Dengue - some lessons learnt - prevalence in Chennai city

There are times when you are reminded of God and wonder what small things can often do, even in a relatively advanced World where in a metropolis, you  have access to modern labs and good treatment. 

Sure you have heard and read lot about blood – the red coloured body fluid which supplies oxygen to tissues, supplies nutrients, removes wastes and is the most integral thing in life.  The blood cells are suspended in a liquid called blood plasma. Plasma, which constitutes 55% of blood fluid, is mostly water (92% by volume.  Blood consists of  red blood cells  and white blood cells, including leukocytes and platelets.  Blood is circulated around the body through blood vessels by the pumping action of the heart.  Medical terms related to blood often begin with hemo- or hemato- (also spelled haemo- and haemato-) from the Ancient Greek word αἷμα (haima) for "blood".

Blood loss in any form can cause serious damage – blood comes out often from injures but by a special function it clots also.   Coagulation is a complex process by which blood forms clots. It is an important part of hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, wherein a damaged blood vessel wall is covered by a platelet and fibrin-containing clot to stop bleeding and begin repair of the damaged vessel. Disorders of coagulation can lead to an increased risk of bleeding (hemorrhage) or obstructive clotting (thrombosis). Most of the time this includes the changing of blood from a fluid to a solid state.

Learnt by experience that this function [of coagulation] could be challenged by a tiny miniscule insect !!  sometimes, many of us complain that modern day Doctors prescribe a series of tests even for perceived small ailment… but most of that is to rule out or to analyse and find out the root cause of such ailments……….  One such is an Immunoglobulin test which  measures the level of certain immunoglobulins, or antibodies, in the blood. Antibodies are proteins made by the immune system to fight antigens, such as bacteria, viruses, and toxins.  The body makes different immunoglobulins to combat different antigens.   Whist there are sub classes  :  -  IgA, IgG, and IgM are frequently measured simultaneously. Evaluated together, they can give doctors important information about immune system functioning, especially relating to infection or autoimmune disease.  Once an antibody is produced against a specific antigen, the next time that antigen enters the body, the immune system "remembers" its response and produces more of the same antibodies. In that way, checking for the presence of specific immunoglobulins in the blood can be helpful in diagnosing or ruling out infections or certain other illnesses.

Infections do manifest immunodeficiency helping the Doctors to diagnose the illness and treat the patient accordingly.  Platelets are small, regularly shaped clear cell fragments.   The average lifespan of a platelet is normally just 5 to 9 days. Platelets are a natural source of growth factors. They circulate in the blood and are involved in hemostasis, leading to the formation of blood clots.  If the number of platelets is too low, excessive bleeding can occur.

There are reports of prevalence of Dengue fever in the city and that everyday some children are getting admitted into hospitals with signs of dengue.  This really is a cause for concern.   Dengue fever is a disease caused by a family of viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes. It is an acute illness of sudden onset that usually follows a benign course with symptoms such as headache, fever, exhaustion, severe muscle andjoint pain, swollen glands  and rash.  Dengue (pronounced DENG-gay) strikes people with low levels of immunity.

After being bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus, the incubation period ranges from three to 15 (usually five to eight) days before the signs and symptoms of dengue appear. Dengue starts with chills, headache, pain upon moving the eyes, and low backache. Painful aching in the legs and joints occurs during the first hours of illness. The temperature rises quickly as high as 104 F (40 C), with relative low heart rate and low blood pressure. A flushing or pale pink rash comes over the face and then disappears. The glands (lymph nodes) in the neck and groin are often swollen.  All are some of these could be pronounced in those affected. 

Aedes is a genus of mosquito originally found in tropical and subtropical zones, but now found on all continents excluding Antarctica.  First described and named by Meigen in 1818, the name comes from the Ancient Greek aēdēs, meaning "unpleasant" or "odious". Some species of this genus transmit serious diseases, including dengue fever and yellow fever.

