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The novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), that began in Wuhan Province, China was labelled as an International Public Health Emergency on January 30, 2020 and later was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on March 11, 2020. The causative agent, SARS-CoV-2 was the third coronavirus responsible for causing major disease outbreaks in human population after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) caused by SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV respectively. The patients of COVID-19 present with a clinical feature resembling mild form of viral pneumonia which in certain cases progress to a severe form characterised by adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and/or multiorgan failure leading to death. The transition from mild to severe form of COVID-19 is affected by a lot of factors like age, co-morbidities etc. In the absence of an absolute cure, it is essential to explore the molecular pathogenesis of the disease to identify people at risk of developing severity so that alternative treatment modalities may be planned. The aim of this review is to provide an update on the general characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and highlight the inflammatory changes and immune dysregulation that may help in identification of molecular predictors of disease severity.

Optimal breastfeeding not only saves the lives of children under 5 years, but also improves children's quality of life. In spite of proven benefits and repeated emphasis, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding among children less than 6 months of age is only 36% globally. The Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding provided a framework for action in 10 areas, and identified the need to assess the implementation of policies and programmes in order to identify gaps and to take action to bridge them. We have utilized the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi) tool to make such an assessment. The WBTi has been introduced in 81 countries and 40 of these had completed their assessment by April 2011. Their findings point out specific gaps in both the policy and programmes in all 10 areas of action identified by the tool. This shows that countries need to work in a co-ordinated manner, with clear plans and committed financial resources, to address gaps in all 10 areas of action. This can result in strong advocacy efforts as well as consensus-based action for the effective implementation of the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding to enhance rates of optimal feeding practices.

The global rates of exclusive breastfeeding have remained stagnant since 1990, with only 37% of children younger than 6 months being exclusively breastfed."Abstract: Optimal infant and young child feeding practices, especially exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months, not only save lives of children younger than 5 years but also improve children's quality of life. In spite of the proven benefits of exclusive breastfeeding for up to 6 months, and repeated emphasis on this critical intervention, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding among children younger than 6 months is a dismal 37% globally, and it has been stagnant since the 1990s. Globally, there is much interest in enhancing this practice to accelerate the progress on child survival, as the UN Secretary General's Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health calls for increasing numbers to 21.9 million infants who are exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life, by 2015, in 49 least developed countries. This is a welcome step forward, but knowledge of how to increase exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months is either lacking or is inadequate among policy and program managers. This article identifies 7 strategies that could achieve increased rates of exclusive breastfeeding, provides guidance on prioritization, and explains why these require multisectoral and systematic action.