The Indian journal of tuberculosis
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COVID 19 infection is unarguably the worst pandemic of this century. Till date there is no promising drug and vaccine available to treat this deadly viral infection. ⋯ The paucity of clinical evidences of an unequivocal beneficial effect of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine on COVID-19 has resulted in the passionate use of the drug for moderate to severe cases only and stimulated the need for large clinical trials for this and other molecules. In this review, we describe in brief the mechanism of action, the clinical studies, factors for cardiac toxicity, guidelines and future directions for hydroxychloroquine use in management of COVID-19 infection.
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Review Historical Article
Lessons to be learnt from 100 year old 1918 influenza pandemic viz a viz 2019 corona pandemic with an eye on NTEP.
The article is about the 1918 H1N1 flu pandemic also called the "Spanish flu" which killed 50 million plus people worldwide, and the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) which has spread in the world at an alarming pace. As of now there are 11,327,790 cases and 532,340 deaths globally. Aim of this article is to draw conclusions and share knowledge from both the pandemics and apply these lessons in other health programmes.
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COVID-19 has led to stigma and discrimination among various groups of people in different populations. Healthcare workers caring for those affected by COVID-19,3 people who have recovered from COVID-19,4 those belonging to lower socioeconomic groups, those having particular religious and racial identities have all been at the receiving end of the discrimination. COVID-19 has led to reinforcement of preexisting stereotypes against various groups. For instance, in Italy, in weeks before the national lockdown started, a state of emergency was declared but everyday life was going on as always, the sentiment toward the Chinese community changed: their restaurants were left empty, more and more parents did not want their children to go to school if they had a Chinese classmate, and a high-profile politician said on TV that 'we have all seen them eat live mice'.
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In 2014, Government of India in collaboration with World Health Organization Country Office for India released the policy document on Standards for tuberculosis (TB) care in India after in-depth deliberation with national and international experts. The standards for TB care represent what is expected for quality TB care from the Indian healthcare system including both public and private systems. The details of each standard have been compiled in this review article. It is envisioned that the standards detailed in the manuscript are adapted by all TB care providers across the country.
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In India, the quality of care that tuberculosis (TB) patients receive varies considerably and is often not in accordance with the national and international standards. In this article, we provide an overview of the third (latest) edition of the International Standards of Tuberculosis Care (ISTC). These standards are supported by the existing World Health Organization guidelines and policy statements pertaining to TB care and have been endorsed by a number of international organizations. We call upon all health care providers in the country to practice TB care that is consistent with these standards, as well as the upcoming Standards for TB Care in India (STCI).