- Indian Heritage
- Culture
- Modern Indian history
- The Freedom Struggle
- Post-independence
- Indian Society
A. population and associated issues
B. poverty and developmental issues
C.urbanization
7. Geographical features
8.Indian Constitution
9. Polity
10. Governance
A. institutions
B. regulatory
C. Government policies
D. role of NGOs
E. measures
11. Social Justice
A. Welfare schemes
B Health
Blood bank study reveals true incidence of Long COVID
he pandemic has claimed over seven million lives officially, but the actual death toll is believed to be much higher. Among COVID19 survivors, a significant number develop longterm health problems. The World Health Organization uses the term Long COVID for individuals experiencing such symptoms for over three months without another explanation.
Unfortunately, measuring chronic illness and disability resulting from COVID19 has been challenging due to various factors. While binary outcomes like deaths and ICU admissions are easily counted, tracking slowonset health issues is more difficult. This is further complicated by the fact that new health problems can arise even without SARSCoV2 infection. Consequently, studies utilising different methodologies have reported a wide range of Long COVID incidence rates. A recent study in JAMA Network Open has aimed to address this issue by comparing people who had COVID19 with those who did not.
The researchers utilised the U.S. blood donor data from 2,38,828 individuals, leveraging antibody test results from the preOmicron era to identify individuals who had COVID19. Specifically, they looked for the presence of antinucleocapsid (antiN) antibodies, which indicates past natural infection. The advan
Ttage is that it also identifies people who had asymptomatic infection and those who were infected but did not get tested. The two COVID19 vaccines used in the U.S. do not elicit the antiN antibody, thus distinguishing natural infection from COVID19 vaccination.
Participants were categorised into those who tested positive for the antiN antibody and those who did not. A diagnosis of COVID19 by a healthcare professional or a positive COVID19 test was also accepted as evidence of infection. Essentially, the researchers were able to distinguish individuals who genuinely had COVID19 from those who did not, using robust parameters. This differs from other studies that may have relied on selfreported COVID19 diagnoses, which tend to be less reliable. The researchers discovered that 43.3% of individuals with confirmed SARSCoV2 infections experienced new symptoms lasting four weeks or longer, after recovering from COVID. Among those without infection, 22.1% reported newonset symptoms, as might be expected in the general population. This indicated that 21.2%, or the difference between 43.3% and 22.1%, had longterm health problems genuinely resulting from SARSCoV2 infection. Among them, 84.5% were still experiencing symptoms, while 15.5% said that their symptoms had resolved.
Neurological symptoms were reported by 23.6%, while 23.1% experienced other problems such as changes in taste or smell, and 15.8% had cardiac or respiratory symptoms. The two most common individual longterm symptoms were difficulty thinking or concentrating (12.7%) and fatigue (11.1%). Surprisingly, the picture of mental health was different. Among those without infection, as many as 9.8% developed mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. The incidence was only slightly higher at 11.9% among those with prior infection. This is attributed to loneliness, fear of infection or death of oneself or loved ones, bereavement and financial worries that affect people regardless of their infection status. The WHO noted a 25% increase in anxiety and depression in 2022 due to these factors. Therefore, a key takeaway is that a pandemic impacts the mental wellbeing of the entire population not just those who got COVID.
Among those who had a prior infection in the study, one out of six people (16.5%) said that their current physical health was worse than before the pandemic. For those without prior infection, the corresponding percentage was 10.9%. Although symptoms lasting over a year are common, the study also reveals that Long COVID resolves in a significant number of cases. Accordingly, household pulse surveys in the U.S. indicate that the percentage of people currently experiencing Long COVID has remained steady, with 10% of adults with prior COVID19 (equivalent to 7% of all adults) still affected by it.
Studies from India show that Long COVID is less common following Omicron infection compared to previous variants. A study from AIIMS Bhubaneswar found that 8.2% of individuals developed longterm symptoms following Omicron infection, compared to 29.2% with the Delta variant. They found that the risk of Long COVID is heightened with repeated infections. A limitation of the current study is that it did not measure antibodies at subsequent time points, potentially missing individuals who were infected afterward. They could have incorrectly classified people as uninfected controls. The study also excluded people who were not healthy enough to donate blood, focusing on those with relatively mild outcomes.
(Rajeev Jayadevan is cochairman of the National IMA COVID task Force)
C. Education
D. Human Resources
E. poverty and hunger
12. International relations
A. India and its neighbourhood
B. groupings and agreements
Kwatra meets U.S. officials, reviews progress of strategic partnership
oreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra has met U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defence Kathleen Hicks and discussed the importance of expanding the scope of bilateral military engagements, the Pentagon said on Saturday.
