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Mumbai startup develops India’s first universal gene test for infectious disease

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Mumbai-based health-tech startup HaystackAnalytics has developed the first of its kind universal infectious diseases (ID) gene test to identify existing and emerging infections, the company said on Monday.

The company is supported by the Department of Science and Technology, as well as several private healthcare players.

To identify infections, the company deploys Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI), and also provides information on drug resistance to support and identify correct treatment options for patients.

The new Universal Infectious Diseases test will be rolled out with their current partners in a phased manner over the next three months, the company said in a statement.

It will initially be targeted at identifying and treating sepsis in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients, but gradually be made available to anyone suffering from a fever of unknown origin, by eradicating the need to conduct multiple tests.

The test comes at an opportune time, as Covid-19 pandemic highlights the need for better diagnostic technologies, appropriate antibiotic use, and the renewed importance of infection prevention strategies.

“The test enables rapid (within hours) and comprehensive (covering nearly all known bacterial and fungal pathogens) screening in a near to point of care deployment. Leveraging the power of next generation sequencing and AI, the team of scientists and engineers at Haystack has been able to eliminate the need for a redundant and expensive battery of tests, with a single test,” Dr. Anirvan Chatterjee, Co Founder and CEO of HaystackAnalytics, said.

“Our single point focus is to prevent each and every death caused due to treatable infections. Genomics has the potential to reduce trial and error in disease management and bring equality of access to high quality healthcare,” he added.

In the past, HaystackAnalytics had partnered with various diagnostic centers and over 20 hospitals including AIIMS, to introduce their sequencing-based clinical products for Tuberculosis and Covid in the past.

It is while working on two of the most debilitating infectious diseases — Tuberculosis and Covid — the company said it recognised the true burden of inaccurate diagnosis of infections in India and the world.

While the novel coronavirus infected and killed millions of people across the globe, there are various other infectious diseases that continue to plague India.

In particular, India accounts for the largest number of sepsis cases (11.3 million) and sepsis-related deaths (2.9 million) in the world, as per a global study published in the Lancet in 2020.

Despite having a wide range of antibiotics and antifungal medicines, sepsis is a life-threatening organ failure. It occurs when the body ends up injuring its own tissues and organs, in response to an infection, leading to shock, disability, multi-organ failure, and even death if left untreated in the early stages.

“A large proportion of these deaths can be avoided by early and accurate identification of the pathogen causing the infection. Haystack’s UID test has been developed to solve this exact problem,” Chatterjee said.

Maharashtra

Abu Asim’s letter to the state chief minister and DGP, threatening Nanded Muslims not to sacrifice, demanding action against miscreants to ensure peace

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In Nanded, Maharashtra, Bajrang Dal goons have threatened Muslims with weapons in the area so that Muslims do not sacrifice on Eid-ul-Adha, which is a threat to the state’s atmosphere and there is also a fear of communal violence. In such a situation, the police and administration should take strict action to maintain law and order and curb the miscreants because terrorism by Bajrang Dal goons is on the rise here.

To ensure law and order in the Degulur taluka of Dharmabad district of Nanded district of the state, state Chief Minister and Police Chief DGP have been demanded by MLA and Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi to take action against sectarians and miscreants. Azmi has made a serious allegation that Bajrang Dal workers are patrolling the Dharmabad area with weapons and are threatening Muslims and trying to intimidate and spoil the atmosphere so that they do not sacrifice on Eid-ul-Adha, and Hindu extremists have warned Muslims not to sacrifice. Abu Asim Azmi has also sent a letter to the Chief Minister and DGP, demanding immediate intervention from the administration in this matter.

He has said in the letter that a local from Dharmaabad, Sheikh Lal Ahmed, has informed him about the mischief of the miscreants. He has alleged that the miscreants of Bajrang Dal are instructing not to offer sacrifices on Eid-ul-Adha and are also threatening Muslims. He said that the terrorism of Bajrang Dal and RSS should be banned and action should be taken against those who spoil the environment so that peace and security is maintained in Dharmaabad on Eid-ul-Adha. Azmi has appealed that strict police security arrangements be made in Dharmaabad on Eid-ul-Adha so that social harmony is maintained and Muslims can celebrate their festival peacefully.

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Maharashtra

Animal markets will remain open for sacrifice, Gauseva Aayog withdraws controversial order

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Mumbai: The Mumbai GauSeva Ayog has withdrawn its controversial order to keep cattle markets closed from June 3 to June 8 until Eid-ul-Adha. It has only said that it should be ensured that there is no slaughter of prohibited animals during the sacrifice. After a meeting of Muslim representatives along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the Chief Minister had issued an order to withdraw the circular, after which the Gau Seva Ayog has withdrawn its controversial circular and order. This circular had said that animal markets in all districts of the state should be closed till June 8 to prohibit cow slaughter on Eid-ul-Adha. Muslims opposed this and during the meeting of Muslim representatives, the Chief Minister had announced the withdrawal of this order. Therefore, the GauSeva Ayog has officially withdrawn the circular and instead issued a new circular, which has lifted the ban on animal markets. Along with this, strict implementation of the cow slaughter law has also been demanded.

The state government is responsible for implementing the cow slaughter law and the police and administration are ready for it, but after the GauSeva Aayog issued such a controversial circular, Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Rais Sheikh had declared it illegal and said that the circular issued is completely illegal and controversial, while the Aayog has no authority to issue orders, it can only make recommendations. In such a situation, after the order of the Chief Minister, now animal markets will continue during the sacrifice period and there is no ban on the market of buffaloes including goats, therefore Muslims have been appealed not to pay attention to rumors.

Deonar Slaughterhouse General Manager Kaleem Pathan also said that the Deonar Goat Market will continue and the order issued by the Gau Seva Aayog has been withdrawn, so the public should not pay attention to rumors about the Deonar Goat Market. He said that along with the facilities in the Goat Market in Deonar, arrangements have been made for the convenience of buyers. Along with stalls, other facilities are also available here. He said that more than 150,000 goats have arrived in the Deonar Goat Market and along with this, more than 80,000 goats are left.

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Maharashtra

Rain started in Mumbai

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Mumbai: Heavy rains have been continuing in Mumbai since last night. Mumbai city has recorded 20.93 mm of rain, East 23.40 mm and West 20.10 mm of rain. Despite the rain continuing in the city and suburbs, life is normal. Train and bus services are normal. Due to rain in the city, there have also been complaints of water accumulation on the roads due to lack of cleaning of drains in low-lying areas. According to BMC, rain will continue in the city and the rain will be intermittent. Therefore, BMC has claimed to make all the arrangements, but due to lack of repair of roads in the city, citizens are facing a lot of problems.

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