Topics Covered- Issues related to health
NIPAH VIRUS
Context
The cases of Nipah Virus have been reported in Kerala.
About Nipah Virus
- Nipah virus (NiV) is a zoonotic virus (it is transmitted from animals to humans) and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly between people.
- The virus belongs to a new genus termed Henipavirus (subfamily Paramyxovirinae).
- In infected people, it causes a range of illnesses from asymptomatic (subclinical) infection to acute respiratory illness and fatal encephalitis.
- The virus can also cause severe disease in animals such as pigs, resulting in significant economic losses for farmers.
- The natural hosts of the virus are fruit bats belonging to the family Pteropodidae.
- In 2004, humans were affected after eating the date palm contaminated by infected fruit bats. Pigs can also act as intermediate hosts.
- It was first identified in 1998 at Kampung Sungai Nipah village, Malaysia. The virus is named after this village.
Signs and symptoms
- Human infections range from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory infection (mild, severe), and fatal encephalitis.
- Infected people initially develop symptoms including fever, headaches, myalgia (muscle pain), vomiting and sore throat.
- This can be followed by dizziness, drowsiness, altered consciousness, and neurological signs that indicate acute encephalitis. Some people can also experience atypical pneumonia and severe respiratory problems, including acute respiratory distress.
- Encephalitis and seizures occur in severe cases, progressing to coma within 24 to 48 hours.
- The incubation period (interval from infection to the onset of symptoms) is believed to range from 4 to 14 days. However, an incubation period as long as 45 days has been reported.
Transmission
- The virus spread fast and is mostly fatal.
- Infected bats shed virus in their excretion and secretion.
- The virus cannot be transmitted through air.
- But it is transmitted through direct contact with infected bats, pigs.
- Human to Human transmission from other NiV-infected people is also reported
Diagnosis
- Initial signs and symptoms of Nipah virus infection are nonspecific, and the diagnosis is often not suspected at the time of presentation.
- This can hinder accurate diagnosis and creates challenges in outbreak detection, effective and timely infection control measures, and outbreak response activities.
- Nipah virus infection can be diagnosed with clinical history during the acute and convalescent phase of the disease.
- The main tests used are real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from bodily fluids and antibody detection via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Treatment
- There are currently no drugs or vaccines specific for Nipah virus infection.
- Intensive supportive care is given to humans infected by Nipah virus.
- Individuals infected need to be hospitalised and isolated. Special care should be taken to prevent human-to-human transmission.
- Surveillance systems should be established to detect the virus quickly and to initiate appropriate control measures.
Topic covered- Social empowerment
GLOBAL DISABILITY SUMMIT
Context
- The Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment is participating in the “2nd Global Disability Summit”.
About
- Global Disability Summit-2019 is being held by Argentina in Buenos Aires.
- The first Global Disability Summit was held in London in 2018.
- The Summit represents an opportunity to reflect on the formulation and strengthening of public policies and good practices in the different discussion panels, with the voices of people with disabilities to be at the forefront.
Objective
- The objective of the summit is to deliberate on issues across the world concerning empowerment and inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).
- To work out a mechanism for enabling them to live an independent and dignified life.
- The Summit will also be an opportunity to share, consolidate the contribution of Latin America to this global space of exchange and reiterate commitments made in the Latin America region for the rights of persons with disabilities.
Topic covered- Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.
ECONOMIC CENSUS -2019
Context
- Workshop for State Level Training of Trainers on 7th Economic Census for NCT of Delhi has been organized.
- The participants (Master Trainers) were trained on the key concepts and definitions, processes, digital platform and application to be used for the enumeration (data capture and supervision) in the field.
About Economic Census
- Economic Census is the complete count of all establishment located within the geographical boundary of India.
- The Economic Census provides disaggregated information on various operational and structural variables of all establishments of the country.
- Economic Census also provides valuable insight into geographical spread/clusters of economic activities, ownership pattern, persons engaged, etc. of all economic establishments in the country.
- The information collected during Economic Census are useful for socio-economic developmental planning at state and district levels.
- Economic Census provides an updated sampling frame for follow- up enterprise surveys undertaken for detailed and comprehensive analysis of all establishments in the country.
Economic Census-2019
- The Seventh Economic Census (7th EC) is being conducted by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in 2019.
- In the current Economic Census, MoSPI has partnered with CSC e-Governance Services India Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology as the implementing agency for 7th EC.
- In the 7th EC, an IT based digital platform for data capture, validation, report generation and dissemination will be used.
- The fieldwork for the 7th EC is likely to commence by the end of June 2019 or next month. The results of the exercise will be made available after verification and validation of the field work.
- Economic Census will cover all establishments including household enterprises, engaged in production or distribution of goods/services (other than for the sole purpose of own consumption) in non-farm agricultural and non-agricultural sector will be counted.
