antibiotic Archives - InnoHEALTH magazine

Post Antibiotic World

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 09:25:20 +0000

Like the ‘guardians of the galaxy’ the futuristic prospect of this world will be a place where the microbes have become resilient against antibiotics and the fight against infection has ceased to find its way through antibiotics. Though most of the antibiotics that are consumed are metabolized by the body, a negligible amount is passed through us as waste, which is further carried to wastewater treatment plants.

Also Read: Health and Oral Health Diseases

The basic methodology to clean the wastewater in plants is through membrane bioreactor that uses both biological as well as filtration process where bacteria are acclimatized to consume the waste products and help in metabolization. The antibiotic waste breakdown by bacteria often expresses resistance genes that reduce the effectiveness of the medicines. In the long run, the horizontal gene transfer develops whose expression pass from one generation to the next and the resistance genes gain prominence over the years. With the passing phase, the bacteria grow and thrive itself therefore often giving rise to biomass. The biomass is produced in tonnes by wastewater plants nearly every day. After treatment, they are often disposed of as landfills, fertilizers for agriculture and feed crops for livestock. A minute quantity of resistant bacteria and free-floating DNA often finds its way through effluent of the pharmaceutical industries. The studies have further shown that gene elements called plasmids carry resistance genes for several different types of antibiotics, therefore, resulting in a positive correlation between one type of antibiotic and the resistance gene of another. It creates a dangerous dormant situation that can erupt like an active pandemic under the favourable situation. Plasmids are a thousand times smaller than bacteria and their free-floating nature often surpasses the treatment barriers of the filtration system of the treatment process, therefore making exit through effluents. They further contaminate the surface water and groundwater – the two important sources of drinking water. Researchers have found that even low concentrations of just a single type of antibiotic in the water supply leads to resistance in multiple classes of antibiotics and hence leads to antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Also Read: Health Card of Indian States

Water, as we all know, is the utmost need of our survival. Human body comprises around 60% water and the fact that less consumption of water leads to various diseases in the future. Apart from facts and figure, one simple question we often forget to inquire is where this water is coming from? Surface water i.e. lakes, rivers and ponds or groundwater i.e. tube wells, bore well, well as these are the two sources that give us a glass of water.

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Our health concern and the credulous brainwash of our mind by the various available water filter present scenario and save our planet from the harmful effect of self-made destruction.Effective treatment and management of wastewater from the pharmaceutical industry will help in overcoming antimicrobial resistance. Advanced treatment methods such as reverse osmosis, nano filtration, and membrane bioreactors have shown to be promising processes for cleaning micro pollutants with nano gram per litre (ng/L) concentration levels.The nation where the trial/testing of most of the antibiotic occurs, there are rarely any constraints implemented on the disposal of pharmaceutical wastewater to the surface water. The current scenario of environmental issue foresees that in the near future there will be scarcity of drinking water and our hope was restored when global challenge was taken to in the market often diverts us from our prime concern of keeping our planet safe from water pollution. The pollution of water bodies has been initiated by us and still we are invariably helping it grow with every passing day. As discussed earlier, the various point sources from domestic to industrial pave the way for antibiotic to contaminate the water bodies. According to the latest report of UNICEF, 2.1 billion people lack the access to clean and safe drinking water.

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How do we remove the problem? What do we do to save ourselves from the harmful effects?

The encouraging words of Normal Vincent Peale, American author ‘Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don’t have any problems, you don’t get any seeds’ gives us the hope that we will successfully overcome the present scenario and save our planet from the harmful effect of self-made destruction.Effective treatment and management of wastewater from the pharmaceutical industry will help in overcoming antimicrobial resistance. Advanced treatment methods such as reverse osmosis, nano filtration, and membrane bioreactors have shown to be promising processes for cleaning micro pollutants with nano gram per litre (ng/L) concentration levels.The nation where the trial/testing of most of the antibiotic occurs, there are rarely any constraints implemented on the disposal of pharmaceutical wastewater to the surface water. The current scenario of environmental issue foresees that in the near future there will be scarcity of drinking water and our hope was restored when global challenge was taken to curb the antimicrobial resistance from environment. Remedial measures taken towards eradication are further discussed.

