Govind Gujar: entomologist's journey to understand the Society we live in

 29 January 2021 What is it like to be in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the well-known super-speciality hospital? Most of my impressions of the ICUs are those images of Covid19 patients with so many medical gadgets in recent times on foreign TVs, and also of Indian hero or heroine being filmed with so many medical gadgets showing graphs or curves; and hero or heroine putting up a heroic fight to survive. Fortunately, I or my nears or dears did not have to be in ICUs, although we have had our share of visits to hospitals or being hospitalised for one or another ailment in the past. So, when my total knee replacement was planned, the surgeon informed me that I will be kept for a day in the ICU after surgery as per protocol. I told him that this is not the kind of emergency surgery, and I, being relatively healthy, may not need to be in the ICU. But hospitals have their own ways of taking care of patients and I fell in line with their protocol. After bilateral total knee replacement, m

  Do the hospitals need a dietician to advise what food is best for the patients? Or Should the dieticians’ role be restricted as what not to eat in view of Indian patients’ craze for ghar-ka-khana (home-made food)?   Although I argue with my wife about the food and food preparation, I must admit that I eat the healthy food at home. And this realization is not as of now. But, food as a subject came in to sharp focus when I had to eat food in the hospital for just seven days during my ‘Bilateral total knee joint surgery” at the Delhi’s super-specialty hospital last week (Jan 11-17). In the past, I often glanced over the columns of dieticians advising people what is to eat for healthy living. But, more often, I just ignored the advices therein. My refrain: You cannot always live life by them. I have also read miracles occurring to some obese or thin people shaping their body through diet control and exercise, but did not believe in them. So let me get back to diet in the hospital

  This is an interview that I gave to my planted questions. Most answers are “I do not know”. Here is an opportunity for you to make your opinion loud and clear. 1. What is immunity? A: It is ability to tolerate or overcome infection of pathogen and thus do not get infected with disease 2. What is herd immunity A: It is an ability of a discrete population to acquire an immunity across members. 3. How is herd immunity acquired A: Either naturally in case the pathogen has variable level of causing less than fatal diseases or by vaccination (caveat-This could be wrong answer). 4. At what % of members of population will you say that population has now herd immunity A: I do not know. Some say 80% acquiring it. 5. Will Govt of India be able to achieve herd immunity by mid-year 2021 or later, as it aims to vaccinate 30 Crore people by July? A: I do not know. This is just 21.7% of total population. 6. Will vaccination of elderly people achieve herd immunity earlier than t

  On this historic day, the 3 rd January 2021, the Drug Controller General of India has given an emergency approval to two vaccines, Covishield of Oxford-AstraZeneca and Covaxin of Bharat Biotech-NIV-ICMR to fight the Covid19 coronavirus that has caused pandemic ( https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1685761 ).  With approval, there is a sense of relief amongst people as this virus Co-V2 has so far infected more than 10 million and caused deaths of about 1,46,000 so far in India and a lot more world-wide within a short time of one year. Covishield is also approved in UK after satisfactory results of 3 rd phase of trials involving more than 26,000 volunteers in many countries of the Europe and also in India. Covaxin, an indigenous vaccine is developed using inactivated virus which still retains its ability to develop antibodies inside the body to fight the live viral infection, as and when that occurs. This approach to develop vaccine is time-tested as it has been done for

 The year 2020 will not be forgotten, whatever you may try or how much you aim for. It will remind us of what one of the smallest organisms, inanimate on its own and animate when infected, can do to us. A virus, invisible to eyes, far small even for microscopic viewing, and decipherable with electron microscope, made our lives miserable within a year of its outbreak. This virus SARS Co-V2 (photo below) caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the infected humans belonged to coronavirus class has an inner core, a heritable genetic material, inside its proteinaceous cover with spikes, to attach to the host cell like those in nose or throat. Once attached and inserted into the host cell, this virus's genetic material also called RNA, which is made up of only 29,891 bases (as compared to human's 3 billion bases), multiplies and dominates over to spread infection and express symptoms like fever, body pain, throat dryness and cough, choking respiration and may be nervous sy