November 2024
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Social Services/Health issues
WHO raises alarm over 300% increase in case of measles globally
Relevance IN - Prelims (about measles and findings of the report) + Mains ( GS II issues relating to health services)
What's the NEWS
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised an alarm over a 300 percent increase in the number of cases of measles globally in the first quarter of 2019.
• At this time in 2018, 163 countries had reported 28,124 cases. It also added that Africa has witnessed the most dramatic rise - up 700% which has weaker vaccination coverage than other regions.
• Measles, an airborne infection causing fever, cough and rashes that can be deadly in rare cases - had been officially eliminated in many countries with advanced healthcare systems.
• The health experts in various parts of the world blame a growing anti-vaccination movement for the rise in outbreaks of the highly contagious but preventable disease.
Know! more about the findings
• So far this year, 170 countries have reported 112,163 measles cases to WHO, as against 28,124 cases by 163 countries in 2018.
• According to WHO, the early trends for 2019 likely underestimated the severity of the outbreaks since only about one in 10 actual measles cases was reported.
• Many countries are in the midst of sizeable measles outbreaks, with all regions of the world experiencing sustained rises in cases. The disease has spread fast among clusters of unvaccinated people
Know! about Measles
• Measles is a highly contagious airborne viral disease that causes fever, coughing and rashes, which can be deadly in rare cases.
• Despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine, the disease remains an important cause of death among young children globally.
• Under the Global Vaccine Action Plan, measles and rubella are targeted for elimination in five WHO Regions by 2020.
• The World Health Organization is the lead technical agency responsible for coordination of immunisation and surveillance activities supporting all countries to achieve this goal.
Know! about the transmission/symptoms of it
• The infection is transmitted through droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons.
• The initial symptoms, which usually appear 10-12 days after infection, include high fever, a runny nose, bloodshot eyes and tiny white spots on the inside of the mouth.
• Several days later, a rash develops, starting on the face and upper neck and gradually spreading downwards.
• Severe measles is more likely among poorly nourished young children, especially those with insufficient vitamin A or whose immune systems have been weakened by HIV/AIDS or other diseases.
Space Awareness
CubeSat Satellite
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about CubeSat satellite ) + Mains ( GS III space awareness)
What's the NEWS
• A team led by an Indian American student has been chosen by NASA to have their CubeSat -- a mini research satellite to detect cosmic rays -- flown into space on future missions of the US space agency.
• The researchers from the Yale Undergraduate Aerospace Association (YUAA), led by 21-year-old Keshav Raghavan, are among the 16 teams across the country whose CubeSats will be flown into space on missions planned to launch in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
• The team's CubeSat BLAST (Bouchet Low-Earth Alpha/Beta Space Telescope) is named for physicist Edward A Bouchet -- the first African American to receive a PhD in America.
• Students designed the satellite over the course of four years, and received the launch grant through NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative competition.
Know! about mission BLAST
• BLAST (Bouchet Low-Earth Alpha/Beta Space Telescope) will contribute to the ongoing search for the origins and nature of cosmic rays, which will provide an insight into the origins of the universe.
Know! about CubeSat
• CubeSats are miniature satellites intended as a standard, inexpensive design that can easily fit alongside larger satellites aboard launch vehicles.
• The CubeSat model has given student groups, hobbyist organizations, and research teams operating with limited funding or experience unprecedented access to space.
Know! about Cosmic rays
• Cosmic rays are atom fragments that rain down on the Earth from outside of the solar system. They blaze at the speed of light and have been blamed for electronics problems in satellites and other machinery.
• Most cosmic rays are the nuclei of atoms, ranging from the lightest to the heaviest elements in the periodic table.
• Cosmic rays also include high energy electrons, positrons, and other subatomic particles.
• The term "cosmic rays" usually refers to galactic cosmic rays, which originate in sources outside the solar system, distributed throughout the Milky Way galaxy.
Cassini Reveals Surprises with Titan's Lakes
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the findings made by Cassini-Huygens mission and about Titan) + Mains ( GS III space awareness)
What's the NEWS
• On its final flyby of Saturn's largest moon in 2017, NASA's Cassini spacecraft gathered radar data revealing that the small liquid lakes in Titan's northern hemisphere are surprisingly deep, perched atop hills and filled with methane.
• The new findings, published April 15 in Nature Astronomy, are the first confirmation of just how deep some of Titan's lakes are (more than 300 feet, or 100 meters) and of their composition.
• They provide new information about the way liquid methane rains on, evaporates from and seeps into Titan - the only planetary body in our solar system other than Earth known to have stable liquid on its surface.
• Using data obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, scientists have found that Saturn's largest moon Titan has small liquid lakes that run more than 100 metres deep, perched atop hills and filled with methane.
Know! more about the Findings
• Scientists suspect the lakes were formed when surrounding bedrock chemically dissolved and collapsed a process which occurs with a certain type of lake on Earth.
• The scientists also observed "phantom lakes" on Titan that during wintertime appeared to be wide but shallow ponds but perhaps were only a few inches deep and evaporated or drained into the surface by springtime, a process taking seven years on Titan.
• The findings also presented evidence about Titan's hydrological cycle, with liquid hydrocarbons raining down from clouds, flowing across its surface and evaporating back into the sky which is comparable to Earth's water cycle.
• Scientists suspect Titan could potentially could harbour life possibly in the surface bodies of liquid hydrocarbons because of Titan's complex chemistry and distinctive environments.
• Titan which is the moon of Saturn has a diameter of 5,150 km and is the solar system's second largest moon, behind only Jupiter's Ganymede. It is bigger than the planet Mercury.
• Titan is the most Earth-like body in the solar system. It has lakes, canyons, rivers, dune fields of organic sand particles about the same size as silica sand grains on Earth.
Know! about Cassini - Huygens mission
• The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency.
• NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
• JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the U.S. and several European countries.
Miscellaneous
World Haemophilia Day
Relevance IN - Prelims ( all about Haemophilia) + