CHANDIGARH, MAY 28
The Society for Promotion of Science of Science & Technology in India (SPSTI), jointly with Chandigarh Chapter of the National Academy of Sciences India (NASI), Chandigarh Chapter of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) and Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS) with support from Haryana State Council for Science, Innovation and Technology, Government of Haryana have organized another series of Expository Lectures on current state of COVID pandemic to spread awareness on issues involved so as to enhance the confidence of the general public in facing this pandemic.
The two lectures were conducted on consecutive days on May 27-28, 2021. The first lecture was delivered by Prof. Arunaloke Chakrabarty, Head of Medical Microbiology Department, PGIMER, Chandigarh on “Recent Epidemic of COVID Associated Mucormycosis”. One hundred sixty eight people on Zoom and many of Facebook attended the session.
There are several questions emerging in respect of Post Covid-19 pathological conditions due to Mucormycosis which is taking an epidemic form leading to many rumors among masses. Prof. Chakrabarti in his talk deliberated on facts and cleared myths associated with it. He began his lecture saying that calling Mucormycosis as black fungi is making mockery of scientific perception of our country. Mucormycosis and not a black fungi disease but occurs due to new Mucorales, while black fungus is due to dematiaceous fungi, having melanin on its surface.
He said the neglected discipline of fungi has been the first time recognised in India. He shared there have been 11717 reported cases of Mucormycosis, with 2800 from Gujrat and 119 from PGIMER, which has led fungal diseases to become a notable disease in India. He explained Mucormycosis is classified on basis of anatomical localization like pulmonary Mucormycosis affects lungs, gastrointestinal Mucormycosis affects gut, etc. He also talked about number of increasing cases of Gastrointestinal Mucormycosis and Renal Mucormycosis cases where actual reasons for its occurrences are still unknown.
The second lecture on May 28 was delivered by Dr. Javed N. Agrewala, Professor, Immunology Laboratory and Dean Research, IIT Ropar. He delivered the talk on “COVID-19: Infection and Immunity” which was attended by 193 on Zoom. The talk emphasized on how to prevent infection and bolster immunity against COVID-19, which is an extremely contagious virus that infects chiefly through the nasal route by aerosols. The best protection provided against any infection to the majority of the population is by the body's own immune system, which comprises natural and acquired immunity. He explains there are various microorganisms in our environment which have been affecting us continuously but our innate immunity provides defence against these.
He also explained in detail the complete life cycle of SARS-CoV-2 in the human body and how the human body reacts against it. He says viruses have a tendency to hyper-activate the immune system. The immune system activates the first line of defence and when it proves inefficient the adaptive immunity comes to play but in order to destroy the virus, being hyper-activated it does more damage to the immune system. He further explained about various types of vaccines like inactivate, subunit, mRNA, etc., explaining the differences in various vaccines against Covid-19. He finally wrapped up the session explaining how a Covid-19 infected cell expresses different receptors. The vaccine binds to these receptors, initiating a cascade of reactions by the immune system, releasing cytokines that recognize viruses and kill them.
The series of lectures were coordinated by Prof. R.K. Kohli, Chairman of Chandigarh Chapter of NASI, Prof. Arun K. Grover, former Vice Chancellor of Panjab University Chandigarh, Prof. K.K. Bhasin, Secretary NASI, Prof. Keya Dharamvir, General Secretary of SPSTI and Mr Dharam Vir, IAS (Retd.) and President, SPSTI.
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