Swine flu tamed?

Mysore proposes separate zone for food vendors

Close on the heels of cholera and swine flu outbreak in Mysore, the city corporation has decided to set up a separate zone for food vendors. The corporation had earlier in April, banned food vending in the city after the outbreak of the two diseases. Vendors protested this.

Cabinet secretary takes stock of swine flu preparedness

Following reports of swine flu deaths in three states, Cabinet secretary of India Ajit Kumar Seth called a meeting of secretaries of the Union ministries of health, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals in Delhi on Thursday to discuss their preparedness to deal with the disease outbreak in various states. This includes availability of anti-flu drug oseltamivir sold under brand name Tamiflu; these are supposed to be made available free of cost at government hospitals.  

New swine flu kit makes disease detection easier in India

With the threat of swine flu looming large over the country again, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has brought out a cheaper, more effective kit to diagnose the disease. The portable testing kit, Nu-Lamp H1N1, can give the results of the test within an hour. The currently used US government’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Realtime RT-PCR technique takes two to three hours.  The kit was launched on March 31 at the ongoing Defence Expo 2012 in New Delhi. 

When business rules our kitchens

Once again there is a food safety scare. A deadly strain of E coli bacterium has hit Germany, where it has taken the lives of 25 people and affected another 2,300 till date. German food inspectors on the trail of the source of contamination ha­ve as yet made two errors—blaming Spanish cucumbers and then organic bean sprouts—but no breakthrough.

How effective are sanitisers?

TILL swine flu panic gripped the world, washing hands was considered the best way to maintain personal hygiene and protect oneself from diseases. But as fear of the disease spread, so did hand sanitisers. They became a prefered choice because of their mobility and convenience. All you need to do is squirt a drop of it onto your palms, rub it, and you are done. But now the integrity of that handbag-sized bottle designed to kill any germ is in doubt. It might be offering a false sense of security.

Bad shot

CHILDREN and adolescents injected with a swine flu vaccine could be at an increased risk of a sleeping disorder, warned a study.

Cheaper H1N1 kits to hit market

THREE Indian organisations have successfully developed H1N1 detection kits which give results in an hour and cost between 1,000 and 2,000.

Double standards and transparency

AWAY from the conference rooms of climate talks, developed countries have begun arm-twisting developing countries to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels.

Indian swine flu vaccines hit market

India has unveiled two indigenous vaccines against swine flu which so far has claimed over 18,000 lives around the world, including more than 1,000 in India.