[AZT]

Maharashtra bans Baba Ramdev's 'spurious' coronavirus treatment

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India’s richest state on Thursday banned a “spurious” coronavirus treatment manufactured by a company founded by a popular yoga guru, which he says has a 100% record in curing patients.
Baba Ramdev, co-founder of Patanjali and a household name in India, launched Coronil to much fanfare on Tuesday, but hit a roadblock when New Delhi and some state governments expressed scepticism.
The western state of Maharashtra banned the drug.
“Maharashtra won’t allow the sale of spurious medicine,” state minister Anil Deshmukh tweeted on Thursday, adding authorities would probe whether any clinical trials had been run.

Read More: https://in.reuters.com/article/us-he...-idINKBN23W28K

[Miyata]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

a practice to mix a small amount of methanol with ethanol

True. It is referred to popularly as "denaturing" the ethanol. Wide range of denaturants are used with methanol being among the more common one. Typically, something from <1% to 5% (or so) is the denaturant concentration.

In my work I often needed to used some of these chemicals (including methanol) and often used 99.99% pure ethanol.

In the article I shared (methanol in hand-sanitizers), there are reports of up to 80% methanol in the hand-sanitizers! That is way too toxic. Small fractions (of methanol) coming in through use of denatured ethanols may not pose all that much of a risk.

For home use, isopropanol is certainly considered least disruptive while being equally efficient as ethanol.

I am also familiar with a few cases - one in particular from a premier Indian institution - where a lab attendant consumed methanol and eventually expired.

Originally Posted by mvadg

from Amazon

I am sure you are already taking necessary precautions. Doesn't hurt to remind ourselves off and on - be a bit (extra) cautious when ordering such consumables online where the risk of counterfeit products could be very high...more so at a time when good profits are to be had with preying on the nCov fear that's gripping people the world over.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by Miyata

I am sure you are already taking necessary precautions. Doesn't hurt to remind ourselves off and on - be a bit (extra) cautious when ordering such consumables online where the risk of counterfeit products could be very high...more so at a time when good profits are to be had with preying on the nCov fear that's gripping people the world over.

One simple test that I do for alcohol content is to burn a teaspoonful of the sanitizer - so far all of them have burned with a blue flame leaving almost no reside. The other thing is to check the weight. The specific gravity of 70 percent isopropyl alcohol is about 0.8 so when they sell you 500ml, it weighs only 400gms.

[ritz3645]

I use rubbing alcohol instead of regular sanitizer. Usually buy bottle of 100 ml of 25%v/v ethanol for Rs 20/-. 25%v/v or 25 part ethanol rest distill water is medical grade. Rub & leave it for 30 second.

[Thad E Ginathom]

We still have stock of IPA from when we were disinfecting everything post-2015-flood. I have kept a bottle of water/ipa plus a few drops of washing-up liquid on my desk for years. Once upon a time it was for cleaning vinyl LPs. Good for spectacles, phones and other stuff. It used to be about 70% IPA, now, for virus wars, I make it about 90%.

My wife got a 5-ltr can from a business friend: it has a decent smell. Small bottles, that we got from a nearby electronics company, smell rather nasty, and must be adulterated as mentioned above. Actually, a friend fetched it for us when we were up to our necks in the mud. He is an engineer/scientist (works on Philips medical ventilators ) and commented that it was not pure.

[Miyata]

In another news - I have long awaited this and had expected it to originate from Japan -

Korean Scientists Develop COVID-19 Testing Bots As Health Care Workers Substitute

scientists from Korea has developed a robot for administering nasal swab coronavirus tests for patients. To avoid transmitting the virus from patients to health care workers and vice versa, scientists believe that this machine could soon be a standard in hospitals worldwide.

The system is controlled by a joystick, which allows the staff to maneuver the machine from another room, watching through a screen. The machine then probes the nose with a long nasal swab to grab samples from deep within the nasal cavity.

A link to

the video

Source

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by ritz3645

I use rubbing alcohol instead of regular sanitizer. Usually buy bottle of 100 ml of 25%v/v ethanol for Rs 20/-. 25%v/v or 25 part ethanol rest distill water is medical grade. Rub & leave it for 30 second.

Not sure if this is a good sanitizer - I think 60% minimum is required to kill/deactivate the virus. Rubbing alcohol is isopropyl alcohol, so I'm not sure I understood what you were trying to convey.

[AltoLXI]

Anthony Fauci is suggesting "pool testing" where multiple samples will be collected and tested. Quite a nice idea though. But will not mixing the samples affect the test as a whole?

The way "pool testing" works is by mixing together several samples together into a "batch," or pool, and then test the pooled sample with one diagnostic test. This way you can test a group of, for example, 25 people with one test rather than 25 separate diagnostic tests. If the test comes back negative, then you have eliminated 25 people with one test. If you get a positive result, you go back and test people individually.

Link

Link 2

As an aside : In computer science we have this concept of multiplexer / demultiplexer. In a multiplexer, multiple inputs are provided producing a single output thereby reducing the number of channels.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by proton

I've posted elsewhere he is the person who with his team pulled Spain out of the hole it dug itself into. He goes under the same avatar on Dailyrounds and other medical forums. He has handled both the covid 19 and the Ebola epidemics in Europe and Africa, has several papers on epidemics presented to worldwide seminar audiences, is in charge of the official covid 19 program in Eastern and Central Europe.

