HIV prevalence in India is about 0.22%, with the total number of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) is estimated at 21.40 lakhs, constituting third largest epidemic in world. However, no study on HIV‐COVID‐19 co‐infection has been reported from India. We conducted a retrospective, record based case series including three males, 2 females and 1 transgender PLHA co‐infected with SARS CoV‐2 in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Fever (5), followed by cough (2) and sore throat (1), were the presenting symptoms. Latest Median CD4 count among our patients was 535 cells/ mm3. One of the patients was not under clinical HIV control, with an opportunistic infection Two among our patients were having hypertension. The mainstay of treatment given for the patients consisted of multi‐vitamins in addition to the ARV drugs, anti‐pyretics and anti‐tussives. One of the patient was on low dose Ritonavir boosted HAART regimen. All patients had stable vitals at room conditions, did not have any complications during their entire stay in health care facility for COVID‐19, treated and discharged.
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Virtual conferences are environment-friendly alternatives to physical conferences. COVID-19 pandemic has increased the use of virtual conferences. However, they are not without their share of impact on the environment. We assessed the carbon emissions (CE) of a three day national public health conference with 1474 attendees held in virtual mode and the potential CE saved compared to the physical mode. The CE of the virtual conference were estimated to be 6.44 Metric Tonne (MT) carbon dioxide (CO2) Equivalent (Eq). Potential CE that would have resulted from the physical mode of the conference were 355.85 MT CO2 Eq which is 55 times higher than the virtual mode. The live video streaming of the proceedings was the highest contributor to the virtual conference’s overall CE (81.5%). A digitally sober conference would have emitted 1.27 MT CO2 Eq, translating to a CE reduction of 80.3% from the estimated virtual conference emission. Academic conferences should strive to become carbon neutral by adopting the virtual mode of conferencing, and within that, digital sobriety should be the policy of action. Policies to motivate the adoption of virtual conferencing and digital sobriety need to be undertaken at the organizational and individual levels.
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