Objectives: To analyze and report adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Methods: This was an observational study, conducted to analyze and communicate the ADRs reported from July 2016 to June 2017 in a south Indian tertiary care teaching hospital. On daily basis, ADRs reported by healthcare professionals (HCPs) were analyzed and the reports that meet pharmacovigilance programme of India (PvPI) reporting criteria were communicated to PvPI through a specified updated Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) suspected ADR reporting form. In this study, ADRs were summarised based on demographics, drug, incidence, type of reaction and its outcome. Causality, severity, seriousness, and predictability were assessed through WHO causality assessment scale, Hartwig and Siegel Severity Assessment Scale and PvPI criteria. Results: A total of 254 ADRs communicated to PvPI through specified, updated IPC suspected ADR reporting form. The incidence of ADRs in both males and females was identical. The occurrence of ADRs in adult patients (71.26%) was significantly higher than other age groups. Of total ADRs, most of them were with Antibiotics (24.01%) followed by antipsychotics (11.42%). In causality assessment, a majority of ADRs (48.82%) were considered possibly related to the drug or treatment and 55.12% were mild in severity. Overall, 36.22% patients were recovered from ADRs. Most of the reported ADRs (54.33%) were probably preventable. Conclusions: The results provided an insight to the HCPs on the importance of monitoring and reporting of ADRs. High-quality data gathered through a reporting system, most of the reported ADRs were probably preventable; the proper review of patient history and monitoring by HCPs can reduce the incidence of ADR. Our study results emphasize a need for establishing a pharmacovigilance centre to ensure the safe use of drugs.

Vegetables (Tomato – Solanum lycopersicum, green chilli – Capsicum annum and bitter gourd – Momordica charantia) and fruits (Banana – Musa acuminata colla, papaya – Carica papaya and mosambi – Citrus limetta) from the cultivated areas around the Tummalapalle uranium mining site were analyzed for trace metals (Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, Be, V, Co, Cd and U) using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). As per the estimated data, the concentrations of trace metals in vegetables and fruits are found in the range of 47.5–7.8 mg/kg for Al, 9.7–1.0 mg/kg for Cr, 3.8–1.0 mg/kg for Mn, 75.5–13.9 mg/kg for Fe, 1.4–0.2 mg/kg for Ni, 2.3–0.8 mg/kg for Cu, 9.2–3.1 mg/kg for Zn, 0.2–1.4 mg/kg for Pb, 19.2–1.9 μg/kg for Be, 96.1–15.8 μg/kg for V, 48.2–12.9 μg/kg for Co, 46.5–2.3 μg/kg for Cd and 16.4–2.7 μg/kg for U. The trace metals observed are compared to the literature reported values. Trace elemental data were subjected to statistical analysis to examine the interrelationship between the investigated trace elements and possible source identification of the trace metal contamination in vegetable and fruits. Daily intake of trace metals through ingestion of vegetables and fruits are also calculated.

COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory disease caused by a newly discovered SARS-CoV-2 virus and identified in the city of Wuhan, China in December 2019. WHO has declared this disease as a pandemic, and warned other countries. Presently this has affected 216 countries, areas or territories worldwide, spreading of this disease is very fast in USA, Brazil, and Russia than in the country of its origin, China. Like other coronaviruses, this may develop respiratory tract infections in the patients range from mild to fatal illness like pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). As of now, no effective drug, vaccine, or any procedure is available and experiments are underway. However, empirical therapy is being followed to manage and save the lives of the patients. There is a need for pharmacological alternatives to combat this deadly virus and its complications. Based on the previous experiences with similar coronavirus management and present preliminary data from uncontrolled studies, drugs like chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, lopinavir/ritonavir, and favipiravir have been recommended by the researchers to manage COVID-19. This review had assessed the potential mechanisms, safety profile, availability and cost of these drugs. This review concludes that the drugs mentioned above are having different properties and act differently in combating the COVID-19 viruses. Instead of single drug, combination of antivirals with different mechanism of action may be more effective and at the same time their adverse events should not be underestimated.

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This study has been conducted to investigate the effect of incorporating CuO nanoparticles inside PVA matrix with the aim of enhancing the mechanical properties of PVA for reinforcement purposes. Films were prepared by solution intercalation technique with 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 wt% CuO nanofiller content taking neat PVA as the reference for the study. Structural characterisations of the prepared nanocomposite films were carried out by FTIR, SEM and XRD techniques. Various mechanical parameters such as tensile strength, elastic modulus, flexural strength and toughness were investigated and significant enhancement in the properties of polyvinyl alcohol films containing CuO nanofillers was observed. Elastic modulus and toughness showed a linear relation with respect to nanofiller concentration at low wt%, whereas at higher wt% of CuO, the nature was observed to be non-linear. PVA-2.0 wt% CuO nanocomposite showed the highest values of flexural strength, toughness and tensile strength among all the fabricated nanocomposite films.