If that is the case, pray tell his real name. Someone so eminent with published papers should not need to hide behind such handles. Why has there been no news reported in established media of him, his achievements and the fact that the government of India has hired him?

[proton]

Originally Posted by Lobogris

If that is the case, pray tell his real name. Someone so eminent with published papers should not need to hide behind such handles. Why has there been no news reported in established media of him, his achievements and the fact that the government of India has hired him?

I looked up Dailyrounds and Doximity, but couldn’t get in because it requires registration, and possibly an MBBS degree. Maybe you could try:

https://techenclave.com/community/th...9/post-2198494

7. I've done my job both in my country ( Czechia) and in the busiest hospital in Spain during the peak there (24*7 for 2 weeks straight, you have no clue of how hard I work when needed)
Go back some pages, there are some pictures too.

I'm off duty for now and your Indian government is paying me to plan for them ( plus some teaching jobs here)
You don't have to believe in anything, ask the DG of ICMR about "external help", if you're important enough, will get a prompt reply. BTW I'm still a member of Doximity and Dailyrounds with same name and picture, you are welcome to check my credentials there ( there are reasons for which Indian government is paying me so much money just for planning).

Or maybe you have the required influence to get the information from the ICMR directly or even check the authenticity of this exchange:

https://techenclave.com/community/th...9/post-2197230

Highlights of my interview with some lady (the email from someone @ ICMR.... very high up in the central government and Central health ministry!!)
A Skype call from India ( 8pm @ Praha)
1. Hi, I'm ################# ( the most powerful person you have ever interacted with)
Me: ok mam, I'm already scared.
2. So you are an Indian, completed your studies here yet working in EU, why?
Me: Err.. don't know mam, got better job here.
3. So money is everything to you, you won't work for your country!!??
Me: no mam, I will, but my consultation fee is fixed, I've a family to feed, living cost is 10 times here.
4. So you don't understand the situation "your country is in"? Haven't you heard about the epidemic?
Me: yes mam, I have. Epidemics are not new to me. I worked in the busiest hospital in Spain. I have 7 papers on Ebola. I'm not Indian anymore.
5. Gets furious...you can work in Africa / Spain for free, not India!! You should be ashamed.
Me: err..Spain was not free, neither was Africa. WHO pays me for all the services.
6. You know WHO is responsible for everything.
Me: no mam, not for everything. But yes, we made mistakes.
7. Don't you feel that you should share the blame and work for free .
Me: getting irritated..mam, it's going nowhere, ICMR requested me, if you find my fees too high, please stop wasting time. I have things to do.
8. I am way more busy doc!! Unlike you, we love our country and live here.
Me: ok mam, good night and thanks for calling.
9. No, no!! You can't hang up like that, I have to brief 50 people in health ministry. We will pay your fees. But you should be ashamed of yourself.
Me: ok mam, I'm really ashamed. Shall we get to work now? Please email me the contract papers/ any other paperworks.
10. I don't do those petty things myself. My secretary will do everything.
Me: ok mam.
11. You should be ashamed of yourself ( with a deep sigh...you disappointed me son!!)
Me: disconnects.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Please... let us leave out the maybe fictional anonymous sources from other forums.

I've read articles in UK's The Guardian by NHS employees who do not want to, or are not permitted to, go public. I can be sure enough for myself to trust that a reputable newspaper has checked its source, because that is what such reputable newspapers do. Internet forums, unless you can show otherwise, do not do that: they have neither the time nor the resources to do so.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

Anthony Fauci is suggesting "pool testing" where multiple samples will be collected and tested. Quite a nice idea though. But will not mixing the samples affect the test as a whole?...

It's not perfect, it's not meant to be conclusive in any way, but it can work great as a 'preliminary' check to enable large-scale testing quickly.

[proton]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Please... let us leave out the maybe fictional anonymous sources from other forums.

I've read articles in UK's The Guardian by NHS employees who do not want to, or are not permitted to, go public. I can be sure enough for myself to trust that a reputable newspaper has checked its source, because that is what such reputable newspapers do. Internet forums, unless you can show otherwise, do not do that: they have neither the time nor the resources to do so.

Ok, but his observation that of the 95 percent who are affected lightly, 20 percent can die, bears attention. Especially since some of them have a blood oxygen level of 53 percent, but show no indications: happy hypoxia.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

It's not perfect, it's not meant to be conclusive in any way, but it can work great as a 'preliminary' check to enable large-scale testing quickly.

Sewage testing is the answer.

Sewage Testing for COVID-19 Shows Dramatic Increase in Virus During Yellow Phase

Dr. Howard Nadworny, who had the idea to join the study, said it tracks trends more quickly than testing, and detects those mild or asymptomatic cases too. "Almost 200 thousand people who are part of the sewer district are providing samples that are all being collected and mixed together, and it allows us to get an idea of how many infections may be out there beyond what we can test because we're still limited in our testing," Nadworny said.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by proton

Ok, but his observation that of the 95 percent who are affected lightly, 20 percent can die, bears attention. Especially since some of them have a blood oxygen level of 53 percent, but show no indications: happy hypoxia.

That is a scary number. And yes, that's one of the reasons that we invested in a Pulse Oximeter.

I find this pretty scary too, because the patients that are being written about here are probably, statistically, filed under recovered, but it is not the first report I've read of corvid19 having massive after-effects. If that's the right word.

I'm a physiotherapist. Seeing the impact of Covid on survivors will haunt me forever (The Guardian)