 |
|
| Monday,
July 22, 2002, Chandigarh, India
|
|
||||
|
|
Simple antibiotics can cure pneumonia: expert Fact file * Over three million children die every year of pneumonia world over, majority of them in the developing countries. * If not given timely and proper treatment, a pneumonic child can die within the first three days of illness. * As many as 80 per cent pneumonic children respond positively to the simple antibiotics , whereas majority were being given expensive medicines. * It was witnessed that the incidence of pneumonia was much more at the time of change of seasons , especially before the onset of winters in October and in March. * The study is being conducted In India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Yemen and Mexico. Chandigarh, July 21 Apart from India, the other centres under the WHO study are located in Mexico, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Yemen. According to doctors, in majority of the cases it is seen that pneumonia proves to be fatal, resulting in the death of a child within the first three days, if not treated properly. So far about a 100 children in the age group of two months to five years have been the subject of study at the Paediatric Emergency Service of the PGI. “Even a simple disease like pneumonia, which is very common in children, is getting complicated day by day as the bacteria keeps getting resistant with environment and time,” remarked Dr Sunit Singhi, who is Professor in the Paediatrics Department. He said in a majority of the cases, children suffering from pneumonia were being given expensive medicines, whereas 80 per cent of these could be cured with simple antibiotics. Dr Singhi said the problem was much more serious in the developing countries, where the network of health facilities was poor. In fact Zambia, which had earlier been included under the study, had been excluded as the mortality rate in children due to other ailments, especially AIDS, was very high. Children suffering from severe pneumonia, responded well to the combination of ampicillin and gentamicin or chloramphenical. After six days of injections the children would safely be put on an oral dose for another five days. Dr Singhi, said out of almost 50,000 children coming to the Paediatric Emergency of the PGI, almost 25 per cent were suffering from respiratory ailments , out of which the largest chunk comprised pneumonic children. He added that an interesting feature noticed during the study was that it was mostly at the time of change of weather that maximum number of pneumonic children came to the hospital. “ While the maximum incidence of pneumonia was in October, just before the onset of winter, the number of cases was also very high in March,” he revealed. Dr Singhi said in Pakistan, where the conditions were quite similar to India, the death rate from pneumonia was almost 20 per cent. He added that another fact about pneumonia was that unlike diseases like asthma, the chances of pneumonic children dying if not given proper timely treatment, were quite high. Dr Singhi said apart from the WHO study, a similar study on pneumonia was also being conducted at six centres within India. A total of 300 hundred patients would be studied at each of these centres before arriving at some conclusion, being part of a multi-centric
study. The Paediatrics Department of the PGI had already enrolled over 260 pneumonic children as part of the study.
|
|
Hope for tachycardia patients SAS Nagar, July 21 This was disclosed by Dr Yash
Lokhandwala, DM, cardiology, and a visiting Professor, Michigan State, University, USA, and visiting consultant to Hinduja Hospital, Breach Candy Hospital, Nanavati Hospital, Jaslok Hospital, Holy Family Hospital, Madras Medical Mission and Army Hospital, Pune, while talking to Chandigarh Tribune here yesterday. Dr
Lokhandwala, a heart rhythm specialist (electro physiologist), who was here yesterday to perform surgery for the needy at Fortis Heart Institute as part of its month-long anniversary celebrations, said the treatment being offered by him was not available anywhere in Punjab and not even in the PGI, Chandigarh. He said the disease could occur at any age. The problem of fast heart beat might be there since birth but might start giving trouble between the age group of 20 and 40 years. The patient might start feeling breathlessness and start sweating. The symptoms might occur all of a sudden. Dr
Lokhandwala, who has trained 20 doctors in the past seven years, said the disease was diagnosed through EP (electro physiology) study and the treatment was carried out through RF (radio frequency) ablation. The patient was taken to a cath lab and long, cylindrical tubes were inserted from the legs into the heart. The electrical signals from inside the heart were recorded. The point where the electrical short circuit had taken place was then found out which was then destroyed by passing a radio frequency current through one of the tubes. The patient was awake throughout the surgery as anaesthesia was given only locally. He said it was a curative treatment. The youngest person he had operated upon was a two-month-old baby and the oldest was 85 years. |
|
|
Women’s Health Week launched Chandigarh, July 21 Dr R.V. Karanjekar, Medical Director, Fortis Heart Institute, said during this week focus would be on ensuring good health for women and educating them how to remain healthy through prevention . “When women take even the simplest of steps to improve the health of the family , the results can be significant and we hope that they will take advantage of this opportunity,” said Mr Shivinder Mohan Singh, Chief Operating Officer of the institute. He said during the week, mammography would be offered at Rs 600. The institute also organised a seminar on interventional radiology on Friday which was conducted by Dr Shrinivas Desai, Director, Deptartment of Radiology, Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai. According to Dr Desai, interventional radiology is a minimally invasive alternative to surgery which is helping thousands of patients who are not able to undergo surgery. For these patients, an interventional radiology procedure is a boon as it has the same benefits as surgery without the complications of a surgical operation. The seminar was attended by over 75 doctors. The month-long “maha health mela” includes 15 seminars for public on the prevention of diseases prevalent in the region, nine seminars for doctors and special weeks for women, diabetics, asthma and preventive health check-ups. |
|
|
Training
course for doctors Chandigarh, July 21 The project has been launched by the Government of India with a view to check the declining trend in immunisation coverage witnessed in most of the states. Under the project, the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW), will train district-level medical officers all over India. The Department of Community Medicine, PGI, headed by Dr Rajesh Kumar, has been identified as one of the five centres in the country. A total of 356 doctors from the neighboring states will be trained. The training course will be inaugurated by Dr B.S. Dhaiya, Director, Health Services, Haryana. |
|
New equipment at
GMCH Chandigarh, July 21 Doctors of the department said though the facility was available at some of the private clinics , but with the cost of the test being around Rs 1,000, the poor could not afford it. Even the PGI was yet to acquire this equipment. Now the test will cost merely Rs 100 to those who can pay and the poor can get one test done for free at the GMCH. The doctors said the equipment was very helpful for documentation, diagnosis and treatment of various retinal diseases. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
