Thursday, May 6, 2021

Are vaccines enough to protect us from COVID-19? Swiss cheese model explanation

Contributed by Dr. Ashok Tamhankar & Dr. Nishtha Khatri

Most of us are relying on vaccines for a complete protection against COVID-19. However, scientists say that jabs are not a sufficient enough measure to protect us from COVID-19. As per the Swiss cheese model, there is no single measure that can provide a 100 % protection. As shown in the diagram below, each layer represents a protection but every layer has certain holes or deficits which can allow the infection to enter. Hence, the protection will be maximal only if there are several layers of protection, i.e. social distancing, masking, hand sanitisation, contact tracing along with vaccination.





Sunday, April 18, 2021

Impact of COVID-19 on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)

Contributed by: Dr. Tamhankar & Dr. Nishtha 

The global blaze created by COVID-19 has led to an increase in the consumption of antibiotics. Although there has been a growth in the antimicrobial stewardship activities as compared to the past, we definitely need to lay focus on infection prevention and control measures, with special emphasis on reduction in Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). Further research and studies need to be conducted to evaluate the evolution of AMR during the COVID-19 pandemic. This will be of utmost significance in developing countries that lack resistance pattern data and bear the additional burden of suboptimal treatment resources.



Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Current status of COVID-19 vaccines in India

Contributed by: Dr. Ashok Tamhankar & Dr. Nishtha Khatri


Currently two vaccines have received Emergency Use Authorization in India: Oxford/AZ- ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, marketed as COVISHIELD and Bharat Biotech (BBV152) marketed as Covaxin. The COVID-19 vaccination drive in India began on January 16th, 2021, with the initial beneficiaries consisting of Healthcare workers followed by frontline workers. On 1st March, the vaccination drive was further extended to senior citizens. 
In the last few days several controversies arose in relation to the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine . Now it seems that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine’s rollercoaster ride of a week might be coming to a welcome end. As per the company's announcement, a key phase III clinical trial 
found the vaccine to be 76% effective at preventing COVID-19. This announcement was made on 25th March, two days after the company was accused of misrepresenting interim results that reported a slightly higher efficacy figure of 79%. Scientists hope the controversy will not cause lasting damage to the vaccine’s reputation. “Overall, it’s a win for the world,” says vaccine scientist Ann Falsey, an investigator on the trial who co-developed its protocol. 

Sunday, March 14, 2021

Digital Uppsala Health Summit

Contributed by:  Dr. Tamhankar & Dr. Nishtha Khatri


The Digital Uppsala Health Summit is scheduled to take place from 15-18th March 2021. This year's theme revolves around "Managing Antimicrobial Resistance through Behaviour Change". The summit will have discussion focusing on improving knowledge and changing behaviours pertaining to antibiotic resistance at global as well as national levels. This is a good platform to share knowledge from research and innovations which can help develop new alliances for improved policies and practices.



Sunday, February 28, 2021

Online Discussion on 4th March 2021 from 17:00-19:00 (IST)

WHO cancer Centre for LMIC, Mumbai and Indian Initiative for Management of Antibiotic Resistance, India 
Present
Online Discussion on 4th March 2021 from 17:00-19:00 (IST) 

 


Theme: Drugs, Antimicrobial Resistance and allied 

 

Moderators: Dr. Ashok Tamhankar and Dr. Nishtha Khatri

 

Agenda:

1.Challenges of One Health Antibiotic Stewardship in rural community settings

Presentation: 17:00 – 17:40 & and Q&A: 17:40 – 18:00
Speaker: Dr. Meenakshi Gautham
London School of hygiene and Tropical Medicine
DiscussantsDr. Vishal Diwan: Scientist at ICMR- National Institute for Research in Environmental Health (NIREH) & Dr. KV Arulalan: Primary care pediatrician, chief consultant, A A Childcare, Vellore; Former President, IMA, Vellore

2. Bacteriophage therapy as an alternative therapeutic strategy for MRSA infections

Presentation: 18:00 – 18:30; and Q&A: 18:30 – 19:00
SpeakerDr. Archana L., PhD scholar, Antibiotic Resistance and Phage Therapy Lab, VIT, Vellore
Discussants: Dr. Geetu Bhandoria: Gyne-Oncologist and Obstetrician, Command Hospital, Kolkata and  Member, Junior Editorial Board, International Journal of Gyn Cancer & Dr. Bhakti Sarang,  Consultant WHOCC for research in surgical care delivery in LMICs, Mumbai & Associate Professor, Surgery, Terna Medical College and Hospital, Navi Mumbai

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Impact of Drug Resistant Tuberculosis

Contributed by: Dr. Ashok Tamhankar and Dr. Nishtha Khatri

India has become a cradle for strains of TB bacteria that can hold out against antibiotics; in 2019, the country registered the highest number of drug-resistant TB cases in the world. Among the reasons that bacteria grow inured to antibiotics is an insufficient duration of treatment:
doctors prescribing regimens that are too brief, or patients stopping their doses if they feel better or cannot afford their medicines. These strains of drug-resistant TB bacteria have spread to the 
US, the UKGermany, and other countries. Crafting new antibiotics to battle these bacteria takes 10-15 years of work and at least $1 billion in investment per drug.

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

What influence can a portable smart-phone based microscope have on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) ?