Also Read: Rising burden of non-communicable diseases

Political commitments: International efforts: World Health Organization Jaipur declaration on antimicrobial resistance 2011 recognized AMR as a serious public health threat. With the 2014 WHO Report, the extraordinary rates of AMR prevalent in India came into focus. After this report, joint efforts were made by India and WHO. While WHO labelled AMR as the Flagship Priority area for South East Asia Regional Office (SEARO), the Indian Medical Association launched an awareness programme to train the physicians and sensitize the general public. In 2015, the 68th World Health Assembly decided to incorporate the concept of One Health in the fight against AMR and a Global Action Plan was initiated. All member countries, including India, agreed to frame their own National Action Plans (NAPs) for AMR by 2017.

Also Read: Specific health situation of Indian states

National efforts: The Government of India formulated a Core Working Group on AMR that drafted a NAP for the country. Six strategic priorities were listed in NAP, all of which incorporated considerations for AMR in the environment, directly or indirectly. Further, each strategic priority has defined interventions, activities and outputs, the fulfillment of which is delineated by a timeline projected for the next five years. The NAP, although promising, has not yet come into full action in any of the Indian states so far. To curtail the prevalent malpractice of over-the-counter (OTC) sale of drugs, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization implemented Schedule H1 in India in 2014. It, however, encompasses only a few selected antimicrobial groups. In June 2017, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) published the list of maximum residue levels for antimicrobials in foods prepared from animal, poultry and fish.

Health Organization in India: To know the near-exact extent of AMR, AMR surveillance networks were initiated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in 2013 and 2014, respectively. In 2015, these two organizations along with the support from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) USA, started a systematic assessment of the prevailing IPC practices in India with the aim of formulating new guidelines for preventing hospital-acquired infections.

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These activities, however, cater basically to the emerging AMR in the healthcare settings and do not include special provisions for AMR in the environment. Similarly, the National Health Mission’s National Health Systems Resource Centre and the National Accreditation Board deal with IPC practices and strengthening of laboratories/hospitals and not with the AMR in the environment per se. The importance of AMR in the environment has been realized recently by the national health authorities and The National Health Policy 2017 calls for a rapid standardization of guidelines regarding antibiotic use, limiting the use of antibiotics as OTC medications, banning or restricting the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in animal livestock, and pharma co-vigilance including prescription audits inclusive of antibiotic usage – in the hospital and community.

Innovative ideas: The National Health Mission of India started the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan or the Swachh India Mission to improve the basic hygiene and sanitation in all spheres of life. As a part of this massive programme, education was imparted through mass media on the health hazards of open defecation. UNICEF data shows that out of one billion openly defecating people in the world, 60 percent reside in India. It is further argued that it is a behavioural problem with the Indians as other poverty struck nations of Africa and South East Asia did not have the problem of open defecation to this an extent. To deal with such socio-cultural issues, innovative ideas along with mass media are needed in India.

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So far in India, antimicrobial resistance in the environment has been a topic of least priority. With an ever-increasing threat of AMR in the environment, immediate action is required to halt its progress and spread. A combined effort of multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral approach will be able to eradicate the problem in the near future.

About the author

Dr. Debleena Bhattacharya is an independent researcher. She is presently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering at MEFGI, India. She holds a doctoral degree in Environmental Science from IIT (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad (India). Her specialisation is in the field of wastewater treatment and biotechnology.

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Innovative Biomarkers for Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Life

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 09:37:15 +0000

From the inception of medical science, there is heavy reliance on research to find ways to detect and combat dreadful medical conditions. While the many of the diseases known are curable thanks to the advances in technology and innovations in research, there are still some that call for more attention and a more precise treatment plan.
One such medical condition is Sepsis – a life-threatening disease affecting more than 30 million people globally every year. Sepsis is a medical condition when the body’s response to a present infection damages its own tissues and organs resulting in death or serious illness. If not treated at the initial stages sepsis can trigger low blood pressure resulting in organ malfunction or even worse, a condition called septic shock.
Antibiotic treatment of sepsis patients often relies on clinical observation and educated guesswork as clinicians wait for a culture to determine whether the infection is bacterial, viral, or possibly fungal. But with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recent approval of automated platforms for procalcitonin assays and mounting evidence of PCT’s value as a biomarker, hospital laboratories are turning to PCT to diagnose sepsis and guide antimicrobial stewardship.
The world has acknowledged sepsis as a life-threatening condition and a challenge for the medical industry to combat. The Global Sepsis Alliance is an organisation working at the forefront to increase awareness about the disease and globally.
Over the past six years, Thermo Fisher has worked with the Global Sepsis Alliance and other advocates to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of sepsis.
Thermo Fisher Scientific- a world leader in serving science is committed to providing exceptional laboratory tools to assess the risk of bacterial infection relating to sepsis with the B·R·A·H·M·S PCT (Procalcitonin) biomarker assay. The B∙R∙A∙H∙M∙S PCT assay provides information on the presence and severity of bacterial infection, helping physicians in emergency departments, intensive care units and other critical care units decide whether to initiate antibiotic therapy in patients and when to safely discontinue antibiotics in patients with lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) and sepsis, without compromising patient safety.
B·R·A·H·M·S PCT (Procalcitonin) supports responsible use of antibiotics
The overuse of antibiotics is a global problem but the B·R·A·H·M·S Procalcitonin assay can help guide the judicious use of antibiotics. Credible evidence from several reproducible, randomized clinical trials with more than 10,000 patients support B·R·A·H·M·S PCT as an effective tool to safely reduce antibiotic exposure in patients. It has a proven utility across diverse clinical settings. In addition to other clinical criteria, these assays enable quick decision making by the clinicians, be it for starting antibiotic therapy or its safe discontinuation. B·R·A·H·M·S PCT greatly helps to reduce prescriptions, tailor the therapy duration to individual patient needs and finally supports to save costs.
There is a sheer need to develop and manufacture novel diagnostic testing tools that not only improve early diagnosis and treatment of life- threatening diseases like Sepsis, but also to provide high-quality immunodiagnostic assays to immensely support medical professionals and patients to get closer to a future without such dreadful infections.

About the author

Mr. Amit Chopra, Managing Director India and, Middle-East, Thermo Fisher Scientific
Amit joined Thermo Fisher Scientific India in May 2007 as Managing Director for their Laboratory Products Group in India, and was named Managing Director & VP/GM for Thermo Fisher’s India operations in March 2011. Amit has taken on additional responsibility for the Middle East region w.e.f. 2017.

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Trending Innovations in Healthcare

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 10:34:17 +0000

1. Osteodetect

An AI-Based Diagnostic Tool Detects Wrist Fractures

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Imagen’s product ‘OsteoDetect’, an Artificial Intelligence-based diagnostic tool that can quickly detect distal radius wrist fractures is one of the latest products to get US FDA marketing clearance. Its machine learning algorithm studies 2 dimensional x-rays or radiographs for signs of fracture by analysing the posterior-anterior and medial-lateral x-ray images of adult wrists. Studies conducted on comparing fracture detection aided by OsteoDetect and certified orthopaedic surgeons showed that the readers’ ability to detect wrist fractures was improved by using the software as evident by greater sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values, compared with unaided standard clinical practice.

https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/27/fdaapproves- ai-wrist-fracture-detection/

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2. Alterego

A Device that Let’s Others Hear Words You Are Thinking

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Arnav Kapoor, an Indian-origin researcher at MIT, has developed a device named ALTEREGO that lets others hear words you are thinking without your making a sound. The product looks like a curved bone hooked to one ear that touches the jaw on the chin and under the lower lip which works by using ‘subvocalisations’ which are the tiny, imperceptible movements in the jaw each time you say a word in your mind. There are four sensors which pick up the signals and transmit them to a computer that has been trained to recognize and convert them back to words which are conveyed to the listener’s mind through bone conduction in the listener’s jawbone, instead of words being openly spoken and conveyed. With the use of Alterego’s technology, one could ask questions soundlessly and get a voice reply only in your ears. Presently the product has an accuracy of 92% which claims to keep improving with the exposure to more types of vibrations and words. Times of India

