Guyana is still awaiting a reply from the United States Department of Agriculture to several submissions aimed at having that North American country lift an almost six-year old ban on catfish, according to Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha. With Guyana having recently updated its previous submission, he said the Ministry of Agriculture was awaiting word from ...

Santo Domingo.- The director of the Central Logistics Support Essential Medicines Program (Promese Cal), Adolfo Pérez de León reported this Tuesday that it has been in the Government headed by President Luis Abinader where resources for the purchase of high-cost medicines have doubled.

During an interview in El Gobierno de la Mañana, the official added that said program has also tripled the number of patients who demand said medicines.

“The reality of the program is that it is being increased, in terms of patients and also strengthened in all its management capacity. It has been in this government of President Luis Abinader where the number of patients benefiting from the program has tripled and where the budget for the purchase of these drugs has doubled, ”he assured.

Adolfo Pérez explained that of some 5,729 active patients that the current administration found in 2020, there are currently more than 16,500 patients.

He affirmed that the high-cost drug program is well and supplied, for which a tender has been launched to continue the purchase of drugs for some 3,200 million pesos, to continue guaranteeing access to those in need.

The incumbent of Promese Cal stated that steps are being taken to integrate new patients into the program, and incidentally continue with the rate of help.

Every year, there are some 4,000 fatal drownings and 8,000 nonfatal drownings in the U.S., per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — and not all of them meet the textbook definition.

Even if a child appears to be "safe" after a water incident, the child could still be in danger if even a small amount of water has entered the lungs.

Unofficially known as "dry drowning," this condition can cause inflammation or swelling and make it difficult to breathe even after a child is out of the water, according to Dr. Denise Scott, a pediatrician who is co-founder of Oklahoma City’s first after-hours pediatric urgent care clinic. 

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"While ‘dry drowning’ is actually not a medical term or diagnosis, it does describe a condition that is a complication of a water event, termed ‘post-immersion syndrome,’" Scott told Fox News Digital.

"Post-immersion syndrome, considered a nonfatal drowning, describes an event in which a person was submersed in water but the lungs were not filled with water (thus dry)."

When this occurs, water has been inhaled — not swallowed — through the nose or mouth. 

"Water in the airways can lead to laryngospasm, or vocal cord spasm, making it difficult to breathe," explained Scott, who also works on the JustAnswer.com platform fielding questions about a wide variety of children’s health issues. 

"This makes it difficult to get air into the lungs."

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Post-immersion syndrome can occur after anyone has been in any body of water, whether it’s a lake, swimming pool, bathtub or hot tub.

"Technically, any drowning is the result of not getting air in the lungs, whether the lungs are wet or dry," Scott said. 

The most obvious sign of post-immersion syndrome is excessive or continuous coughing, Scott said.

"If someone inhales water, their response is to cough, which often expels the water," the doctor said. "The concern is when the cough continues after an episode of 30 to 60 minutes or longer."

Other warning signs that occur immediately after an episode or within an hour include difficulty breathing or speaking, rapid and hard breathing, chest pain, wheezing or vomiting.

Later symptoms, usually within two to three hours, can include confusion, sleepiness, and continued coughing and breathing difficulties, all of which can be signs of decreased oxygen, said Scott.

"A child who has either been rescued from water or inhaled water and has any of the above symptoms should be taken in for a medical evaluation," Scott said. "For any child who is not breathing, CPR should be given and 911 should be called."

A child with symptoms of post-immersion syndrome usually will be observed at the hospital for up to eight hours before the physician decides whether to pursue further treatment, Scott said.

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"Keeping a child calm can sometimes help the muscle spasms to relax," she added.

Although this condition is uncommon, it can be fatal if symptoms aren't addressed and lack of oxygen occurs, the doctor said. 

"A severe laryngospasm that isn't relieved ultimately can lead to lack of oxygen and cardiac arrest," she warned. "Long-term effects are the result of poor oxygen to any organ system, especially the brain, which can result in seizures or brain damage."

Drowning is the most common cause of unintentional death in children between ages 1 and 4 and the second leading cause of death in children between ages 5 and 14, per the CDC. 

Most drownings are preventable. 

"First and foremost, children should never swim unsupervised or alone," Scott said. 

"Young children who cannot swim should have an adult within arm's reach and wear a personal flotation device."

