20 BJP MLAs ready to join Congress: KPCC chief

Mangaluru, May 9: A team of doctors at Mangaluru's Mangala Hospital has developed a 'bubble helmet' that will provide an alternative to patients who need an oxygen mask.

The team was led by Dr Ganapathi, medical director of Mangala Hospital and Mangala Kidney Foundation in the city.

The bubble helmet, which has a special collar attached to it, helps the patients with breathing issues, and to avoid using ventilator facility.

Dr Ganapathi said, "When a patient needs intubation we will be providing them oxygen bubble helmets and we will first give it a trial before we intubate a patient."

"I have converted an ordinary snorkelling mask into a ventilator assist device, this mask can be used as a personal protection device by connecting it to a bacterial viral filter," he added.

Dr Ganapathi said that the connector has been made available in India and a snorkelling mask can be easily converted into a ventilator assist device. And it will make the management of coronavirus patients easy.

Mysuru, Mar 13: A state-of-the-art viral research laboratory in the city has been identified as one of the testing laboratories for the detection of COVID-19, official sources said here on Friday.

The samples of suspected cases could be sent to the lab for analysis and it would take about three hours to get the results.

The Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL), which was set up from Central grants and functions at the Microbiology Department of K.R. Hospital, has been authorised to carry out the tests. This lab in Mysuru is among the 52-plus laboratories in the country.

Though the VRDL is equipped to carry out the tests, the sole authority of confirming the virus lies with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. VRDL is also the sole agency for collection and transportation of suspected samples of COVID-19 to NIV.

VRDL, which is part of the Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, functions on the advice of NIV.

According to the guidelines issued by ICMR, the results of the tests done here have to be shared with NIV the same day and the labs are not supposed to disclose the results since the NIV is the only authority to declare positive cases. Also, confirmation from the NIV should be awaited in case the samples test negative for COVID-19. The ICMR, in the guidelines made available on its website, has advised clinicians at labs to isolate the patient tested positive for COVID-19 in the identified facility and follow bio-safety precautions.

VRDL is a part of a network of labs established by the Department of Health Research, Government of India. The rise in the number of viral outbreaks and the resultant mortality had been cited as key reasons for the launch of network of such hi-tech labs in the country.

The NIV and the National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi, are the top laboratories for the network, while the National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, is the supervising authority for the data generated by the network of labs, sources added.

Mangaluru, Mar 23: People in Thukkottu and Ullal area of Mangaluru are in panic after a local woman who recently returned from a foreign country fell ill.

On receiving information the health officials from Ullal PHC visited the house of the woman, who is suffering from fever and cold. They provided her medicines and asked her to remain quarantined at home.

It is said that the woman's mother, who had come to a grocery shop near Thokkottu, informed the shopkeeper that her daughter, who had returned from abroad, was suffering from fever.

The alert shopkeeper, understanding the gravity of the situation, informed ZP Standing Committee on Health and Education President Dhanalakshmi Gatti, who in turn brought the issue to the notice of health officials.

The health officials rushed to her house and diagnosed her. However, the authorities have requested the local people not to be panicked as it is not yet confirmed whether the woman is suffering from COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus.