Kerala, October 8, 2021: Acceleration of COVID-19 transmission through various religious gatherings has been observed in many places in India. It is necessary to adopt and follow strict mitigation measures, otherwise, the festive season can turn out to be a super spreading event which eventually may prove to be a burden on the healthcare system. As per Dr. Merlin Moni, Associate Professor, Division of Infectious disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Amrita Hospitals, Kochi, COVID 19 transmission dynamics is closely related to the 3 Cs:

• CLOSED SPACES with poor airflow
• CROWDED PLACES
• CLOSE CONTACT settings with face-to-face contact

Talking about managing mass gatherings, Dr. Moni said, “Some of the upcoming mass gathering events such as ‘Navaratri’, ‘Durga Puja’, ‘Dussehra’ etc. will need comprehensive strategic planning in organizing them in the current pandemic situation and a collective decision will need to be taken in the form of a consensus from key stakeholders such as policymakers, representatives from religious organizations as well as experts. In this context, it is essential to formulate and implement strict standard operating procedures on preventive measures for containment of the spread of COVID 19 during the festivals. The logistics of the festivals including the expected number of people, dates and the potential barriers to control the crowd needs to be discussed with the local government and health authorities.”

SOME USEFUL TIPS:

According to Dr. Moni the following guidelines for religious places of worship during festival times
and elaborate administrative and general preventive measures can help keep safe from the spread
of Coronavirus:

• No festival-related events should be allowed in containment zones
• All gatherings in connection with upcoming major religious events such as Dussehra, Durga
  Puja, Vidyarambham, etc. should focus on maintaining a relatively safe cluster participation
  and limited participants
•  All vulnerable populations such as pregnant women, children, geriatric age groups, and
  immunosuppressed individuals should not attend public religious activities
• Unvaccinated individuals should be encouraged to avoid gatherings.
• Norms related to the maximum number of permitted persons to celebrate the festival in every
  the setting must comply with the existing state government guidelines

ADVISORY

• On arrival at religious settings and while attending festivals, all visitors must wash/sanitize their hands frequently
• Maintaining a physical distance of 6 feet wherever possible and always wearing face masks properly is a must
• Double masking must be followed, and local government authorities should be deployed to ensure adherence
• Under any circumstances, symptomatic visitors must not be allowed for darshan and attending the festivals
• If any of the visitors experience any COVID-like symptoms, viz., fever, cough, etc, they should immediately contact the medical teams stationed there
• Authorities must ensure that no dining should be promoted inside religious settings. In unavoidable cases, appropriate physical distancing must be followed

About Amrita Hospital

www.amritahospitals.org
Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (Amrita Hospital), based in Kochi, is one of the premier hospitals in South Asia. Founded in 1998 by Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (known worldwide as AMMA), it offers a full range of primary and specialty care medical services. AMMA’s vision of providing advanced medical care to the poor and disadvantaged was the inspiration for Amrita Hospital, which today is an 1100-bed (490 units) tertiary referral and teaching hospital, serving more than 10 lakh outpatients and more than 70,000 inpatients annually. The massive healthcare infrastructure with over 3.33 million sq. ft. of built-up area, spread over 125 acres of land, supports a daily patient volume of approximately 3500 outpatients with 95 percent inpatient occupancy. There are 12 super specialty departments, 45 other departments, 4500 support staff, and 670 faculty members. The hospital’s extensive infrastructure offers facilities comprising 28 modern operating theatres, 275 equipped intensive-care beds, a fully computerized and networked Hospital Information System (HIS), a fully digital radiology department, 17 NABL accredited clinical laboratories, and 24/7 telemedicine service. In 2015, South Asia's first-ever Bilateral Hand Transplant Surgery was done at Amrita Hospital. The same year, Amrita Hospital won the British Medical Journal Award for the Best Surgical Team in South Asia. The Amrita team won the award for its two successful double hand transplants, the first and the second bilateral hand transplants in this region.

The post Safe Conduct of Festivals Imperative to Control Transmission of COVID 19 infection appeared first on PuneDiary.Com.

June 1^st, 2021: In what could be termed as the first-ever made in India, Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) kits, doctors at Amrita Hospitals in collaboration with AMMACHI Labs, the academic and research centre at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, have designed and developed extremely affordable kits for frontline workers right from the scratch. This is also another step they have endeavored to take towards realizing the dream of Atmanirbhar Bharat in the healthcare sector.

