The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

BODY & MIND
Ministry gears up to nip plague rumours in the bud
Tripti Nath

As the alarming news of the plague-like cases spreads, the Union Health Ministry has started a fire-fighting exercise. The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr C.P. Thakur, has allayed fears on the break-out of plague in some villages of Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal.

He said while the clinical presentation resembles plague-like fever, it is to be confirmed before the next 48 hours. The minister said that the very fact that no fresh case had been reported since February 8, indicated that the things were under control.

Till date, two persons with plague-like symptoms died at Harkoti and Rohru while the third died at the PGI. Sources in the Health Ministry said that the PGIMER, Chandigarh, where nine persons with plague-like illness were under medication, had conducted a biochemical test of the bacterial growth to ascertain whether it was plague or not. Sources in the PGI said that they would know the results only on Monday afternoon. They said that the bacteria was yet to be identified as the culture had not grown fully. Besides, the result of the autopsy done on a woman who died of plague-like symptoms was also expected on Monday.

It is noteworthy that all the nine patients, seven in the isolation ward and two in the paediatric ward are either family members or attendants. The National Institute of Communicable Disease has sent a team comprising an epidemiologist, Dr Avdesh, a microbiologist, Dr Dipesh Bhattacharya, and a biochemist, Dr Arvind Rai. The team is expected to return to the Capital on Monday. The institute will start processing samples on their return. The processing of the samples takes 48 to 72 hours and this alone would help ascertain whether the infection has resulted in the much-dreaded plague.

Sources in the Health Ministry said that the PGIMER, Chandigarh, was carrying out the tests. The NICD team is also monitoring the situation in Hatkoti and Rohru in Himachal Pradesh and Bhanpur in Uttaranchal to check the spread of the infection.

Medical meet

Cidex Trade Fairs Private Limited, a joint venture of Messe Duesseldorf and KoelnMese International is organising a five-day event at Pragati Maidan. HOSPIMedica India 2002, India’s premier international show for the medical fraternity, is being organised in conjunction with the IXth International multi-faculty medical conference. The Indian participation is very impressive. While the Healthcare division of BPL Ltd will showcase ECH machines, bedside monitors, ultrasound scanners, Cognate India will exhibit their electro-hydraullic/hydraullic operating tables and the Department of Atomic Energy will exhibit the latest on nuclear medicine and technology for sterilisation of medical products by exposure to radiation. Apart from this, Germany, Austria and DEnmark have confirmed their participation. The event will be inaugurated by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

A series of sessions conducted by leading hospitals and associations will throw light on the latest advances in the medical sector. While the All India Institute of Medical Sciences will hold sessions on cardiology and orthopaedics, the DGAFMC and Army Hospital will hold a session on disaster management. The Indraprastha Apollo Hospital will hold a session on critical care. This is the first time that the Army is participating in the exhibition. In his message, the Director-General, Armed Forces Medical services, Lt-Gen R K Jetley, said that that military medicine had become more relevant today in the prevailing global scenario of terrorism.

Breaking shackles

The National Human Rights Commission has taken steps afresh to protect the interests of mentally ill persons.

It has issued directions to the states and the union territories to certify that no mentally ill patients are kept in chains in any mental hospital/institution. The commission had taken up the issue on a complaint regarding the plight of mentally ill patients staying in Sultan Alayudeen Durgah, Goripalayam, Madurai (Tamil Nadu).

It also sent a committee to inspect the durgah and make recommendations for the management of such patients. In mid-January, the commission sent a copy of the committee’s report to the Tamil Nadu government for implementation in early May and July-end. The efforts clearly proved futile after 28 chained inmates of Badhusha private mental asylum in Erwadi in Tamil Nadu were charred to death last August.

Cancer threat

Noted danseuse, Padma Shree Shovana Narayan, performing at a cancer awareness function, organised by the Indian Cancer Society at India Habitat Centre.

Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram stressed the need for greater awareness for early detection and treatment of cancer. Speaking at a fund-raiser, organised by the Indian Cancer Society at India Habitat Centre here this week, Mr Chidambaram said that the worst victims were those living in semi-urban and rural India where people were not so informed and suffer as cancer was not detected in the early stages.

Padma Shree Kathak dancer Shovana Narayan and Ghazal singer Kavita Seth contributed to the success of the fund-raiser. Although the entry to the function was by invitation, visitors could leave donations on the desk. The proceeds will be used for the ICS activities on cancer awareness and detection.

According to ICS, the threat of cancer looms large. While seven lakh cases of cancer are detected every year, the projections are thought-provoking. One in every eight Indians is likely to suffer from some kind of cancer. The incidence of cancer among women is doubly alarming. Statistics indicate that every 12 minutes, a woman dies of breast cancer. The number of cases of cervical cancer has also increased due to unhygienic conditions and lack of awareness.

Referring to ignorance and poverty as main carcinogens, he said that the inability of the poor to afford treatment in the advanced stages of cancer led to higher incidence of deaths.

President-elect

For the first time, the Delhi Medical Association has elected a government doctor as President-elect for 2003-2004. Dr Anil Bansal, Chairman of the anti-quackery cell of DMA who works in the NDMC dispensary, contested as an independent candidate. He will take over in April 2003.

The President-elect for 2002-2003, Dr S.C.L Gupta, a cancer surgeon at Batra Hospital, will take over from Dr V.K. Monga on March 31. Dr Vinod Khetarpal and Dr H.S. Kukreja have been elected Senior Vice-President and Vice-President respectively.

