DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

19 May, 2020
8 Min Read

Preparing for a syndemic

Preparing for a syndemic

By,Chirantan Chatterjee is a faculty member at IIM Ahmedabad and Visiting Fellow at Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Introduction

The World Health Organization has announced that COVID-19 will likely never go away. Experts warn that there will be a second wave of infections.

Syndemic situation may arise

Meanwhile, some people have also raised the alarm about diseases like dengue and malaria in the upcoming monsoon season.

A syndemic is a situation when two or more epidemics interact synergistically to produce an increased burden of disease in a population, a situation first described by medical anthropologist Merrill Singer in the mid-1990s.

Increased burden of disease

The 1957 Asian influenza pandemic, for example, showed that deaths then could be not only due to the primary viral infection, but also due to secondary bacterial infections among influenza patients; in short, they were caused by a viral/bacterial syndemic.

Meanwhile, researchers have shown that in Kisumu, Kenya, 5% of HIV infections are due to higher HIV infectiousness of malaria-infected HIV patients.

Co-morbities

Some also say that we need to watch out for secondary bacterial infection in those with weakened immunity due to COVID-19.

Given that antibiotics resistance across the world is already a problem, the medical community needs to be aware of co-morbidities, especially if COVID-19 deepens as a syndemic in populations with antibiotic resistance.

Solutions

1. If that happens, along with large-scale population testing, societies around the world will also have to consider innovations in population health surveillance technology and develop creative business models at a scale potentially unheard of in recent times.

MIT alumnus Inder Singh’s startup, Kinsa, makes smart thermometers that are already making waves in the U.S. Many argue that Kinsa thermometers could be the key to constantly monitoring temperatures.

2. Another solution is to monitor oxygen levels in the brain daily through a pulse oximeter.

It turns out that COVID-19 is causing happy hypoxia, where lack of oxygen in the brain is going undetected till things become too late.

Way Ahead

But broadly, societies with resource-constrained settings, where even an economical pooled testing strategy might be difficult to enforce due to financial reasons, should evaluate innovative population health surveillance technologies to complement testing.
This is especially important as there is a rising likelihood of COVID-19 becoming endemic and also probably syndemic.
Added to this is the complexity of the upcoming dengue and malaria season.
Closing State borders, discriminating against migrants returning to their home States, and quarantining them in public locations may not be a viable option going forward if India is peaking on the COVID-19 curve.
The time has come to look at testing/tracing/isolating as well as ideas to deploy population health surveillance technologies like smart thermometers and oximeters.

Source: TH

Join Our Telegram

Voice clone-AI

Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana

06 Feb, 24
SHARE

Recently, Prime Minister announced Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana under which 1 crore households will get rooftop solar power systems. India’s Status of Current Solar Capacity India currently stands at 4th place globally in solar power capacity. As per Ministry of New an

Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA)- NGO

06 Feb, 24
SHARE

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) registration of two prominent non-governmental organisations (NGOs) — Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and World Vision India (WVI) have been cancelled this month. What is FCRA? Key provisions of FCRA, 2010 Key aspects Description

Voice clone-AI

06 Feb, 24
SHARE

Voice clone fraud has been on the rise in India. AI voice cloning – It is the process of creating a synthetic replica of a person’s voice through machine learning and speech synthesis technology.It is called as voice deepfakesor audio deepfakes. Objective – To achieve a high level of na

Science communication- how to promote

06 Feb, 24
SHARE

Steps taken by India to promote Science Communication Publications and Information Directorate (PID) - An organisation under Council of Science and Industrial Research (CSIR) established in 1951 for publishing and disseminating scientific information in India. National science magazines- The PI

Universal Basic Income (UBI)- Analysis

05 Feb, 24
SHARE

Universal Basic Income (UBI) can strengthen welfare architecture and unlock the nation’s latent demographic potential. UBI - It is an income support mechanism typically intended to reach all or a very large portion of the population regardless of their earnings or employment status. Objective- To provide enough to co