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3. Inito

New Portable Diagnostic Device: Affordable and Accessible

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A study undertaken by Dr. Satish Dubey at IIT Delhi has revealed a new portable diagnostic device which is developed by Inito, Bengaluru-based company that can do a dozen tests with the comfort of a person being at home. It has the advantage of reading dozens of diagnostic test strips with a 99.12% correlation when compared to lab grade scanners irrespective of the mobile phone used. This makes it a very reliable tool for portable diagnostics. The device uses patent-pending imaging technology called flat lens that allows a single portable device paired with a smartphone to conduct dozens of diagnostic tests with the same device. The first test that the company has launched is a fertility monitor targeted at couples trying to have a baby. Soon tests for Thyroid, Diabetes and Vitamin D will be added to the device. To add more tests to the device, you just need to update the App and order the strips for the user. Advantages of the device are that it is easy to use, portable, small size, affordable and also third-party strips can be added to the Inito platform by just an App upgrade. The device has won CII Design Award, India Design Mark and Japanese Good Design Award. The device is priced at INR 3195 and is available on Inito’s official website and Amazon. Soon the device will be made available at pharmacies. HT Team

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4. Paper Battery

An Indian Innovation Developed using Sewage Water

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An innovation by an Indian research scholar, Ramya Veerubhotla at IIT Kharagpur, is the development of a disposable and flexible battery made from paper that could generate power from the bacteria present in sewage water. The battery is made using air cathode and the anode can be made from any carbon-based material. The product is unique because it is very light in weight and the power generation starts within ten seconds, unlike other usual microbial fuel cells which take a couple of days to start power production as the bacteria need time to adjust to the environment. The capacity of power generated from one cell is in the range of a few microwatts. For more power production, one can stack and fold these cells together giving it a compact shape. This research recently received the First prize and a cash award of INR 10 lacs at KPIT Sparkle 2018. www.news18.com

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5. NakedLabs

World’s First Home Body Scanner

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The product Naked 3D Fitness Tracker is a health and fitness tool for people to track changes in their measurements, body fat percentage, lean mass, fat mass, circumference and overall shape. The start-up has recently raised a $14 million Series A led by Founders Fund. The device has two parts, first is a scale that has sensors and a computer and second being a weight scale that spins a person around so that the stationary mirror can grab the body scan of the user in about 15 seconds. Naked uses infrared light to capture your 3D body model which then gets visualised on the Naked App and alerts the user when there is progress being made by the user in terms of their fitness and also where there is potential for more work to be done. The device has an Intel x86 processor, RAM, 4GB DDR4 RAM and a 64GB SSD which makes it easy to beam the image directly from the device to the user’s phone. The depth data of the users’ body is not uploaded to the cloud instead is being handled on the device itself and also the resultant image is more of a TSA body scan image rather than a 3D avatar. A person can permanently delete the data from his phone if he/ she wishes to. Presently the device is priced at US$ 1395. www.techcrunch.com

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6. Wearable Sensor to Detect Stress Levels

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A group of researchers under the mentorship of Scientist Alberto Salleo at Stanford University has created a stretchy patch which when applied directly to the skin, takes up sweat and assesses the amount of cortisol the person is producing. This stretchy, rectangular sensor around a membrane/specifically binds only to cortisol but also detects charged ions like sodium or potassium present in our sweat. This patch has a waterproof layer that protects it from contamination. So far, a wearable prototype version has been made but if this is converted into reality it would be very easy to monitor salt imbalances in our bodies and reveal the emotional state of people who are under immense stress and do not open about their situation. The present methods for measuring cortisol levels requires several days of waiting for the lab results. This device seems to solve the waiting problem for the results and is user-friendly. All the user needs to do is to sweat enough to glisten the patch and connect it to a device for analysis which gives results in seconds. The researchers are still working on its reusability though the prototype seems to work multiple times so long as it is not saturated with sweat. A paper co-authored by Scott Keene and Andrew Marais of Stanford University and colleagues at Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines in France about this wearable sensor was published in Science Advances on 20 July 2018. https://news.stanford. edu/2018/07/20/wearabledevice- measures -cortisol-sweat

