Centre on monsoon flu alert

Six more per sons tested positive for the A-H1N1 swine flu virus in different parts of the country on Sunday, the largest number in a single day. The total number of confirmed infections in India now stands at 23.

Three of these were in Hyderabad, two in Bengaluru and one — a schoolboy from Jalandhar just returned with a school group from the US — in New Delhi.

The Union health ministry held a high-level review meeting with officials of the National Disaster Management Authority and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases to ensure the disease does not spread with the monsoon looming.

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49 babies die in All India Institute of Medical Sciences trials

As many as 49 babies have died during clinical trials at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) during the last two-and-a-half years, the reply to a Right to Information (RTI) query has revealed.

The AIIMS paediatrics department conducted 42 sets of trials on 4,142 babies — 2,728 of them below the age of one — since January 1, 2006.

“A total of 49 deaths corresponding to 1.18 per cent mortality among the enrolled patients were recorded in the studies. These include deaths both in the control and intervention groups, as per the designs of individual studies,” the reply says.

The reasons for the babies’ deaths, their ages or their gender are not mentioned in the reply — since these were not sought by the applicant, Mr Rahul Verma, founder of the NGO, Uday Foundation for Congenital Defects and Rare Blood Groups.

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Body Mass Index Scale for cabin crew

The directorate general of civil aviation has directed that “body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio be taken as parameters for grading and assessing obesity in civil air crew, rather than height-weight tables.”

In a circular on July 3 on gauding obesity parameters in flight crew, the DGCA also said the “patient’s risk status should be assessed by determining the degree of overweight or obesity based on BMI, the presence of abdominal obesity based on waist circumference, and the presence of concomitant cardiovascular disease risk factors.” It said crew could be classified as being at high absolute risk for obesity-related disorders if they have any three of six multiple-risk factors, which include smoking and hypertension.

The DGCA said, “the implications of obesity are more a concern for the employer than the regulatory body... in view of the nature of the disability and its ability to cause incapacitation.” It added: “The medical department of the airline will have the responsibility of advising air crew about methods to achieve recommended weight.”

It also has recommendations on blood sugar testing and the frequency of conducting “lipid profile” of air crew depending on the BMI.

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