Transasia Bio-Medicals Ltd.

  While the second wave of COVID-19 continues to challenge us, it has also led to a series of seismic shifts that will have positive implications in the near future. India has made significant advancements in the field of disease detection and healthcare delivery, over the last few years. In fact, in India, healthcare has been one of the largest sectors in terms of employment and revenue generation and continues to grow at a brisk pace. However, the pandemic has put to test even the most developed global healthcare systems, and India is no exception.  As is rightly said, crisis changes customer requirements or forces them to adopt new ones. Likewise, in healthcare too, many new market forces are already at play: Shift from reactive to proactive diagnostics: There was a time when a patient underwent a diagnostic test only when prescribed by Doctors. However, in the recent past, diagnostics has been adopted as a proactive tool even by healthy individuals for early wellness testi...

  I believe the time has come for our Finance Minister to make a new future for India by giving a huge impetus to the making of Atma Nirbhar Bharat in healthcare. Healthy India means Happy India. Current pandemic has shown that the diagnostic industry is a very essential part of healthcare sector in every country. Without adequate diagnostic tests, it would have been impossible to control the spread of COVID-19. The domestic diagnostic industry is still a very small industry, estimated at USD 9 bn (around INR 675 bn), and is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of ~10% over the next 5 years. Growth will be primarily driven by a change in demographics, increase in lifestyle diseases, and higher income levels across all strata of society, rise in preventive testing, deeper penetration with asset-light expansion, and spread of healthcare services and insurance. Having said that the industry looks forward to crucial government support that is needed to help this i...

  As we head into a year where we are expecting things to be a ‘better normal’, we are often left contemplating, whether we have passed the resilience test or is there more to come? Against the backdrop of the pandemic, the UN has forecast global economic contraction of 3.2% in 2020. Businesses are left fighting for survival and workforces are living through exceptionally challenging situations. More than ever before, it has now become evident that leadership matters for organizations to emerge from forced hibernation and rebuild a strong economy. In the face of change and crisis, leaders can adapt the core values of R.E.S.P.E.C.T to catapult forward, quickly: RESPONSIVENESS - Bringing out the best in leaders: There is an old adage that ‘crisis does not build character, it reveals it’. The various skills and traits of a leader are put to test during management of a crisis and its aftermath. How a leader responds, is key to the organization and employees since they are closely wat...

  Clinicians have been relying on urine testing, which  is giving medical experts a plethora of information,  to monitor patients’ renal function which can be impacted by COVID-19.  Involvement of kidney Researchers have been able to successfully isolate SARS-CoV-2 from the urine sample of an infected patient, suggesting that the virus attacks the kidneys. SARS-CoV-2 uses the Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE 2) receptor for entry and multiplication. Therefore cells expressing ACE2 may be target cells and are thus susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Such cells include alveolar type II cells of the lungs and podocytes which are typically found in the kidneys. Once it enters the cells, the virus causes sepsis leading to cytokine storm syndrome or direct cellular injury.    Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) - an independent risk factor Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) or acute renal failure is a sudden episode of kidney failure or damage that happens within in a short peri...

SARS-CoV-2 continues to baffle medical experts with its presentations. It is crucial for clinicians to identify early, those who are at risk. This will aid them in recognizing the future need for admission to ICU, improve allocation of patients for specific therapies and initiation of preventive strategies.   While initially it was assumed that the virus damages only the lungs, studies have concluded its impact on various other organs too. Routine parameters in blood and urine are useful to provide novel insights in the patho-physiology of COVID-19 and its severity.  Significant reduction in Absolute Lymphocyte Count and Hemoglobin, is associated with increase in total WBC count, absolute Neutrophil count, ESR, Prothrombin Time and Pro-calcitonin. These lab findings, especially elevated Ferritin, suggest an imminent ‘Cytokine Storm’ which might lead to complications like Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), Pneumonia and Multi-organ Failure (MOD). Important laborat...

  Early on researchers had observed the complications of abnormal blood clotting in COVID-19 patients.  D Dimer, a coagulation marker, is playing an important role in early identification of complications caused due to blood clotting and thus aiding in treatment of severe COVID-19 cases. How blood clots are proving to be fatal in COVID-19 Early on, while doctors were still trying to understand COVID-19, signs of blood clotting were being detected in different organs. Nephorologists were noticing dialysis catheters getting plugged with clots. Neurosurgeons were witnessing a surge in patients with strokes.  “Researchers have found stroke rate to be seven times higher in patients with severe COVID-19 than those with severe seasonal flu(1).” Evolving clinical resources confirm a convoluted role of abnormal blood clotting in COVID-19 that manifests in the form of both micro thrombosis (formation of small blood clots) and venous thromboembolism (VTE). VTE is a condition when a ...

“When the going gets tough, the tough gets going”, a famous adage that makes more sense now than even before! While each of us has our own unique stories to tell from the lockdown, we present to you experiences of our very own frontline heroes, who lived up to Transasia’s vision of a Healthier India! This is not a narrative from a Bollywood movie, of an actor fighting all odds to win over his love, or a sci-fi flick of a superhero saving the world from ETs. These are true experiences of grit and determination, of working with your heart, to give it all you have for a healthier nation! While the COVID pandemic and ensuing lockdown left most with no choice but to work from home, there were some for whom it did not matter whether an area was declared a containment zone or a hotspot. What mattered for these great heroes was that they are the face of India’s leading In-vitro Diagnostic Company, and providers of essential diagnostic services. So, while India came to a standstill, it was co...

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has once again turned the spotlight on to pathologists and laboratory medicine, not to miss out the indispensable role of microbiologists, virologists and biochemists. Now more than ever, their role can be compared to that of a film director, who remains behind the scene but calls the shots! By now we all know that blood samples and naso and oropharyngeal swabs are been collected by PPE clad, trained laboratory professionals for COVID-19 testing. But have you ever wondered what happens after you give your samples? How are the various results arrived at? How does the Doctor arrive at a treatment plan based on these numbers? It is the pathologist and his team of trained clinical laboratory personnel who don the hats of both a physician and a scientist to give all answers. Pathology - the backbone of medicine Pathology is a marvelous medical science that underpins every aspect of patient care, from diagnosis, monitoring and interpretation of clinical findings...