Mysterious Illness

Nearly 300 probable cases of children with severe hepatitis have been detected in 20 countries worldwide, with some in Southeast Asia, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said, BBC reported. Health officials around the world are investigating a mysterious increase in cases of the liver condition which was first spotted in the UK. A common virus called adenovirus, which has rebounded after the pandemic, could be causing the surge, BBC reported. One death has been reported by the WHO. As of 1 May, it said most cases of young children with hepatitis had been detected in Europe with small numbers also reported in the Americas, western Pacific and Southeast Asia. The first cases of this unusual hepatitis were spotted in Scotland in children under the age of 10. More than 110 cases have now been recorded in the UK so far. Most children had a mild form of liver inflammation, although 10 children have needed a liver transplant, the report said. They had initial symptoms of vomiting and diarrhoea followed by yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes, called jaundice. The hepatitis viruses that normally cause the condition (viruses A, B, C, D and E) were not detected in any of the children. Countries worldwide started looking for the same unexplained condition 'of unknown origin' in children after it was highlighted by UK health officials. There is no reason to believe the rare liver condition itself is spreading around the world, BBC reported. (Agency) Read More► How to Maintain A Healthy Liver

London: UK researchers have identified a potential link between inflammation and the structure of specific regions of the brain, which may help in the treatment of neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders including autism spectrum and schizophrenia. According to the study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, the findings could open up a completely new target for the pharmacological treatment of these disorders, which has not significantly changed since the identification of antipsychotic medications in the mid-late 20th century. Researchers at the University of Birmingham showed that genes associated with inflammation, particularly interleukin (IL) 6, are linked to a reduction in grey matter volume in certain areas of the brain known to be implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders. In the study, the team was able to compare genetic variants which affect levels of IL-6, and other inflammatory genes in more than 20,000 patients with changes in grey matter volume in specific areas of the brain. They were able to show strong links between IL-6 and brain structure particularly in the temporal and frontal regions. Further analysis using the Allen Human Brain Atlas, showed that genes overexpressed in these areas are associated with conditions such as epilepsy, cognitive dysfunction, and schizophrenia. "This study shows that the IL-6 gene, which we know to be linked to systemic inflammation, also affects brain structure in areas associated with these neuropsychiatric disorders. This could be the first new target for severe mental illnesses including schizophrenia identified in more than 60 years," said Professor Rachel Upthegrove, in the University's Institute for Mental Health. Current treatments for these illnesses act on dopamine, a chemical messenger in the brain associated with mood and attention. These drugs can have side effects, however, and they are not effective in all patients. "There are drugs already on the market which target inflammation as well as the opportunity to screen potential new compounds. Finding a new avenue for exploring the links between inflammation, brain structure and neuropsychiatric disorders is really exciting," said John Williams, of the Institute for Cancer and Genomic Sciences at the University. (agency) Read More► Lithium May Decrease Risk of Developing Dementia: Study

San Francisco, Sep 5 (IANS) Google is all set to collaborate with researchers to develop new artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to improve brain stimulation devices to treat people with psychiatric illness and direct brain injuries, such as stroke.The tech giant has tied up with researchers at Mayo Clinic to develop a set of paradigms, or viewpoints, that simplify comparisons between effects of electrical stimulation on the brain.They developed a new type of algorithm called "basis profile curve identification"."Our findings show that this new type of algorithm may help us understand which brain regions directly interact with one another, which in turn may help guide placement of electrodes for stimulating devices to treat network brain diseases," said Kai Miller, a Mayo Clinic neurosurgeon."As new technology emerges, this type of algorithm may help us to better treat patients with epilepsy, movement disorders like Parkinson's disease, and psychiatric illnesses like obsessive compulsive disorder and depression," he added.The new technique was demonstrated for an array of implanted brain surface electrodes in a human patient. A patient with a brain tumour underwent placement of an electrocorticographic electrode array to locate seizures and map brain function before a tumour was removed.Every electrode interaction resulted in hundreds to thousands of time points to be studied using the new algorithm.The framework enables straightforward interpretation of single-pulse brain stimulation data, and can be applied generically to explore the diverse milieu of interactions that comprise the connectome, the researchers explained in the study published in PLOS Computational Biology."Neurologic data to date is perhaps the most challenging and exciting data to model for AI researchers," said Klaus-Robert Mueller, member of the Google Research Brain Team.--IANSrvt/vd

New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) Vaccines have been found to be effective in combating mutated variants and protect the vaccinated individual from severe illnesses, hospitalization, or death, reveals a study conducted by a Delhi-based Hospital.The study was conducted amid several reported cases of infections after partial or complete vaccination, occurring in a small percentage of people. Concerns have been raised on the efficacy of vaccination against the mutated variants of Covid-19.The study, conducted by Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, that include 69 symptomatic healthcare workers working at the hospital, who were tested positive for Covid-19 after their vaccination with the Covishield vaccine during the first 100 days of the vaccination drive earlier this year.The study analyzed nasopharyngeal samples for genome sequencing, in collaboration with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).The study was conducted between January 16 and April 24."Genome Sequencing is the key test to identify the nature of the virus and the variants that may emerge. "Currently, this facility is available in only 10 select Government organizations, but such testing facilities are now being increased in the near future by the Government of India," the hospital said in a statement."Amongst 69 people, 51 were fully vaccinated with two doses (73.91 per cent) and the remaining 18 (26.09 per cent) were partially immunized with a single dose, prior to acquiring the infection."The predominant infections occurred from B.1.617.2 lineage (47.83 per cent), followed by B.1 and B.1.1.7 strains. There were only two hospital admissions (2.89 per cent) for minor symptoms, but no ICU admissions and deaths, from this group," said Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director and Senior Pediatric Gastroenterologist of Apollo Hospitals.Sibal claims these findings are significant because more than half of the cohort were found infected with the Variant of Concern (VoC) and still escaped from the severe illness, which could have been a severe event for them without vaccination coverage.Variants of Concern are mutated versions of a virus that may spread more rapidly or may cause severe illness and hence notified for global monitoring by the World Health Organization and other multi-lateral health agencies.One of the key authors of this study, Raju Vaishya, Senior Consultant, Orthopedics, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals said, "We noticed that the post-vaccination SARS-COV-2 infections were seen only in a small subset of our healthcare workers."The majority of these infections were minor, despite being caused by the Variants of Concern."Since, the doctor said, the immunity in an individual takes some time after the vaccination, therefore it is essential for the vaccinated individual to be extra careful at least two weeks after the second dose of vaccination and even further, by taking universal safety precautions like maintaining social distancing, using face masks, and hand sanitation.This study concluded that the prior vaccination in the health care workers offered clear protection from severe disease due to variants requiring hospital and ICU admissions and deaths.Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals is a joint venture between the Government of Delhi and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited. Commissioned in July 1996, it is the third super-specialty tertiary care hospital set up by the Apollo Hospitals Group.--IANSrak/in