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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared an epidemic and a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO), prompting various countries to implement early and stringent social distancing protocols through lockdown, to flatten the epidemic curve. The objective of our present study was to assess the impacts and effectiveness of the lockdown protocol in Karnataka and Punjab, compared with the implementation of this method in Australia and the United Kingdom (UK). This study involved the collection of data from different authorized databases, in two phases. The first phase included the time starting with the first-reported index case through the 14th day after the declaration of lockdown, for each country. The second phase involved the data collected between the 15th day through the 28th day of the lockdown. The highest doubling rate for cases was observed in Australia, followed by Karnataka and Punjab, whereas the lowest was observed in the UK. Comparisons of the numbers of the samples tested, the mortality rate, and the recovery rate between Karnataka and Punjab, after the implementation of lockdown, revealed a better recovery rate and lower mortality rate in Karnataka than in Punjab. Our study revealed that the implementation of social distancing and lockdown reduced the transmission of the coronavirus and the number of cases reported. However, the effectiveness of lockdown varied among locations, due to demographic and physiological differences.

Objective: To compare the impact of lockdown in Maharashtra, Kerala and United States. Methodology: We conducted a prospective observational study in order to assess and compare the impact of lockdown between Kerala, Maharashtra and United States (US). The study involved the collection of data from two phases. The first phase is the time from the index case reported in each country till the 14 th day after the declaration of lockdown in that country. The second phase involved the data collected from the 15 th day to the 28 th day of lockdown. Data storage and analysis were performed using Microsoft excel and SPSS version 24. Result: As per 21 st April, 426 cases were reported in Kerala among which 307 (70.07%) recovered, active cases were 117 and 2 deaths (0.4694%). Whereas in Maharashtra 7628 cases were reported and among which 1076 had recovered and there was 323 deaths. The total number of cases reported before lockdown in Maharashtra was 97 and in Kerala was 95. After the 29 days of lockdown the increase in the number of cases in Maharashtra was significantly higher when compared with Kerala. Also, the recovery rate before and after lockdown in Kerala was 4.10% and 72.53% respectively. In Maharashtra recovery rate before and after was 70.93% and 14.00% respectively. Conclusion: The implementation of lockdown had a great impact on reducing the transmission of infection across the country. The number of cases also reduced due to this lockdown, but its effectiveness varied from place to place.

Background: The role of ascorbic acid in cancer therapy is mainly due to its structural similarity with glucose. When supplemented intravenously in high dose, ascorbic acid can get into the cancer cells and induce apoptosis by causing mitochondrial damage. Aim: The aim was to study the efficacy of high-dose intravenous (IV) ascorbic acid as monotherapy in cancer patients following ketogenic diet and its role in improving the quality of life. Results: C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rates (ESRs) were considered as parameters to determine the efficacy of the treatment, and substantial decrease in both the levels was observed within 1-week treatment. CRP levels declined from 3.1946 ± 3.2508 mg/L to 1.0606 ± 0.6706 mg/L (P = 2.27E-10), whereas ESR levels declined from 64.1333 ± 38.8253 mm/h to 31.6 ± 16.5520 mm/h (P = 0.0041). A decline in these parameters shows the association of ascorbic acid in reducing the inflammatory response in cancer. The renal effect of ascorbic acid was also studied by analyzing the creatinine level pre- and postascorbic acid treatment sessions, and it raised from 0.8526 ± 0.22904 to 1.1666 ± 0.2894 mg/dL (P = 1.18E-14). This showed the renal impact of ascorbic acid. Conclusion: The study highlighted the clinical benefit of IV ascorbic acid in the reduction of inflammatory response in cancer patients. The renal adverse events associated with ascorbic acid alarm the use with caution and therapeutic drug monitoring for ascorbic acid.

The extent of usage of antimicrobials is expected to increase markedly over coming years due to intensification of farming practices in most of the developing countries. The main aim of the study was to assess the pattern of farming practices and antibiotic use in the selected poultry farms in the Muvattupuzha region of the state of Kerala, India. A semi-structured interview was conducted among the farmers of the twelve randomly selected poultry farms. The use of antimicrobials for various purposes like treatment and prevention of infections, growth promotion, etc. was reported by 67% of farmers. Commonly used antibiotics were ofloxacin, enrofloxacin, levofloxacin, tetracycline, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, oxytetracycline, neomycin sulphate, colistin. The survey concluded that none of the farmers were trained in poultry farming and they simply followed the instructions given by their supervisors who are also not aware of the consequences of improper farming practices. They used to give antibiotics for prevention and treatment of infections in chicken without the advice from a veterinarian and they used to get antibiotics from pharmacy shops and other shops without any prescriptions. Most of the farms surveyed were following the poultry recommendations and maintaining cleanliness which was enough to prevent outbreak of infections. Spread of mild infections can be prevented by isolating the sick poultry rather than giving antibiotic to the entire batch. Most of the farmers were aware of the presence of antibiotics as growth promoters in poultry feed and they prefer to use that for the tremendous increase of the weight of poultry.