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7. CustomFlex

World’s First Artificial Flex

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Iris is the part of the eye that is colored around the pupil and controls the amount of light entering the eye. It is found to be damaged in conditions like Aniridia in which people are born with a partial or missing iris or it could happen later in life due to traumatic injury or surgical removal due to melanoma. With patients of eye damage, the surgically implanted device known as the CustomFlex Artificial Iris is a boon. Recently this prosthetic iris has got the US FDA approval. The CustomFlex Iris is surgically inserted and held in place either by sutures or eye’s anatomical structures. This iris is made of thin, foldable medical grade silicon and is custom-fitted and colored for each patient. A study of nearly 400 adults and children with Aniridia or other iris defects found that the device was safe and effective, with 70% of participants reporting significant decreases in light sensitivity and glare, as well as improvement in health-related quality of life. The study also found low rates of adverse side effects. As per FDA, the artificial iris is contradicted in patients who have uncontrolled or severe chronic inflammation, abnormally small size of eyes, untreated chronic glaucoma, cataract caused by the rubella virus, abnormal blood vessels on the iris, inner eye infections and certain kind of damaged blood vessels in the retina. Also, pregnant women cannot be its takers.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news /fda-approves-first-artificial-iris/

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8. Smart Bandage to Monitor Wounds and Dispense Drugs Made

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Sonskusale has recently developed a first of its kind ‘sense-then-respond’ smart bandage which uses sensors to detect subtle biomarkers that signal wound healing. The device has a microprocessor to read the data captured by the sensors, communicate with the mobile and also can direct the bandage to release medication if it is needed. It takes into account things like sensing whether the wound is getting enough oxygen, right pH level is there, what is the temperature near the wound and is there any inflammation? All this information is communicated to a central processor where the doctor already has programmed drug release for antibiotic or growth factor to improve healing. Such a bandage has applications in bed sores, burns and surgical wounds with the advantage of reducing complications from infections and reducing the number of amputations. The key is the timely application of the bandage to the wound site to fasten healing. https://www.digitaltrends.com/cooltech/ smart-bandage

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National Technology Awards 2018

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Fri, 11 May 2018 06:58:39 +0000

President Ram Nath Kovind presented the National Award for successful commercialization of indigenous technology to Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech Ltd. and Ernakulam-based Agappe Diagnostics Ltd.

Bharat Biotech Ltd. has won the award for taking to the market a vaccine for rotavirus disease. The vaccine, Rotavac, is currently licensed in two countries, while the grant of license is under process in 30 other countries. It has also been prequalified by the World Health Organisation (WHO), making it eligible for procurement by UN and other humanitarian organizations for their public health vaccine programmes.

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Agappe Diagnostics Ltd. has won the award for commercializing an automated cartridge-based specific protein analyzer. The instrument has become highly popular as it is smaller and cheaper compared to similar machines available from multinational companies.

The President presented the awards to mark the 20th National Technology Day.

He also gave away national awards to five medium and small-scale enterprises for commercializing indigenous technologies. The winners are Synkromax Biotech, ANTS Ceramics, 3B Blackbio Biotech, Envision Scientific and Hind High Vacuum.

Synkromax got the award for marketing a life-saving implant developed by IIT Madras, while ANTS Ceramics got the award for commercializing high-end zirconia ceramic products and carbon sulphur analysis crucibles and 3B National Technology Awards presented Blackbio Biotech for working on a kit for diagnosis and prognosis of chronic myeloid leukemia.

Envision Scientific got the award for commercializing an indigenously developed drug eluting stent for diabetic patients and Hind High Vacuum got for commercializing thin film metallized alumina circuit for space applications.

Three start-ups got award for developing technologies that have commercial potentials – Astrome Technologies at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, for its work on GigaMesh, which is said to be the first point to multi-point millimeter wave wireless communication solution in the world; CyCa Onco Solutions at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar, for developing two drug delivery devices for delivery of anticancer drug, Crisplatin; and Xcellence in Bio Innovation and Technologies at BITS Pilani Hyderabad campus, for developing a point of care device for testing antibiotic sensitive of pathogens causing urinary tract infections.

Speaking on the occasion, the President noted that the National Technology Day was landmark day for the country as it was on this day two decades ago that the Pokhran nuclear tests took place and demonstrated India’s capacity as a nuclear weapons state as well as a mature and responsible technology power, capable of harnessing sensitive knowledge.

He said technology was a destiny for the country as all national programmes required a force multiplier in the form of technology. But, at the same time, it must also be about equity. “Its (technology’s) fruits must be accessible to all. Finance and resources should be available to all technologists who may wish to turn entrepreneurs – and to migrate from the lab room to the shop floor.” Above all, the President said, gender equity must be integrated with technology production and technology sharing.

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