Covid India updates: It's World Immunization week, how vaccine helps you battle coronavirus

The resurgence and exponential spread of Covid-19 has brought great challenges to our healthcare system. Most deaths are a result of respiratory failure due to significant injury to the lungs. We have also learnt that the virus may affect all parts of the digestive system including the food pipe, stomach, intestine, liver and pancreas. This has implications in the diagnosis, management, and transmission of the disease.

Here are a few facts on liver and the impact a Covid-19 infection can have on it:

The common causes of chronic liver disease in our country include alcohol abuse, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and autoimmunity. The immune system of these patients is weak, and they must remain extra careful as there is an increased risk for severe illness due to the virus. Liver injury due to the virus in patients with pre-existing chronic liver disease who may lead to acute on chronic liver failure (ACLF). More severe the Covid infection, greater is the extent of liver injury. Most medications used for treatment of Covid-19 also tend to injure the liver and there is a need for close monitoring and dosage adjustment as required.

Several messages circulating on WhatsApp and social media claim that women shouldn't take COVID 19 vaccine 5 days before and after their menstrual cycle.

Here's the truth about it:

A new coronavirus strain that is airborne and more potent than all those found previously in Sri Lanka has been discovered in the island nation, according to a top immunologist. The variant, which is highly transmissible, can remain airborne for nearly an hour and is spreading fast, Neelika Malavige, the head of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Sciences of the Sri Jayawardenapura University said.

"This variant of coronavirus is more highly transmissible than all found so far in the island. The new strain is airborne, the droplets can remain airborne for nearly an hour," Malavige said.

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The symptoms are quite different from the earlier ones. This time many do not have visible symptoms like fever and cough. Here are some new symptoms of Coronavirus that you shouldn't take lightly:

• headache
• body pain
• weakness
• red eyes
• diarrhoea

In the latest Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Covid-19 released by AIIMS Patna, doctors have stressed that proning can help manage blood oxygen levels. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Government of India also shared a guide on proning self-care techniques.

Here are FAQ and techniques of proning:

As people of the country witnessed a surge of the second wave of covid, they have begun to adopt home remedies and ayurvedic solutions to protect themselves from getting infected. Ayurveda has proved to help people in building their immunity and keeping the diseases at bay. The latest recipe going viral that many claim to help to kill the coronavirus is inhaling steam. 

But does steam therapy really kills the virus? Know what experts have to say here.

To avoid an epidemic like Covid19, strengthening your lungs is very important. Health experts have revealed that the coronavirus directly hits the lungs, resulting in reduced oxygen levels and breathlessness. In such a situation, it is important to take care of the lungs beforehand. Here are some foods that will make your lungs stronger. 

Masking up is the most important thing as we face another surge of Covid-19. ICMR shares details on the science of masks and why you should stick to them to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

With the second wave of coronavirus, everyone is trying their best to keep themselves fit. Obesity, diabetes patients as well as people with weak hearts are at the highest risk of covid. Clotting in blood further increases the risk of a heart attack. Also, many covid patients are witnessing sudden fall in their heart rate due to which the risk of heart failure has increased. In such a situation, know how to get normal heartbeats from Swami Ramdev.

Due to the covid pandemic, many people are facing the problem of sleeplessness and anxiety. Know which yogasanas are effective from Swami Ramdev. He says you can get good sleep by doing pranayamas and following Ayurvedic remedies.

The AIIMS director informed that by getting vaccinated, the impact of the virus will be minimized and there will not be any serious illness. This is why getting vaccinated is very important for all age groups. He stated that vaccines will protect from serious infection. He said, "High-risk group of people such as senior citizens, healthcare workers should be vaccinated first. Vaccine manufacturing is an ongoing process. Once we have a few more vaccine candidates available, inoculation may be opened for other age groups as well."

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It is World Immunization Week. WHO urges all to get vaccinated to get well equipped to fight the virus. While the vaccination process is going on, many people have been testing positive. While vaccines reduce the impact of the infection, it doesn't guarantee that a person will not get infected. 

WHO tweets, "Vaccines protect people of all ages against preventable diseases and is one of the best ways to provide children with a healthy start in life. Vaccines will help us end the #COVID19 pandemic so we can finally be closer to each other again."

India logged over 3.32 lakh COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest-ever daily count recorded in the world, and 2,263 deaths since Thursday.