Private swimming pools should have a fence around them to prevent someone from wandering in, she went on. Children should always wear life vests when they're near or around lakes. 

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While it’s a good idea to have young children take swim lessons, Scott emphasized that it is not a safeguard, nor should it give a false sense of security or take the place of close adult supervision.

Parents also should learn CPR, she added.

While post-immersion syndrome can happen to someone at any age, children are at the greatest risk, Scott said.

"Adults and teens are more likely to be at risk if they go swimming after consuming alcohol, but anyone can accidentally inhale water when submersed," she said. 

"The vast majority of the time, this clears up with coughing. For persistent symptoms, one should seek medical care."

View the full post Joining hands to eliminate litter and Dengue fever on NOW Grenada.

The intensivist pulmonologist, Emil Jorge Manzur, said there are mild cases, and his main recommendation is that if a patient has a history of respiratory problems and other diseases, he should pay attention to him and not abandon his medication, especially when they present difficulty breathing.

Covid on the rise

“There are three, and be careful if more viruses are spread because we not only have Covid, which is already three weeks in the rise of cases; we have influenza, metaneumovirus, we have adenovirus, which are very frequent at this time, among others, without counting the bacterial infections that we commonly see,” expressed the respiratory tract specialist.

He explained that almost all these infections are symptomatic, and these symptoms must be treated.

“The patient should be concerned” whether or not they have difficulty breathing or if the symptoms last more than five days because there are specific things that can be done for each of these viruses or bacterial infections that could modify the disease,” added Jorge Manzur.

Do not self-medicate with antibiotics

Faced with the fact that many people say they are using the same medications prescribed to them when they tested positive for Covid-19 on previous occasions, the specialist does not rule it out completely, although without self-medicating with antibiotics.

He said most people used antiallergic and mucolytic and may do so now, as well as some expectorant syrups.

“What is wrong in the case is that they add antibiotic without knowing if it is bacterial, it is wrong that they use Ivermectin, because they are not used in any context” and other drugs they used in the first line.

As for vitamin and mineral supplements (such as vitamin D, zinc, melatonin, and others) indicated when Covid was at its highest peak, the physician understands that it is not wrong to use them either. However, there is nothing to prove that the impact of the disease will be less.

Avoiding contracting viruses collectively

The renowned pulmonologist calls to take care of oneself within the framework of the possible, to value avoiding exaggerated conglomerations of people without mask protection; if you have a respiratory symptom, you must protect “your neighbor” and use a mask.

“Again, it is a very individual issue because what we do not want is that everyone gets it at the same time,” indicated Jorge Manzur, who added that most people will contract one of these viruses, but we must take care of the most sensitive ones, to avoid a severe impact.

Do not be afraid

“We do not recommend that everyone should be afraid, but we must be aware that the problem is individual. Whether it is bad for you or not is your own problem,” the pulmonologist pointed out.

Dr. Jorge Manzur said that for Covid-19, there are currently some drugs, but he acknowledged that they are expensive, one of which costs more than 30,000 pesos.

View the full post EC$81.23 million Covid-19 related expenditure for 2020–2021 on NOW Grenada.

Fewer than 40% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients receive CPR before EMS teams arrive, according to the American Heart Association. Even fewer patients are treated with an automated external defibrillator or AED. 

New initiatives and partnerships are working to change that, with the goal of doubling the survival rate for heart attacks.

"The idea is to ensure that lifesaving policies are in place at the high school level to make sure that our kids, if they suffer sudden cardiac arrest, have the best possible chances of success," said Jeff Miller, the NFL's executive vice president for health and safety innovation.

The NFL and other professional sports leagues are working with the Red Cross and the American Heart Association to promote their Smart Heart Coalition.

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"With schools being a focal place for gathering in the community, it's really important that we have emergency response plans," said Nancy Brown, the American Heart Association's CEO. 

"We know that although the statistics are true, that older people are more likely to have a cardiac arrest or a cardiovascular event, young people still have these events as well. So we want to be sure that someone is prepared everywhere to save a life."

When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed during a live Monday Night Football game about six months ago, his team’s doctors were prepared.

"The people were in place; they were practiced," said Miller. "They had trained their emergency action plan. They knew to take Damar to a level one trauma center when he was evacuated from the field. They had the device there and they knew what to do with it."

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Miller said the NFL and Hamlin wanted to take advantage of all the attention received from this incident — and encourage everyone to have a response plan.

"We learned a lot and have tried to share a lot," Miller said. "But at the high school level, obviously they don't have the same sort of resources or setup that the NFL does. And so we want to translate some of those learnings alongside the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross and others to make sure that our schools are in the best possible place to help out kids who might need it."

Every year, an estimated 350,000 people experience a heart attack outside the hospital. One in 300 kids has an undetected heart condition.

"There isn't sufficient awareness. Parents, coaches and others should insist upon these very basic, simple, easy-to-enact solutions to what is a thankfully not very common, but at the same time all too common phenomenon," Miller said. 

"Those deaths are simply preventable by these three simple policy adjustments: CPR education, an emergency action plan and the availability of an AED nearby [within] one to three minutes of an athletic contest or practice so the kid can be saved."

Athletes and health officials have also taken the effort to Capitol Hill. Lawmakers have introduced the Access to AEDs Act, which would provide additional funding for schools.

"It’s grants that would enable communities and athletic facilities to get access," Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont) said.

Welch said a reaction plan is important, and a quick response helped save his brother’s life.

"My brother was playing basketball and he collapsed. They had, right there at this gym, a defibrillator," Welch said. 

"And 20 years later, John's still playing basketball. So we're really grateful in the Welch family that this community has done it."

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Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall is a medical doctor. He believes if more people know where AEDs are located and how to use them, they can help save additional lives.

"The chances of a person surviving this goes up from one out of 10 to three out of 10 if someone's able to start CPR. It probably goes up to seven out of 10 if we have an AED available as well," Marshall said. 

"I'm committed to getting them across the country in the right locations, but also figuring out everyone should have some type of an app downloaded that could show us those locations."

MedStar Health in Washington, D.C., is partnering with professional athletes from the Washington Capitals, Mystics and Wizards to demonstrate how to perform CPR and how to use an AED.

"Getting the athletes on board, with their star power, definitely makes people excited about it," Dr. Alex Koo said. 

When they show "how easy it is without any training, I think people can get really excited about and say, ‘Hey, I can do it as well.'"

MedStar Health hopes the videos make people more comfortable about learning and performing CPR.

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"Black communities, as well as Hispanic communities, sometimes don't have as high rates of bystander CPR. And so that's something that we want to highlight, that this is something that's accessible to everybody," Dr. Koo said.

CPR training no longer includes mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The American Heart Association also says that hands-only CPR can really make a difference.

"We recognized that mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was a barrier for some people in administering CPR," Brown told Fox News. 

"Generally cardiac arrests, if they are witnessed, are generally witnessed by someone who knows the person that might be having the cardiac arrest. So the skill of learning CPR is really important because you might be saving the life of someone you know and love."

The American Heart Association believes that while formal CPR training is important, simple videos and easy-to-learn methods can still help save lives.

"We do intend at the AHA to create a ‘Nation of Lifesavers’ and we encourage everyone to learn CPR," Brown said. "I think that CPR and AED training should be part of everyone's summer safety plan."

You can watch MedStar Health's videos at MedStarHealth.org/CPR. 

If you are interested in getting CPR-certified or learning to use an AED, you can find a class in your area at CPR.heart.org.

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Tuesday indicated it had halted all investigations into a 16-year old girl’s allegation that Local Government Minister Nigel Dharamlall raped her at his residence last December. According to the law enforcement agency, that decision was based on advice by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) after the girl last ...

Thirty-four persons of Amerindian descent as well as several activists of the women’s rights organisation, Red Thread, on Tuesday demanded broad-based health, legal and financial support for the 16-year old girl who alleged that she was raped by Local Government Minister Nigel Dharamlall. “Apolitical coordination of support for the child, with Indigenous groups and communities ...

Health and education officials in Barbados are sharing ideas on how to accelerate the removal of ultra-processed products from schools across the region.

They are hoping this will be one of several strategic approaches to address the issue of childhood obesity, which they said has become very worrisome.

They are holding discussions at a two-day event which opened on Tuesday at the Courtyard by Marriott Bridgetown, hosted by the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) and the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO), and attended by several local and regional stakeholders.

The post Talks on to get ultra-processed foods out of schools appeared first on Barbados Today.