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Forum Koramangala Mall & The Helping Hands presents Free Vaccination drive for the underprivileged & specially abled. The drive is hosted at Forum Koramangala Mall. Individuals will be vaccinated utilizing Covishield & Covaxin vaccines provided free of charge for age group 18+
Vaccination Details
Date: 30th June 2021
Time: 10.00 am to 1.00 pm
Place: Forum Koramangala Mall
Age Group: 18+
Contact: 9620260112/9880916733
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KOCHI/ June 25, 2021: An 11-year-old boy suffering from severe heart failure and shock due to Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) was successfully treated at Amrita Hospital in Kochi with ECMO, which is akin to heart-lung bypass machine used in open-heart surgery, saving his life from the dreaded disease that appears to be linked to Covid-19. Amrita Hospital doctors are warning of a wave of MIS-C across South India which may hit children in a big way. Adhik’s case is an early warning of this, they say.
The child Adhik, hailing from Kedamangalam in Paravur (Ernakulam District), is one of the rarest patients in India to be put on ECMO (Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation) for MIS-C. ECMO pumps and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body, allowing the heart and lungs to rest. When a patient is connected to an ECMO, blood flows through tubing to an artificial lung in the machine that adds oxygen and takes out carbon dioxide; then the blood is warmed to body temperature and pumped back into the body. ECMO is today saving many patients from Covid-19 and post-Covid complications.
Adhik was referred to Amrita Hospital in a serious condition. He most likely had an asymptomatic Covid-19 or was exposed to Covid-19 in the weeks preceding to presentation as widened by positive antibody titers to Covid-19 in his blood. MIS-C had over the last one week severely affected his heart muscles, which were inflamed and unable to pump blood. His blood pressure had dropped to extremely low levels. The condition would have been fatal if not treated promptly. On arrival at the hospital, Amrita doctors put him on a ventilator without delay.
Said Dr. Suma Balan, Consultant Pediatrician and Pediatric Rheumatologist, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Amrita Hospital, Kochi: “Putting a very sick child with low blood pressure and poor heart on ventilator needs a high degree of skill and training from a Pediatric Intensivist. The child also required special lines to be inserted into his large veins, so that medicines to elevate his blood pressure could be safely administered without needing to prick him all the time. A line was also inserted in a peripheral artery to help monitor his blood pressure accurately.”
Added Dr. Sajith Kesavan, Head, Dept. of Pediatric Pulmonary & Critical Care, Amrita Hospitals, Kochi: “Immunomodulant medications to affect the functioning of the child patient’s immune system were also commenced. The main challenge was that the child was in very severe shock and not responding, despite being on a ventilator and being given medications to improve his shock. The immunomodulant medications which counter the increased inflammatory state take time to be administered. The patient needed to be supported and kept stable until those medicines have had a chance to work.”
He added: “A bedside echocardiogram was also arranged due to the severity of the child’s illness. However, the team soon realized that the child needed more medical attention, and it was decided that an ECMO would help his recovery. This machine takes over the heart-lung function. Putting the child on ECMO for a few days allowed rest to his heart muscles, giving them time to recover. This works very well in scenarios where there is a good possibility of natural recovery – and Adhik’s situation fit that bill.”
According to Dr. Mahesh K, Clinical Professor, Centre for Aortic Diseases & Marfan Syndrome, Pediatric Cardiology, Amrita Hospitals, Kochi, ECMO is not just about adding on another machine; it requires special lines to be attached from the patient to the machine and back, and many precautions to keep these lines sterile and flowing. He said: “This requires a significant financial commitment. The intensive care, immunomodulant therapy and the addition of ECMO increases treatment cost significantly, but the treating doctors knew this offered the best chance for Adhik.”
Dr. Mahesh K added: “The boy belongs to a middle-class family and raising a huge amount of money at a short notice isn’t easy. However, we were able to help them with some funding, and the family raised the rest. Amrita Hospital also gave a letter to the family to take it to the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). The family and hospital management appreciate the ESIC for its quick response not only approving the treatment at Amrita Hospital but also approving the ECMO. This is the first time that ECMO has been approved at this centre by ESIC.”
Most children who become infected with COVID-19 virus have only a mild illness, but in children who go on to develop MIS-C due to the infection, some organs like the heart, lungs, blood vessels, kidneys, brain, etc. become severely inflamed. It is an immune system mediated hyper-inflammation targeting children and teenagers. More than 50% of patients develop heart problems.
Said Dr. Suma Balan: “Adhik has so far responded well to treatment. He was taken off ECMO after 72 hours. We were also able to take him off the ventilator two days later. He is out of intensive care now and continues to make steady progress. We are all positive and hopeful that the child will be back to a normal 11-year-old child’s routine in a few weeks.”