 Till very recently, all the PAPRs in the country were imported at a price of over Rs. 1 lakh each. With the problem becoming acute during the pandemic, the availability of protection equipment became scarce. Amrita Hospitals and AMMACHI Labs launched the product jointly in January this year. PAPR, a protection equipment technology used for supplying purified air to medical professionals working in infection-prone areas such as COVID wards, are extremely valuable in preventing healthcare workers from contracting infection and disease from the aerosolized virus particles. PAPRs are generally safer, more comfortable to use, and reusable as compared to normal PPEs with N95 masks. Because of their exorbitant costs, they haven’t been widely used in developing countries like India. Amrita Hospital’s goal is to develop a low-cost solution that meets all the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) standards while making these widely available across India and the world at affordable prices. 

 Dr Bhavani Rao R., Director, AMMACHI Labs who is overseeing the entire project, said, “PAPRs have been inspired by Mata Amritanandamayi Devi or Amma’s vision and guidance encouraging teams at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham to convert the challenges of the pandemic into several world-class innovations.  The product has been developed by the initiative and ingenuity of scientists, doctors, and engineers from several Amrita institutions coming together for one single cause – dealing with the pandemic with cutting edge and social innovations. PAPRs have the potential to help people not just in the medical field but from all walks of life, thereby creating a tangible impact on society. Once all the feedback and design improvements have been incorporated, our PAPRs will be productized and marketed by Omnex Inc. Unlike commercial PAPRs costing anywhere between Rs. 70,000 – Rs. 1,50,000, our PAPR will cost less than Rs. 30,000 per kit.”

 Omnex Inc., an international consulting, training and software development organization that specialises in managing system solutions that elevate the performance of client organisations. Commenting on the product roll-out strategies, Arun Kumar, Vice President, Omnex Global said, “Omnex Inc. has planned a usability study with 20 PAPRs by medical professionals at AIMS.  Based on the feedback from medical professionals, the product will be fine-tuned and scaled up for production. Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham and Omnex Inc. will also be applying for certifications for the PAPR product. Currently, work is in progress for gathering data for pre-certification testing requirements for NIOSH approval for US markets. We are also exploring requirements for field testing in an accredited lab of NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories).”  Amrita PAPR for medical professionals uses an H14 grade HEPA filter with more than 99.995 percent and not only weighs less at 1.4 kg, but the airflow is also more at > 10 CFM, it is less noisy as motor/blower operational noise – ≤ 68 dBA at ear and the battery pack lasts about 10-14 hours. In comparison 3M PAPR weighs 1.78 kg the airflow is slower at High Flow Nominal of 8 CFM, operating the motor is noisier at ≤ 75 dBA at ear and the battery lasts for less amount of time approximately 7-19 hours (TR-630 7-12.5 hours; TR632 10.5-19 hours). The lower noise of the battery makes communication easier.

 About Amrita Hospital

www.amritahospitals.org

 Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (Amrita Hospital), based in Kochi, is one of the premier hospitals in South Asia. Founded in 1998 by Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (known worldwide as AMMA), it offers a full range of primary and specialty care medical services. AMMA’s vision of providing advanced medical care to the poor and disadvantaged was the inspiration for Amrita Hospital, which today is an 1100-bed (490 units) tertiary referral and teaching hospital, serving more than 10 lakh outpatients and more than 70,000 inpatients annually.

 The massive healthcare infrastructure with over 3.33 million sq. ft. of built-up area, spread over 125 acres of land, supports a daily patient volume of approximately 3500 outpatients with 95 per cent inpatient occupancy. There are 12 super speciality departments, 45 other departments, 4500 support staff, and 670 faculty members. The hospital’s extensive infrastructure offers facilities comprising 28 modern operating theatres, 275 equipped intensive-care beds, a fully computerized and networked Hospital Information System (HIS), a fully digital radiology department, 17 NABL accredited clinical laboratories, and 24/7 telemedicine service.

 In 2015, South Asia’s first-ever Bilateral Hand Transplant Surgery was done at Amrita Hospital. The same year, Amrita Hospital won the British Medical Journal Award for the Best Surgical Team in South Asia. The Amrita team won the award for its two successful double hand transplants, the first and the second bilateral hand transplants in this region.

The post Amrita Hospitals and AMMACHI Labs Develop India’s Most Cost-effective PAPR kits for Frontline Healthcare Worker appeared first on PuneDiary.Com.