• A study published in the ‘Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, described an outbreak of tuberculosis linked to contaminated bone allografts in the US.

• On July 7, 2023, a patient who had spinal fusion surgery, which incorporated a bone allograft, experienced symptoms of meningitis about 5 weeks after surgery. On testing, Mycobacterium tuberculosis was identified in the patient's cerebrospinal fluid.

• Similarly, on July 11, 2023, a patient complained of a persistent surgical site infection after using the same bone allograft during a back surgery. Drainage from the site also showed M. tuberculosis.

• Within hours of this July 11, 2023 case, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommended that any unused units of tissue be quarantined and recipients be evaluated and started on multidrug treatment for TB disease, regardless of signs and symptoms. This quick notification prevented at least 53 subsequent transplants with the contaminated tissue. However, the two initial cases succumbed to death.

• These incidents are a reminder that TB has not been eliminated in the US and stress the need for screening of donor tissue.

• A policy for the implementation of Transition of care (ToC) has been proposed by a team of doctors at DGHS, which says:

1. The pediatric team at a hospital will organize joint clinics for patients to be transitioned to the adult care team.

2. They will also transfer the complete record to the latter to provide uninterrupted care to the youths with special healthcare needs.

3. A follow-up on the transition will also be done 3-6 months after the actual transfer of the patient.

• DGHS has requested health officials in all states to circulate the policy among all healthcare facilities.

• DGHS has also requested the National Medical Council to include the transition of care (ToC) policy in the postgraduate curriculum of pediatrics and internal medicine.

• Camptothecin (CPT) is an important anti-cancer molecule for high-value drugs such as topotecan and irinotecan and it is a potent inhibitor of topoisomerase I.

• Camptothecin is commercially extracted in India from Nothapodytes nimmoniana, an endangered plant. Due to overexploitation to meet market demand, the main plant source here is now listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

• Considering the importance of facilitating the development of this drug, researchers at the Plant Cell Technology Laboratory at IIT Madras developed a genome-scale metabolic model for N nimoniana plant cells. These cells are grown using computer tools.

• The research model resulted in the development of an N. nimmoniana cell line with a camptothecin yield 5 times higher than that of an untransformed plant cell line.

• Case Western Reserve University researchers analyzed mortality in patients with Pseudomonas Blood Stream Infection(PA-BSI) and COVID-19 co-infections.

• A comparison of the pre-COVID-19 period with the COVID-19 period was done according to a report published in Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology(ASHE).

• A total of 6714 PA-BSI patients were identified and enrolled in the trial.

• Mortality was considerably greater in COVID-19-positive individuals with pseudomonas infection. On applying the modified Poisson analysis, COVID-19 co-infection was related to a 44% higher death rate.

• The study concluded that two reasons are responsible for the higher mortality among patients infected with PA-BSI and COVID-19 which include Pandemic-related staffing shortages and lack of infectious disease expertise.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is a survey undertaken by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Ministry of Statistics, and Programme Implementation to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators.

It includes the following:

• Worker Population Ratio (WPR)- indicates the percentage of employed persons in the population.

• The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR)- indicates the percentage of the labor force present in the population.

•  Unemployment Rate (UR)- indicates the percentage of people unemployed in the labor force.

The findings of the recent survey (2022-2023) include:

• The LFPR (57.9%), WPR (56%), and UR(3.2%) for 2022-2023, mapping a sharp upward trajectory this year.

• The female workforce participation rate in urban areas has increased from 18.6% to 22.3% between January-March 2022 and April-June 2023.

• Delhi Arogya Kosh provides financial assistance to the extent of Rs. 5 lacs to eligible patients for treatment of any illness /disease in government hospitals.

• The Delhi Arogya Kosh (DAK) has five components/schemes:

1. Financial assistance to EWS patients

2. Free High-End Radiological Diagnostic Test Scheme

3. Cashless Specified Surgeries scheme

4. RTA (Road Traffic Accident) Scheme (Farishtey Scheme)

5. Cashless Dialysis Scheme

According to the data, till 2023, the following number of citizens availed of the services:

• 1,04,156 beneficiaries - Free radiological tests like MRI, CT, X-Ray, etc.

• 2,245  beneficiaries - Cashless dialysis,

• 3,004  beneficiaries - Specified surgeries,

• 3,604  beneficiaries - Farishtey scheme,

• 684 EWS  beneficiaries - Received Financial Assistance.

• According to 2019 Indian estimates, only 17.3% of treated men and 18.5% of women successfully manage their BP. 

• Participants receiving phone calls from doctors and clinics saw over a two-fold increase in follow-up during a recent study in Mumbai.

• A year-long study conducted by PATH and Resolve to Save Lives in Mumbai showed that adherence to hypertension treatment medication required more than just a prescription.

• The results of the study were as follows:

1. 82% of the patients visited the clinic for follow-up within one month of receiving a phone call, which was meant to reinforce treatment adherence.

2. BP control rates among those who received the call increased from 23.6% to 48.8%.

• The study concluded that a phone call from the clinic increased the rates of follow-ups in hypertensive patients.

• India has reported a total of more than 1000 cases of JN.1 COVID-19 sub-variant as of 2nd week of January 2024.

• A total of 1,013 cases of JN.1 have been detected till now across the 16 states and UTs as reported by INSACOG

• The Center has issued an advisory to states because of the recent upsurge in COVID cases, which includes the following strategies:

1. District-wise reporting of influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory illness in all health facilities

2. Adequate testing in all districts

3. Genome sequencing for timely detection of new variant

4. Promotion of community awareness on management of COVID-19, including adherence to respiratory hygiene.

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified JN.1 as a separate "variant of interest" given its rapidly increasing spread, but it poses a "low" global public health risk.

• The government's Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) program, which supports farmers, witnessed a 20% drop in beneficiaries.

• The total beneficiary list has come down to 8.12 crore from a peak of 10.47 crore in April-July 2022.

• Under the scheme, financial benefit of Rs 6000/- per year is transferred in three equal monthly installments into the bank accounts of farmers’ families through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.

• The decline in beneficiaries has been attributed to the mandatory land seeding provisions and aadhaar linkage, leading to a decrease in annual disbursements. To saturate and cover all eligible beneficiaries by January 2024, Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra was launched in November 2023.

• GoI to increase the utilization of the scheme, the government has also developed PM-KISAN mobile app with the feature of face authentication-based e-KYC and Kisan e-Mitra (AI Chatbot), which offers digital assistance in various languages.