So the common advice is to keep your surroundings clean with no stagnation of water and provide no breeding ground for mosquitoes.  Mosquito bite is stated to be the main cause for dengue fever which can be too dangerous when not diagnosed and treated properly.

Mosquito is from the Spanish word for little fly – these small insects go through four stages in their life-cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult or imago. Adult females lay their eggs in standing water, which can be a salt-marsh, a lake, a puddle, a natural reservoir on a plant, or an artificial water container such as a plastic bucket. There are about 3,500 species of mosquitoes found throughout the world.  Mosquitoes are a vector agent that carries disease-causing viruses and parasites from person to person without exhibiting symptoms themselves.  The dragonfly nymph eats mosquitoes at all stages of development and is quite effective in controlling populations. Gambusia, [the common guppies that is often found in temple tanks and elsewhere] eat mosquito larvae and can be effective in controlling mosquitoes.  The simplest of the ways to keep mosquitoes at bay would be to keep the surrounding free of stagnant water, spraying insecticides and ensuring that the waste is disposed off as immediately as possible. 

Once there were jokes aplenty about mosquitoes of Mambalam – now the uniqueness is gone – mosquitoes are found everywhere; some jocularly said that they cannot fly high and cannot reach the top floors of multi-storeyed apartments.

Regards – S. Sampathkumar.

The Zhaveri Bazaar and Mumbai blasts retold……..

There could well be similarities – centuries ago, only those who owned land were rich – they toiled hard as civilization developed alongside rivers and water bodies.  The agricultural produce was of most important – but even in a bumper crop, they could realize little as little they knew of preserving them.  Nature was the biggest challenge

In early days there was nothing as money and everything was exchanged – life was more based on essentials.  The start of last century turned the story a lot – people started moving towards cities – in search of lucrative jobs forgetting tilling and toiling driven by famines and the lure of riches.  The city of those time was far different from what we saw…

As people started living in cities, they formed societies in the clusters where they lived.  Those were not the days of Kings but still they were being administered by rules in one form or the other – elected representatives in later times.  City wears a cosmopolitan mask – theoretically there is space for every one.  People go to jobs, produce or render services, make money – there are to be General elections where their representatives get elected.  The elected representatives serve the people, taking care of administration that of providing the basic needs of those in the city and elsewhere and that includes – providing infrastructure, good roads, potable water, electricity, maintenance, health amenities and above all security to their lives and property.   What common man can never understand is ‘how the elected one from amongst their middle turns so uncommon – differently rich, inaccessible and unmindful to any of the needs of the common man’ – that perhaps is manifestation of ‘popular democracy’ – rule of the people by the people, for the people !!!!

The Govt machinery runs from out of taxes of public [the few good Samaritans or rather the ones who are forced to pay] and administration is all about prioritizing and appropriating the available funds for the benefits of the society – this is done by a vast machinery which include bureaucrats, elected representatives and more….

There still exists many societies – say a small group of household in any locality.  It might consist of say 200 houses or more – there are some residential localities and there are some where commercial activity is predominant.  In one such society in the city of moombapattinam, known as commercial capital – there lived a group of merchants dealing in stones – not the ordinary ones but which were bought for high value by many. Going by the demand and less supply theory, they turned quite rich and started enjoying the benefits of trade. 

As life went on, there were incidents of theft and minor offences which made them realize the evil side of life – they had a meeting. Each one had their thought which including raising a group of youngsters for protection and vigil.  Some spoke of changing their pattern of trade.   A senior person said that ‘as residents of the city and being law abiding citizens’ – all that was required was to meet the Govt and law enforcing authorities.  They did with full belief; soon they had a chowkie [an outpost] which raised their confidence levels boundless – alas that was short lived and the felonies continued at a higher pace and in larger numbers. 

Meantime, there were changes in administration and rulers after ruler came – the administrators changed but not much change in any strategy or care.   When they thought of making huge investment in infrastructure for protecting themselves, the Senior advised them saying that they already have an administrative mechanism which can be compared with their ‘outsourcing security services’ to a service provider albeit at a cost. 

