Universal Medicine

Karina Dembla With the varying successes of both hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as a COVD-19 treatment, the necessity for a vaccine to be developed against COVID-19 is amplified with every passing day spent in isolation and the extreme pressure placed on the healthcare system. Researchers have halted their on-going projects and with an increase in government funding going to research, several laboratories are participating in the worldwide race to develop an anti-COVID-19 vaccine. Currently, 77 candidate vaccines are being tested on different animals such as hamsters, ferrets and monkeys. Promising results of a vaccine consisting of an inactivated version of the virus was seen in rhesus macaques as none developed a full infection upon exposure to the SARS CoV-2. However, the true efficacy of a vaccine can only be determined during human trials. As of 23rd of April, WHO reported 6 candidate vaccines starting clinical evaluation.  The recent initiation of human trials of ...

By Manav Babbar When I first created my Instagram account, I was filled with a tonne of excitement. Almost instantly, I started posting photos. When I posted my very first photo, I was thrilled to see all the notifications come pouring in. My first photo got 12 likes – I thought ‘Wow that’s great!’. My next photo got 13 likes, then 11 likes then 12 likes and I was thrilled with this. Fast forward one year later… Today I opened up my Instagram account to find out that I have got 60 likes on the last photo I posted. By all accounts (pun intended), I should be over the moon! But I am not. Over the course of the past year, I have got more and more likes per photo. With really great photos, I would get over 100 likes. I had come to expect more and more out of each post I uploaded. At one point, I was happy to get 12 likes for every photo I posted but now when I am getting over five times that number, I am not satisfied. Why? There is a bigger picture at play here and it has something ...

By Gagandeep Sachdeva  Frontline National Health Service (NHS) workers battling the COVID-19 crisis need your help. There is currently a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), which is increasing the exposure of health workers to the virus. This is risking their lives, as well as the lives of patients. To help support our frontline, charities have been set-up to direct protective equipment to medical staff at this time of emergency. Members of our team here at Universal Medicine are supporting and volunteering with Med Supply Drive UK (MSD UK). MSD UK is part of a united mission set out by an emergency working group - SHIELD: Sustainable Hub for Innovation, Execution, Launch and Distribution. SHIELD embraces the collaborative effort of multiple thought leaders to provide the NHS with vital PPE. MSD UK is an organisation run by NHS doctors, medical students and individuals who are concerned about the interest of NHS frontline healthcare workers with inadequate...

By Prashan Balendran Disclaimer : The information for the upcoming series of posts on the Coronavirus has been collated from a range of sources and the purpose is to provide insight into the virus from an objective lens. These posts are accurate to the time of publication; however, our knowledge of the virus is rapidly evolving, so we recommend for you to stay up to date with latest news broadcasts and research.   The COVID-19 pandemic has uprooted our way of life. Everyone has been locked away in isolation and businesses, employment, education and finance have all been indefinitely changed. The impact of the virus however is mostly felt on the NHS, who are struggling to tackle the onslaught of cases and the increasing growth rate does not bode well for our healthcare system. As the incidence of infection rises across the globe, it is important to appreciate the pressure that this pandemic places on healthcare systems. The NHS is becoming increasingly pressured as 1 i...

By Somya Sharma  Disclaimer:  The information for the upcoming series of posts on the Coronavirus has been collated from a range of sources and the purpose is to provide insight into the virus from an objective lens. These posts are accurate to the time of publication; however, our knowledge of the virus is rapidly evolving, so we recommend for you to stay up to date with latest news broadcasts and research.    In December 2019, Wuhan City in China saw an emergence of several cases of pneumonias. This was to be classified as a novel coronavirus, SARS-Cov-2. The source of the outbreak is thought to be from a wet animal market in Wuhan. COVID-19 was declared a pandemic on 11th March - at that point it had reached 114 countries with over 4,000 fatalities. Since then, many countries have declared a state of national emergencies and lockdowns.    The virus epicenter has shifted from China, to Europe, and now moving to the US, as worldwide prevalence appro...

By Gagandeep Sachdeva Disclaimer: The information for the upcoming series of posts on the Coronavirus has been collated from a range of sources and the purpose is to provide insight into the virus from an objective lens. These posts are accurate to the time of publication; however, our knowledge of the virus is rapidly evolving, so we recommend for you to stay up to date with the latest news broadcasts and research. The new Coronavirus (COVID-19) has been declared as a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO), with over 935,000 cases and over 47,000 deaths from across 203 countries and territories as of 12:30pm on 2nd April 2020 (1,2). Multiple organisations have published research on the virus and over a series of posts, we will explore the findings to get you up to date with this outbreak. This post will explore the scientific details of the virus, the symptoms observed and transmission. The 2019 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by SARS-C...