Mr. Kwatra is in the U.S. for a series of meetings with senior officials of the U.S. government and interaction with industry leaders to advance bilateral cooperation in areas such as defence and technology.
Ms. Hicks and Mr. Kwatra discussed priorities for strengthening the U.S.India defence partnership, including the implementation of the road map for the U.S.India Defence Industrial Cooperation, Pentagon spokesperson Eric Pahon said.
The two officials underscored the historic momentum in the Major Defence Partnership in support of a free and open
FIndoPacific, an statement said. official
Military engagements
They applauded the efforts by both countries to advance the coproduction of fighter jet engines and armoured vehicles, as well as the continued success of the IndiaU.S. Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS◣) in promoting innovation and partnerships between U.S. and Indian researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors, it said.
They also spoke about the importance of expanding the scope of U.S.India military engagements to strengthen cooperation across all domains while highlighting the shared efforts to promote stability and security in the IndoPacific, Mr. Pahon said.
They also discussed a range of regional security issues and committed to collaborating closely in support of a shared vision for a free and open IndoPacific, the statement said.
Bilateral cooperation
Mr. Kwatra met senior officials of the U.S. government and interacted with industry leaders to advance bilateral cooperation in areas such as defence and technology in his trip.
He held meetings with Richard Verma, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, Kurt Campbell, Deputy Secretary of State, as well as other senior officials.
He also held discussions with key officials at the National Security Council, the
Department of Defence, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Energy. He met representatives of leading thinktanks and chambers of commerce.
“The visit is in keeping with the tradition of regular highlevel exchanges between the two countries and provided an opportunity to further advance our growing and futureoriented partnership,” the statement issued by the Indian Embassy said.
Mr. Kwatra reviewed the progress made towards further consolidating the IndiaU.S. Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, it said.
“These discussions spanned the entire gamut of IndiaU.S. ties, growing defence and commercial ties, supply chain resilience and contemporary regional developments,” it said.
C.Indian diaspora
13. Economic Development
A. Government Budgeting
B. industrial
E.issues
14. Technology
15. Environment
16. Security
17. Disaster Management
Concurrent heatwaves, sea level rises pose a threat to coastlines
Concurrent occurrences of heatwaves and extreme shortterm sea level rise at the same coastal locations significantly increased between 1998 and 2017 when compared to the preceding twenty years, as per a study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.
The study also suggests that these events may be five times more likely to occur between 2025 and 2049 under a modelled high emissions scenario.
A socalled ‘concurrent heatwave and extreme sea level’ (CHWESL) event is when a heatwave and an extreme shortterm sea level rise occur at the same coastal location over the same time period.
This can pose a serious threat to coastal communities. Yet, there has so far been little research into the characteristics and occurrences of these events.
Shuo Wang and Mo
Zhou from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, investigated CHWESL events worldwide between 1979 and 2017 and projected future events between 2025 and 2049 under a high emissions climate scenario (the IPCC’s SSP58.5 scenario). The authors only included events occurring in the extended summer season, spanning May to September in the Northern Hemisphere, and November to March in the Southern
Hemisphere. The authors found that approximately 88% of the world’s coastlines experienced a CHWESL event during the period 19792017. Approximately 39% of coastlines recorded a significant increase in the total duration of CHWESL conditions experienced over a year during the period 19982017 compared to during 19791998, with tropical regions more likely to experience a greater increase.
The authors also found a significant association between heatwave intensity and the probability of a CHWESL event occurring, with a 1% increase in heatwave intensity associated with an approximately 2% increase in the probability of a CHWESL event occurring. From their projections, the authors suggest that global coastal areas could experience on average 38 days of CHWESL conditions each year between 2025 and 2049, an increase of 31 days compared to the historical period of 19892013.
The authors conclude that CHWESL events could pose a significant threat to coastal communities, particularly from the risks of excess heat to human health.
They note that countries in tropical areas are likely to be the most severely affected, and that many of these countries are low or middleincome countries which may struggle to cope with the effects.
Thin oil films enable water mixtures sans surfactant
Thin oil films adsorbed onto the surface of water droplets lead to anomalously stable, surfactant free oil and water mixtures, according to a new study. The findings demonstrate a mechanism for stabilizing water droplets in a water oil emulsification without the need for a surfactant. It could have important technological applications, including the creation of very pure and controlled materials. Oil and water cannot form homogenous mixtures. Instead, when combined, an emulsion is formed.