Understanding the futility of securing themselves with the meager man power they decided to outsource and a new look ‘security agency’ came on the wings.  Just as the new brooms sweeping well, a perceptible change was on air – only to last for a few days.  The Agency initially provided security with zeal – youngsters in neat uniform were at hand, overseeing and patrolling.  If any lapse was to be found, there was a reporting mechanism – things seemingly foolproof – but only seemingly that too only for the fools as realised as the days passed by. 

In the months that followed, the cost only increased and quality kept deteriorating.. from young boys it changed into old retired persons who could hardly walk – as crimes kept occurring and the establishments kept having losses, all that they could decide after lengthy meeting was a change in agency, which does occur in passage of time.

In tune with the times, the Society also found out the problems were getting curious and more curious.  If they could think of strengthening their society which extended a few streets, there was one more at the locality which includes some more streets, there was another agency of the area, one more at the circle, another greater division, then at the city, at the State and then the Centre.  Each had distinguished and differentiated policies and whom to approach for what was never comprehensible for those so called educated elite of the core society.   Their troubles kept multiplying and worries manifolding.

This time it was a trusted agency headed by elderly  people, with credentials and of experience of administering for years.  At the helm was a person who was extremely well educated in foreign countries and holding doctorates – he headed  a team – one from a village and had the name of another small city.  Little did they realize that it was remote administration  with de facto powers lying elsewhere with a family who had claims to have formed the Nation.  The head of the agency whom they saw on paper  was only symbolic.

There was a major terror attack – lives were lost and properties destroyed.. they were shaken but still had full faith in the system that guilty would be punished and they can continue their trade.  They had hobson’s choice and hence continued with their trade with renewed vigour.

As has been, immediately there were cat calls denouncing the act of barbarism as caused by unworthy neighbours who were keen to make the society disintegrate – a foreign hand  -  but nothing concrete happened either to prove or when categorical proof was available to initiate action against the perpetrators.

As days passed by the new Agency was boasting of their measures to step up vigil and their unbounded capacity of keeping all criminal activities at bay.  In effect nothing had improved, another disaster was waiting to happen but there was time for the Agency to keep bragging about their capability and the action taken by them in curbing trouble..

Few years later, another attack, some more lives lost – a higher magnitude in terms of property loss – they were all crying – the senior of the society continued to harp on believing the system and representing.  They all looked to their security agency to bring to book the perpetrators and to restore their livelihoods by providing them security.

Immediately after the occurrence, the administrative head in charge of security visited the spot and went around observing the damages.  He went on air stating that the crime was meticulously planned and executed.  That sounded to be a compliment rather than any condemnation – anyway the society was not interested in any condemnation – their requirement was that ‘guilty be brought to book and ensuring that such incidents do not recur’.  Another  head of the agency with a differential function aired his opinion that ‘the agency did not get enough vital inputs from intelligence nor from the people forming part of the society’ – thus a failure of those in the society to observe what was occurring around.  A self inflicted failure.  Just as they debated more, there was another advice – this time from the brain who was behind the running of the agency – a young guardian who was thought upon by so many others to take over the reins of the administration that ‘it would be difficult to be 100% secure and that one such incident is bound to occur’.  A clear message that the other societies should perhaps be happy and praise the agency that such tragedy had not befallen on them and those who suffered should treat it as once in a while incident which cannot be prevented

In the last meeting, the Senior and other wise men of the society were still debating on whether there could be any remedy at all or should they acclamatise to live knowing fully well that one such incident could occur any time and nobody really can do anything nor had the gumption to do something….

Now the Society is back in business - Nation is conglomeration of smaller societies and generally it is the collective will of smaller units that bounds the Nation.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

The tale of Sachin and the unwritten ones of Sippy, Madhavan. Salil Ankola.. and more

In game Cricket, just as in life, dame luck could play a great part – but even with much luck it requires great talent to survive and remain at the top. Sachin is epitome of fame – he epitomizes the greatest of the achievements in the game.  Now whatever he does is news and becomes a record.

If you feel like disputing, first read the following few paras – examples of two Indian cricketers :  Alan Nanik Sippy now 49+  played alongside Shisir Hattangadi and Lalchand Rajput – both were acclaimed as good prospects.  Those days they represented Mafatlal (or was it Nirlons) and played in the Buchibabu tournament in Chennai under Ashok Mankad.  Rajput did play the visiting West Indies and failed against the great pacers at Trivandrum.  Sippy scored 127 against Gujarat and must have felt elated thinking of a green future……..

In 1984, England toured India and played Indian Under 25  lead by Ravi Shastri in the tour opener at Ahmedabad.  Krish Srikkanth made a flamboyant 92;  the team lead by David Gower lost to the Juniors by an innings and 59 runs.  In the only innings that he got, a classy left hander from Chennai – Rangachari Madhavan who was hardly 24  remained unbeaten on 103 – though he did not bowl in that match, he was considered a good left arm orthodox spinner.  Laxman Sivaramakrishnan sprang to prominence and made a name against the visitors. 

There was a berth in the middle order and this century did not earn him that.  That was to be taken by Mohammed Azharuddin  who also scored a century, got selected and went on to score 3 consecutive centuries in debut is all history.  Madhavan, whom I have heard to be a Chartered Accountant never could break the ranks thereafter, played in 39 first class matches and went for greener professional pastures, which denied him further cricketing opportunities. 

Going back to that Ranji match in the WZ league in Dec 1988, Rajput made 99; Sippy 127 and a small boy of 15 made a century on debut – those who played alongside could hardly have imagined his meteoric rise but sure would have seen the difference in class which catapulted him so high.  That was young Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.  He did not have to wait long and in Nov 1989 made his debut at National Stadium, Karachi against Pakistan in Test 1127 under the captaincy of Krishnamachari Srikkanth, who had a good tour as a Captain but a very ordinary one as a batsman.  It was never a bed of roses – on the  last day of the last Test of his first Test series, in Sialkot,  Sachin was  hit on the nose by Waqar Younis, was downed – wiped away the gushing blood and continued showing no signs of fear – a Star had born ………   now at Lords more history beckons him as he is on the threshold of yet another milestone – 100 International tons – 51 test tons and 48 ODI tons in his kitty already and looks he would get more…  At Sialkot, he was not to be intimidated by the flurry of bouncers of Imran, Akram and Waqar. He battled for three and quarter hours.

Now even before the Lord’s Test started, there was news of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)  getting shock of their life upon discovery that  Monty Panesar  had a long bowl in the nets.  The British press reported that the private session was not arranged by ECB or Panesar's county Sussex.  Not much sense could be made out from what Mudhusuden Singh Panesar, popularly called Monte could have improved Sachin’s technique or whether he could have passed out some tricks of English plans. !!!!

Then there was news about a girl bowling to Sachin in the nets..  her grandfather Chimanlal Lakhtaria had played for Kenya in the 60s and this Bengali origin girl is only 18.  Sachin faced a few deliveries from Raveena Lakhtaria, an A-level student and a young cricketer, who plays for Middlesex and the England women’s academy.  The champion batsman is an honorary life member of the MCC, a status which entitles him to ask for the club’s help with his preparations for the England tour.  Lakhtaria is on an MCC young cricketer’s scholarship and her ambition is to play for England, but given her Indian roots, she has only one hero: Sachin Tendulkar.

Incidentally, her middle name is Rajnikant – “Raveena Rajnikant Lakhtaria”

Regards – S. Sampathkumar.


PS : Salil Ankola, Shahid Saeed and Waqar Younis all made their debut in the same test alongside Sachin.  For Salil Ankola and Saeed that was to be their only test.

Would you like to have "Siesta"

SIESTA (Spanish Initiative for Electronic Simulations with Thousands of Atoms) is an original method and a software implementation for performing electronic structure calculations and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of molecules and solids. It uses a density functional theory code that predicts the physical properties of a collection of atoms.

It is not Spanish but Greek and Latin and certainly not our cup of tea !!

A recent study conducted in 2009 has revealed that the in the  rest of Europe only 0.1 percent of the population is over 90 years old, in Ikaria the figure is tenfold, 1.1 percent.  In the tiny Aegean island of Ikaria people live longer due to health diet, genetics and Siesta !.

Siesta - the one which all of us, especially Office goers would love is  the short nap taken early afternoon, often after a satisfying meal in the noon.  In villages in Tamilnadu, there would be the open sided roofed portion on the front of the house called ‘thinnai’ where people would dose after having a good satisfactory meal – this is considered a great relief especially when the weather is warm…..  there are some dishes like pongal which would make you drowse in the afternoon, especially if you are attending a lecture !!

Siesta is also a ‘Spanish’ word  from the Latin hora sexta – "the sixth hour" (counting from dawn, therefore noon, hence "midday rest”.  It is the  traditional daytime sleep of Spain, and through Spanish influence, of many Latin American countries. Factors explaining the geographical distribution of the modern siesta are mainly high temperatures and heavy intake of food at the midday main meal.   In many parts people are habituated to have the full largest meal of the day in the afternoon.   

Those who advocate try to take science by their side stating that a siesta takes place when the sun is at its highest point. This is when the sun's ultraviolet radiation is at its peak at midday. Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation may result in sunburn, especially if one has fair skin. Recurring overexposure to ultraviolet radiation can cause some forms of skin cancer. The sun's infrared radiation causes high air temperatures from the midday onwards, the highest temperatures taking place in the early afternoon. High temperatures can cause fatigue or in more serious cases heat exhaustion or hyperthermia (sunstroke).

The original concept of a siesta seems to have been merely that of a midday break intended to allow people to spend time with their friends and family. It has been suggested that the long length of the modern siesta dates back to the Spanish Civil War, when poverty resulted in many Spaniards working multiple jobs at irregular hours, pushing back meals to later in the afternoon and evening.

There is news that German unions have given a clarion  call for healthy lunchtime siestas – the DGB confederation of trade unions  has cited benefits for workers as trend grows in Germany to re-establish midday napping tradition.  The Union argues that  a short, lunchtime power nap makes sense for health and performance reasons; and claims that a short afternoon nap reduces the risk of  heart attack.  There are reports that  there is sound backing for this.  Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Athens Medical School in Greece found that Greek workers who took regular siestas had 37% lower mortality rates from coronary illnesses than their napless counterparts.  The idea has caught on in Germany, where big German companies such as BASF, Opel, Hornsbach and Lufthansa provide special rooms for their workers, and employers say they benefit from the increased productivity of well-rested employees.

Germans used to take siestas up until the industrial revolution. But the labour needs of the manufacturing economies caused the custom to die out in much of northern Europe.  

The timing of sleep in humans depends upon a balance between homeostatic sleep propensity, the need for sleep as a function of the amount of time elapsed since the last adequate sleep episode, and circadian rhythms which determine the ideal timing of a correctly structured and restorative sleep episode.  Thus, in many people, there is a dip when the drive for sleep has been building for hours and the drive for wakefulness has not yet started. In some individuals, "postprandial dip", a brief drop in blood glucose levels caused by the body's normal insulin response to a heavy meal, may produce drowsiness after the meal that can encourage a nap. However, the appearance of the dip is primarily circadian as it occurs also in the absence of the meal.

It is stated that the concept is siesta is found in Serbia and Slovenia also. Some Japanese offices have special rooms known as napping rooms for their workers to take a nap during lunch break or after overtime work. 

While it would ever be too tempting to have that short nap in the afternoon,  it highly unlikely that your Bosses in the Organisation approve of this yet……………

Regards – S. Sampathkumar.