Contributed by: Dr. Nishtha Khatri & Dr. Ashok Tamhankar

A recent article published in Nature Communications highlights the importance of point of care diagnostics and describes about a newly built battery-powered smartphone microscope. This portable microscope can be used to carry out a detection assay for DNA specific to antibiotic resistant klebsiella. Have you ever imagined if we have portable diagnostic devices, how easy will it become to detect resistant bacteria? This can be a huge boon in our race against AMR. 


Wednesday, February 10, 2021

How technology can help combat multi-drug resistant bacteria

Contributed by: Dr. Nishtha Khatri & Dr. Tamhankar

The dawn of antibiotic usage was in the year 1928 when Alexander Fleming first discovered penicillin. Thereafter, various antibiotics have been discovered, prescribed and used for prevention as well as treatment of infections. However, due to the rampant usage of antibiotics, we are presently facing the wrath of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Use of newer technology can help to overcome the problem of AMR to some extent. Various studies have highlighted the importance of technology in battling AMR. Use of strictly lytic bacteriophage, CRISPR-Cas and Nanotechnology are good examples of the same.  
In India some groups are working in such areas like lytic bacteriophages (1,2), CRISPR-Cas (3) and Nanotechnology (4,5,6). Technology is announcing its presence in almost every field and medical field is no exception to it. It is about time that medicos and tech-savvy's join hands to fight the battle of AMR.

Sunday, January 31, 2021

How COVID-19 Vaccination can help combat AMR

Contributed by: Dr. Nishtha Khatri & Dr. Tamhankar

Several treatment options have been explored to manage the coronavirus disease and at the same time various research projects have been undertaken with an intention to combat COVID-19. As a product of this, we have recently witnessed the  emergence of vaccines effective against SARS-CoV-2. 

 

India is one of the leading countries involved in the large scale manufacture of vaccines to mitigate the effect of COVID-19. Earlier COVISHIELD ( ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) vaccine developed by Oxford and manufactured by Serum Institute of India was found to have an acceptable safety profile with efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19.

 

Meanwhile India has  itself also developed a vaccine - a whole-virion inactivated SARS-CoV-2vaccine- COVAXIN (ICMR-Bharat Biotech BBV152 ), found effective against COVID-19. A recent article published in the Lancet describes results of a phase I trial conducted in India to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of COVAXIN, manufactured by Bharat BioTech. The vaccine was seen to enhance the immune responses and had acceptable safety outcomes. 

 

Both of these vaccines have received a restricted approval by the regulatory authority in India. While earlier there was some apprehension about the whole-virion inactivated COVAXIN, now some physicians have said that COVAXIN is preferable as being from whole  inactivated virus it can take care of any mutations occurring like in UK and South Africa. COVAXIN is being said to be effective against mutant strains as well.

 

The treatment of COVID-19 involves use of a multitude of drugs which also includes antibiotics. Hence, with the help of vaccination we can not only curb COVID-19 but at the same time we can tackle the problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

 

 

Sunday, January 17, 2021

Antimicrobial Resistance in the COVID-19 Era

Contributed by: Dr. Nishtha Khatri & Dr. Ashok Tamhankar

In the COVID-19 pandemic era, it is time to think about another potential apocalypse: Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). As per an editorial published by Prasanth et al. in the journal of ‘Infectious Mircobes and Diseases’, several clinical reports show that 60-70 % of patients had received antibiotics when they contracted COVID-19. The article highlights an increase in the trend of antibiotic usage in the COVID-19 era explaining the reasons for the same. It also throws light upon the potential consequences of AMR and mentions about certain positive initiatives undertaken to combat AMR. For more details about this check the following link : https://journals.lww.com/imd/Fulltext/2020/09000/Will_the_Overuse_of_Antibiotics_During_the.1.aspx. In line with the earlier mentioned article , a perspective article by Lucien at al. in press in ‘International Journal of Infectious Diseases’ too highlights an uptrend in antibiotic usage on account of bacterial superinfection in COVID-19 patients. It also focuses upon the need to conduct studies that could evaluate the worldwide evolution of AMR during the COVID-19 pandemic. Link to this article is as follows: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971221000163

Monday, January 4, 2021

Contributed by:  Dr. Tamhankar


Welcome Dr. Nishtha Khatri

We welcome Dr. Nishtha Khatri, M.B.B.S, M.D. as a Scientific Blogger, Research Associate and Blog Coordinator at IIMAR. Dr. Nishtha Khatri completed her MD in Pharmacology from the very prestigious Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital, Mumbai and is currently an Assistant Professor at Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital. She has good experience in the arena pertaining to Antibiotics and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).  


Dr. Ashok Tamahankar

National Coordinator, IIMAR



Contributed by: Dr. Tamhankar & Dr. Nishtha Khatri

One Health Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)






During the antibiotic awareness week in November 2020 (18-24th  November), the World Health Organisation (WHO), Food and    Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) came forth in unison to launch the One Health Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). Antimicrobial resistance is a huge threat not only to humans but also to animal, plant and environmental health. Hence, a single sector cannot solve the problem of AMR alone. Taking this into consideration, the launch of One Health Global Leaders Group on AMR is a welcome move to collectively preserve and protect the use of antimicrobial medicines. 


Details about this can be found in the WHO document below: