 infected, where the individual had generated secondary infections out of which were traced and diagnosed. The individual had generated secondary infections out of which were traced and diagnosed. The observed arithmetic average secondary infected by in (a) was but the true average by them was In (b), the third secondary infection in (a), say,
How Relevant is the Basic Reproductive Number Computed During COVID-19, Especially During Lockdowns?

December 2020

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69 Reads

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6 Citations

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology

Arni S.R. Srinivasa Rao

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Kurapati Sudhakar

Basic reproductive numbers during COVID-19, either through standard approaches or through time-varying approaches, are key for understanding the pandemic growth. However, improper usage and interpretations and computational difficulties during lockdowns could be misleading for planning and mitigation.


Figure 1: 39 District Profile of Cases (Source: https://www.covid19india.org/ 16 th April 2020)
COVID19 Surveillance: Post Lockdown Strategies and Options

April 2020

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129 Reads

It is most likely that India will move to a post COVID 19 lock-down strategy that aims at reducing the rapid spread of the epidemic surge in hot spots (red zones) and mortality while at the same time reducing the economic consequences to poor communities who are maximally affected with loss of wages in the less affected and unaffected areas (yellow and green zones). The success of this strategy would largely depend on the type and intensity of surveillance activity in these three zones of the country. The article discusses the objectives and broad structure of this approach.


Addressing Immediate Challenges in Controlling COVID-19 in India

April 2020

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425 Reads

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4 Citations

Introduction Corona Virus Pandemic has to date spared India from a massive onslaught of death and destruction, similar to what we see in China, Europe, and the United States of America. As on date, India has reported 3072 COVID-19 cases and 91 deaths 1. The Government of India (GOI) has taken many proactive steps to control the epidemic, including the total lockdown of the nation to flatten the epidemic curve and reduce the case fatality rate. India has chosen a strategy of large-scale quarantine and limited testing and not extensive testing and limited quarantine. This is because we have a large population of 1.3 billion, and many states in India have the comparatively limited testing capacity to deal with a large-scale epidemic. The timeline that we get by flattening the curve should be urgently utilized to plan and implement interventions that help preventing further spread of the disease. This is important as we will need to withdraw before long the nationwide lockdown to reduce the economic impact and resultant suffering of the poor and vulnerable population of our country.

Citations (2)


... Although some high income countries have made significant achievements in controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic, this condition is expanding in LMICs [24]. It is thus a serious issue drawing the attention of researchers and healthcare providers. ...

Reference:

An application of social marketing for promoting HIV testing in Iran
Strengthening India’s Response to HIV/AIDS Epidemic Through Strategic Planning, Innovative Financing, and Mathematical Modeling: Key Achievements over the Last 3 Decades

Journal of the Indian Institute of Science

... • Expand the application of animalexperiments under epidemic prevention and control. 2011, Riou and Althaus 2020, Srinivasa Rao et al. 2022, Temime et al. 2021). If R0 < 1 and is persistent, it indicates that the virus is largely non-transmissible and will be gradually eradicated in this space, if R0 > 1, it indicates that the virus will be widespread in this space (Bacaer and Gomes 2009, Borowiak et al. 2020, Denphedtnong et al. 2013, Ma and Wang 2010. ...

How Relevant is the Basic Reproductive Number Computed During COVID-19, Especially During Lockdowns?

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology