Hindi English Translation || Editorial || A shot in the arm: On new modes of COVID-19 treatment

A shot in the arm: On new modes of COVID-19 treatment

New modes (तरीका, विधि, प्रणाली) of treatment offer greater hope in dealing with COVID-19

If full vaccination (टीका) using any COVID-19 vaccine greatly reduces a person’s risk of progressing to severe disease and death, then the move (कदम, क्रिया, कार्य) by the U.S. FDA to grant emergency-use authorisation (EUA) (आपातकालीन उपयोग प्राधिकरण) to two oral (मौखिक, मुखीय, जबानी) antiviral drugs (a class of medication used specifically for treating viral infections) for certain categories of people who are likely (उपयुक्त, कदाचित, सम्भवतः, निःसंदेह) to become severely ill provides a much-needed (बेहद जरूरी, काफी हद तक जरूरत है) fillip (प्रोत्साहन, प्रेरणा) to fight the disease. Unlike in the case of remdesivir, these drugs — Pfizer’s paxlovid and Merck’s molnupiravir — are oral pills (गोली) and so can be administered (प्रशासन, बांटना, प्रदान करना) outside hospital settings (स्थापना, स्थान, क्षेत्र). They are meant for use by people with mild-moderate disease within five days of symptom onset (start, beginning, arrival). Paxlovid, an antiviral drug, was the first to be granted an EUA on December 22, and has been greenlighted (to give the approval to proceed with) for above-12 years use; molnupiravir — with an EUA on December 23 — is for only above-18 years use. Paxlovid has 88% efficacy (प्रभाव) in preventing COVID-19-related hospitalisation (अस्पताल में भर्ती) or death, while molnupiravir has only 30% efficacy in achieving the same endpoint (final result, outcome). The efficacy of molnupiravir dropped from 50% during interim (अन्तर, अस्थायी, बीचवाला) analysis to 30% in the final analysis of the trial (परीक्षण, विचारण, प्रयोग) data. The FDA specifically mentions that molnupiravir is recommended when “alternative treatment options are not accessible or clinically appropriate”. Both pills are likely to work against Omicron, with the biggest gainers being immunocompromised (having a weakened immune system) people who may lack (be without, be lacking, be deprived of, be short of) sufficient immune protection despite being fully vaccinated.

Antivirals can never substitute vaccines (a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease) and, hence, every eligible individual should get fully vaccinated (inoculate, administer, introduce (with a vaccine to provide immunity against a disease)) as soon as possible, especially as the highly transmissive Omicron variant (On 26 November 2021, WHO designated the (new coronavirus) variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron, on the advice of WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE). The first known confirmed Omicron infection was from a specimen collected on November 9. In recent weeks, infections in South Africa have increased steeply, coinciding with the detection) is spreading. Since treatment should begin within five days of symptoms onset, access to testing and turnaround time (the time needed to complete a task) should be vastly (extremely, immensely, exceedingly, hugely/largely) improved. At the same time, indiscriminate (thoughtless, unthinking, unconsidered, casual, careless, aimless, foolish, mindless, impulsive, ill-considered) use of the drugs should be avoided — this will not only cause complications (difficulty, problem, issue, obstacle) for individual patients but also lead to (result in, cause, bring on) drug resistance (ability to counteract, ability to withstand, immunity from (a drug)). Unlike in the case of COVID-19 vaccines, where access and availability have become a sore point (a cause of distress; point of contention, problem, difficulty) for many low- and middle-income countries, both drugs will be far more (a lot more, much more) freely accessible there. This is because of the agreement that the companies have reached with the Medicines Patent Pool (The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) is a United Nations-backed public health organisation working to increase access to, and facilitate the development of, life-saving medicines for low- and middle-income countries). As in the agreement, generic (unbranded, untrademarked, non-proprietary) manufacturers are permitted to produce and supply paxlovid to 95 low- and middle-income countries, while 105 countries will have access to the generic version of molnupiravir. India should be able to manufacture the generic versions of both drugs and supply them to the approved countries as well as access them here at a lower price. With increased coverage of vaccination and easier availability of treatment, the world will be better placed to deal with the fast-mutating (change (genetically), undergo (genetic change)) virus.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.mode (noun)

Hindi Meaning - तरीका, विधि, प्रणाली
English Meaning - method, system, approach, technique, procedure.

2.vaccination (noun)

Hindi Meaning - टीका
English Meaning - treatment with a vaccine to protect against a particular disease; immunization.

3.move (noun)

Hindi Meaning - कदम, क्रिया, कार्य
English Meaning - action, act, measure.

4.Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - आपातकालीन उपयोग प्राधिकरण
English Meaning - a mechanism to facilitate the availability and use of medical countermeasures, including vaccines, during public health emergencies, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.

5.oral (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - मौखिक, मुखीय, जबानी
English Meaning - (of medicines) taken by the mouth.

6.likely (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - उपयुक्त, कदाचित, सम्भवतः, निःसंदेह
English Meaning - probably, in all probability, presumably, doubtlessly.

7.much-needed (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - बेहद जरूरी, काफी हद तक जरूरत है
English Meaning - needed to a large extent.

8.fillip (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रोत्साहन, प्रेरणा
English Meaning - stimulus, boost, incentive.

9.pill (noun)

Hindi Meaning - गोली
English Meaning - tablet, capsule.

10.administer (verb)

Hindi Meaning - प्रशासन, बांटना, प्रदान करना
English Meaning - dispense, provide, give, apply (a drug/vaccine).

11.setting (noun)

Hindi Meaning - स्थापना, स्थान, क्षेत्र
English Meaning - spot, place, location, area, region.

12.efficacy (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रभाव
English Meaning - In medicine, the ability of an intervention (for example, a drug or surgery) to produce the desired beneficial effect; effectiveness, efficiency, power.

13.hospitalisation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अस्पताल में भर्ती
English Meaning - the act of taking (or) admitting someone to (or) in hospital for treatment.

14.interim (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - अन्तर, अस्थायी, बीचवाला
English Meaning - provisional, temporary, intervening, transitional.

15.trial (noun)

Hindi Meaning - परीक्षण, विचारण, प्रयोग
English Meaning - test, pilot study, experiment (phase 1, 2,3, and or human/clinical trial).

16.vaccine (noun)

English Meaning - a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease.

17.a shot in the arm (phrase)

English Meaning - (figuratively) boost, fillip, stimulus, impetus, encouragement; (literally) an injection of drugs.

18.U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (noun)

English Meaning - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the government agency responsible for advancing public health by helping to speed innovations that make medical products more effective, safer, and more affordable and by helping the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use medical products and foods to maintain and improve their health.

19.antiviral drugs (noun)

English Meaning - a class of medication used specifically for treating viral infections

20.onset (noun)

English Meaning - start, beginning, arrival.

21.greenlight (verb)

English Meaning - to give the approval to proceed with.

22.endpoint (noun)

English Meaning - final result, outcome.

23.drop (verb)

English Meaning - decrease, reduce, lower, lessen.

24.Omicron variant (noun)

English Meaning - On 26 November 2021, WHO designated the (new coronavirus) variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron, on the advice of WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE). The first known confirmed Omicron infection was from a specimen collected on November 9. In recent weeks, infections in South Africa have increased steeply, coinciding with the detection.

25.immunocompromised (adjective)

English Meaning - having a weakened immune system.

26.lack (verb)

English Meaning - be without, be lacking, be deprived of, be short of.

27.immune (adjective)

English Meaning - resistant (from the effects of something).

28.vaccinate (verb)

English Meaning - inoculate, administer, introduce (with a vaccine to provide immunity against a disease).

29.substitute (verb)

English Meaning - use as a replacement to, use as an alternative to, use in place of.

30.transmissive (adjective)

English Meaning - infectious, contagious, communicable, transmissible, spreading.

31.variant (noun)

English Meaning - different or form or version or mutant of something (virus).

32.turnaround time (noun)

English Meaning - the time needed to complete a task.

33.vastly (adverb)

English Meaning - extremely, immensely, exceedingly, hugely/largely.

34.indiscriminate (adjective)

English Meaning - thoughtless, unthinking, unconsidered, casual, careless, aimless, foolish, mindless, impulsive, ill-considered.

35.complication (noun)

English Meaning - difficulty, problem, issue, obstacle.

36.lead to (verb)

English Meaning - result in, cause, bring on.

37.resistance (noun)

English Meaning - ability to counteract, ability to withstand, immunity from (a drug).

38.drug resistance (noun)

English Meaning - it occurs happens when germs (microorganisms especially a bacterium, virus, or fungus) develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them.

39.sore point (phrase)

English Meaning - a cause of distress; point of contention, problem, difficulty.

40.far more (phrase)

English Meaning - a lot more, much more.

41.Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) (noun)

English Meaning - The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) is a United Nations-backed public health organisation working to increase access to, and facilitate the development of, life-saving medicines for low- and middle-income countries.

42.generic (adjective)

English Meaning - unbranded, untrademarked, non-proprietary.

43.generic (drugs) (noun)

English Meaning - unbranded drugs; copies of brand-name drugs that contain the same chemical substance as a drug that was originally protected by chemical patents.

44.to be better placed (phrase)

English Meaning - to be in a better position/situation/condition to do or have something.

45.mutate (verb)

English Meaning - change (genetically), undergo (genetic change).