Appreciating the role of intensive care in saving Adhik’s life, Dr. Suma Balan added: “There is much apprehension in the public about Intensive Care for patients and the high costs involved. Intensive Care requires a very high standard of skill, protocols and decision making, all of which comes with a long period of training and experience. Many critical illnesses require multidisciplinary management for their various aspects, so expecting only one doctor to do everything is not practical. Others involved in intensive care, including the critical care nurses, the respiratory therapist, and various technicians, are all equally important. Intensive care also requires a huge number of disposables and many skilled tasks, that all go to keep the patient safe and cared for. That is why intensive care is expensive, and we should not demean that.”
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Ø About 400-500 patients have been detected with mucormycosis in Karnataka, due to which the disease has been declared as an epidemic in the state
Ø Black fungus is a rare but serious and rapidly progressive disease with 50% mortality if not treated in time
BENGALURU / June 16, 2021: The Sars-Cov-2 delta variant not only has a 40% higher transmission rate compared to the alpha variant (which in turn has a 50% higher transmissibility than the original strain of the virus), it also causes a much more severe disease than alpha. This is leading to further rise in the percentage of positive cases that require hospitalization, even though the infection is in younger people. The delta variant causes acute and severe immune suppression and an acute hyperglycemic state, predisposing individuals to the risk of opportunistic infections like mucormycosis (black fungus disease), according to doctors of Vikram Hospital, Bengaluru (a unit of Manipal Hospitals). About 400-500 patients have been detected with mucormycosis in Karnataka, due to which the disease has been declared an epidemic in the state.
Said Dr. Srinivas K, Consultant ENT, Head & Neck Surgeon, Vikram Hospital, Bengaluru (a unit of Manipal Hospitals): “Mucormycosis, or the Black fungus disease, is a rare and rapidly progressive disease with high mortality if not treated in time. It usually occurs in people who either have health conditions like untreated diabetes or are taking medicines that lower the body’s immunity. The infection is caused by a fungus called Mucormycetes which lives in our surrounding environment. Its transmission occurs by inhalation, inoculation or ingestion of the spores. There are probable theories about its spread such as fungus growing on the walls, negative pressure rooms, water leaks, poor air filtration, building construction activities, etc.”
Said Dr. Pramod V Satya, Consultant – Internal Medicine, Vikram Hospital, Bengaluru (a unit of Manipal Hospitals): “Black fungus is very much treatable if patients take medical help on time, with typical recovery time being three weeks in early stages of the disease. They need to undergo complete and repeated surgical removal of the infected tissue from the affected areas and take anti-fungal medication in the form of Amphotericin-B. Since this disease is rapidly progressive and potentially fatal, our advice to patients is to consult an ENT specialist in initial stages of their course of symptoms. This is because early diagnosis and prompt treatment leads to a better cure rate and faster recovery.”
Talking about the kind of people at risk of black fungus infection, Dr. Partha Pradeep Shetty, Consultant Nephrologist, Vikram Hospital, Bengaluru (a unit of Manipal Hospitals) added: “Individuals who suffer from diseases causing suppression of one’s immunity are at the risk of black fungus infection. Uncontrolled diabetes is one of the most important risk factors. Cancer patients, dialysis patients and those undergoing treatment with corticosteroids also have a higher risk. Other risk factors include patients facing trauma or burns and those who have undergone an organ or bone marrow transplantation. Patients should be especially cautious if they have had a previous Covid-19 infection and got treated with steroids or Remdesivir or were administered oxygen therapy.”
The major areas of the body affected by black fungus include the small hollow spaces in the bones around the nose (paranasal sinuses), the nasal cavity, the palate, the skull base and the back wall of the throat from where it can spread to the eyes and brain. Other probable areas for infection are skin, lungs and the gastro-intestinal tract. Symptoms include facial pain, puffiness or swelling, eye pain, puffiness around the eyes, blurring of vision or double vision associated with a blocked nose, headache, tooth pain or swelling over the palate.
Said Dr. Srinivas K: “At Vikram Hospital, we have been treating cases of mucormycosis affecting the sinuses, brain, palate or the eyes. Most patients who come early to us for treatment have nasal symptoms and associated headache. They do well with timely surgical and medical management. Some patients come late when the disease has spread to their eyes, brain or the palate. They require a more tedious and extensive treatment with extended hospital stay. We have been seeing cases of both single fungus as well as multi-fungus disease. The other fungi apart from black fungus that we are seeing in patients include Candida albicans, Aspergillus Niger and Aspergillus fumigates.”
Vikram hospital doctors recommend that patients of black fungus go for endoscopic surgery wherever possible. “There are many benefits of endoscopic surgery compared to open surgery. It is minimally invasive, helps preserves organs and enables complete clearance of the disease. It also does not lead to any facial deformation or functional deficit,” said Dr. Srinivas K.
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We the doctors across Karnataka both in Private and Government are responding to the Covid 19 health crisis-trying to protect individuals, families and communities in adverse situations with stretched resources, shortage of other equipment’s and medications, have found ourselves as unexpected targets in the fight gainst COVID-19.
Beyond the physical danger in the form of violence we also face the crisis into cruel routines of helplessness, making decisions day after day that could determine whether a patient lives or dies.
We are all working amid an inadequate and deeply unequal medical system and we are also facing intimidation and violence, with videos circulating of angry family members thrashing medical staff in hos pital halls covered in blood, or local strongmen bullying and scolding them.
All of us know that we have lost huge number of doctors in both first and second wave. Most of the senior doctors with co morbidities are working with PPE kits in-spite of the restrictions and serving in whatever the way they can. At this crucial time, we are coming across so many attacks on doctors in various places. Many doctors are working in turns as they are on shifts in Covid wards and ICU’s to avoid getting infected themselves. Even many of them are treating their own family members and relatives with Covid infections in many parts of our State.
It is disheartening to note that many comments and attacks on allopathy doctors are happening on daily basis all over India including our doctors in Karnataka State. We know that Government of Karnataka have given instructions all the heads of the health care institutions to report to the concerned authorities for suitable actions in case of untoward incidences.
We are observing that the physical, verbal attacks are increasing day by day targeting and challenging in these tough times. Many of the medical professionals in Karnataka are of the opinion that the actions of doctors have been taken for a ride as general news and without knowing the ground reality or situation. All of us know that doctors are not machines or an angels to work on 24X7.
The doctor-patient relationship involves vulnerability and trust. It is one of the most moving and meaningful experiences shared by human beings. The offending words used on doctors in local languages like “blood suckers”, “Money suckers’, “medical ghosts”, ” “robbers”, “looters” are heard repeatedly in media including some TV channels will definitely demoralize the honestly working doctors and definitely affect patient care & communication.
The recent media news published in the reputed TV channel on the issue of KIMS will definitely affect trust of the public on the institution and hence we request all the media people to inform the appropriate authorities if they come across any misappropriate issues to know the ground reality before taking them to the media as it will definitely ruin the patients trust.
We hope these kind of media news will be stopped in future with immediate effect.
-DR.M.VENKATACHALAPATHY .President
-DR.S.M. PRASAD
Hon State Secretary
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• Well-equipped ICU for COVID-19 patients in Bowring Hospital handed over to State Government
• 200 oxygen concentrators, N95 respirators, and PPE kits donated for distribution across Karnataka
BENGALURU, June 11, 2021– Honeywell today announced that it has established a critical care center at Bowring Hospital to treat COVID-19 patients in the city. The company has also donated essential medical supplies including oxygen concentrators, N95 respirators and personal protective equipment (PPE) for hospitals in the state of Karnataka.
The 10-bed ICU center at Bowring Hospital in Shivaji Nagar features necessary equipment to support critical COVID-19 patients. These include Class I ventilators, Fowler beds, BiPAP machines, multipara monitors with and without capnometers, a portable X-ray machine, an ECG machine, an infusion pump, and a laryngoscope set. Additionally, Honeywell is providing N95 respirators and kits to the center.
The company has also handed over 200 oxygen concentrators, N95 respirators, and PPE kits to the State Government for distribution across Karnataka.
“It is heartening to see companies like Honeywell stepping forward to augment health infrastructure in the city,” said Dr. C.N. Ashwathnarayan, Deputy Chief Minister, Karnataka. “This ICU facility will not only serve citizens during the pandemic, but also encourage more such social investments by the private sector,” he added.
“We are thankful to Honeywell for establishing a critical care center for COVID patients in Bengaluru. This is an excellent example of a public-private partnership to enhance healthcare capacities to deal with the pandemic,” said Uma Mahadevan, Principal Secretary PR & Member, Committee to Coordinate with CSOs, NGOs, Private Sectors and International Organisations on COVID Response, Government of Karnataka.
“Honeywell is committed to helping the country deal with this humanitarian crisis and has pledged $3M since the start of the pandemic for COVID relief,” said Dr. Akshay Bellare, President, Honeywell India.
“We are partnering with state and local governments to enhance healthcare capacities across multiple states, including setting up COVID care centers and critical care centers. We are also donating essential medical supplies such as oxygen concentrators, ventilators, N95 respirators, and PPE kits,” he added.
In the first phase, Honeywell established 20-bed COVID care centers in Delhi, Pune, Gurugram, Nainital. These centers will be run by the respective local and state governments and are equipped with beds, oxygen supply, PPE kits, medical consumables, and basic medical infrastructure to treat non-critical patients. Another 10-bed ICU facility, similar to the one in Bengaluru, is planned in Mumbai.
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