An apex body of Delhi doctors, the DMA was founded in 1914. Its 8000 members comprise private practitioners as well as doctors serving in the government and private hospitals. The main objective of DMA is to protect the interests of the members, organise Continuing Medical Education (CME) programmes, help government organise various programmes like family welfare programmes, tuberculosis control and AIDS control. The DMA also organises health melas, blood donation camps, eye camps and mass awareness through exhibitions.

Significant breakthrough in culturing technique
Bijendra Ahlawat
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, February 16
It's a virtual breakthrough in microbiology and laboratory research. The Vibles Specialised Microbiology Laboratory and Research Centre (VSML), a pathological testing centre network here, has come out with a fast culturing technique for samples of blood, urine, pus etc, therapy cutting the culture reporting time from existing 48 to only 8 hours.

As per Dr Vinod Kaul, director of the centre here, the new technology had been developed indigenously in collaboration with the parent company Vibles Biotech, which is a leading manufacturer of diagnostic reagents and 'culture' media in the country.

He told that it took more than a year to develop and perfect the technique of culturing the samples in the laboratory. When using conventional methods, it takes at least 48 hours to culture, identify and perform the sensitivity testing of a pathological sample.

Now with new technique, it is possible for the lab to say whether the patient was suffering from any bacterial infection. It is particularly useful for the patients suffering from life-threatening infections such as meningitis and urinary tract infection, especially in infants, where time for the 'diagnosis' is a deciding factor for the survival of a patient.

The technique used by Dr Kaul in his lab is to inoculate a clinical sample in a liquid culture media. The bacteria, if present in the sample, will grow rapidly in the liquid media than on the solid culture media. The growth in the liquid medium is determined by measuring the optical density (OD) by spectrophotometer, which automatically pick up the OD readings and feed it to the computer. The computer plots the graph of the patients' value and that of negative control.

The whole operation takes just 8 hours. Further to find out which antibiotics are effective against the disease-causing bacteria, different concentrations of antibiotics are supplemented in the liquid culture media containing bacteria isolated from the sample.

Growth is again monitored by the above technique and if bacteria are resistant to a particular antibiotic, the sensor will show greater OD and vice-versa. Such an information would be very useful for a physician in selecting the most appropriate antibiotic at an early stage.

Two Indians among iron ladies
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, February 16
The two star Indian women weightlifters, Kunjarani Devi and Karnam Malleswari, figure among the top 15 weightlifters of the century out of a list of 100 published in the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Annual Book 2001. The list has been compiled by IWF life president, Gottfried Schodl, from a list of the top medal winners of the century.

Kunjarani and Malleswari have found mention in the list for winning medals in the World Championships and the Olympic Games. Kunjarani has been placed at the fifth position for having won silver medals in seven World Championships, to tote up a points tally of 70. This is a commendable feat, considering the fact that Kunjarani had not taken part in the 1998 World Championships at Lahti, and the Olympic Games at Sydney in 2000. Kunjarani has been placed ahead of many former world champions like Robin Bird of the United States, Tang Weifang of China, Dragneva-Rifatova of Bulgaria and Li Hongyun of China.

Karnam Malleswari, former world champion and India’s lone medal winner at the Sydney Olympic Games — a bronze-figures in the 14th position, with 56 points..

Malleswari has been consistently winning medals since the 1993 World Championship, and was the world champion in her weight category in 1994 and 1995. She improved her position after the Sydney Olympic Games as she collected 12 points for her bronze-medal winning feat. She was trained by the former world and Olympic champion of the erstwhile Soviet Union, Leonid Taranenko.

Interestingly, Taranenko himself figures at the 48th place in the men’s section with the top slot going to Suleymanoglu of Turkey, popularly known as the “Pocket Hercules”.

The top spot among women has gone to Takas Maria of Hungary with 108 points, for winning a number of medals in the World Championships. Maria Urruti of Colombia, the former world champion and the first athlete from her country to win an Olympic gold at Sydney, has been given the second position with a points tally of 95, while Trendafilova of Bulgaria and Chen Shu-Chin of Chinese Taipei have been given the third and fourth places for logging 84 and 80 points respectively.

Leading athletes for Inter-Bank Sports Meet
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, February 16
The Banks Sports Board (Northern Region), under the aegis of the Indian Bank Association, will organise the eighth Inter-Bank Sports Meet in New Delhi from February 18 to 23. Many renowned national and international sportspersons will participate in the six-day meet.

The organising secretary, Charanjit Singh said that the competitions will be held in cricket, football, athletics, badminton, table tennis, carrom and chess. The cricket tournament will be held on a knock-out basis and the matches will be played at the Central Secretariat ground, Hindu College ground and Khalsa College ground. Fourteen teams from different banks will participate in the cricket tournament. The final match will be played at the Hindu College ground. Canara Bank is the convenor of the cricket tournament.

Charanjit Singh, a former hockey Olympian, said five teams would participate in the football tournament to be played on a round-robin league basis. The matches will be played at the Thyagaraj Ground. Punjab National Bank is the convenor.

Nine banks will participate in the athletic meet, to be held at the Nehru Stadium. Punjab and Sind Bank is the convenor. Nine bank teams will participate in the badminton tournament, to be held in team as well as individual events, at the Karnail Singh stadium. Indian Bank is the convenor.

Thirteen teams will compete for honours in the table tennis tournament to be held at the Karnail Singh indoor stadium. Union Bank of India is the convenor. Fifteen teams will participate in the carrom tournament, to be held at the Karnail Singh stadium. Bank of Baroda is the convenor.

In chess, 12 teams will participate. The event will be held at the Karnail Singh stadium. Corporation Bank is the convenor.

An inter-bank drama competitions will also be held. Punjab National Bank chairman and managing director, S. S Kohli, will inaugurate the sports meet at the Karnail Singh stadium on February 18 at 9.30 am.