National Diary of Events Scrub typhus Scrub typhus – a life-threatening infection caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi bacteria – is a major public health threat in South and Southeast Asia. Nearly one million cases are reported from South and Southeast Asia with 10% mortality, India is one of the hotspots with at least 25% of the disease burden; Monotherapies using either doxycycline or azilthromycin was the commonly used treatment. A trial carried out now in seven centres in India where patients were randomly assigned to receive a combination therapy of both doxycycline and azhithromycin showed faster resolution of complications compared with two other arms where patients were given monotherapy azithromycin. Among the patients who died in the study, 50% died within 48 hours of arrival. This indicates that patients who arrive late with multiple organ dysfunction may have a higher risk of mortality as their condition may have progressed too far for effective treatment. “This trial has shown that the combination therapy using both doxycycline and azithromycin is far more effective in treating severe scrub typhus than monotherapies of either drug by itself”. No typical symptoms Scrub typhus is transmitted to humans by bite from tiny inflected larvae mites. The infection does not cause typical symptoms, thus, making correct and early diagnosis is difficult. BrahMos Missile Defence Indian Navy successfully test-fires BrahMos missile BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound. The Indian Navy successfully test-fired in the Arabian Sea the ship-launched version of the BrahMos supersonic missile. The missile that was tested had the indigenous “seeker and booster”. “The Indian Navy carried out a successful precision strike in the Arabian Sea by ship launched BrahMos missile with DRDO-designed indigenous seeker and booster, reinforcing our commitment towards Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) in defence,” Brahmos…
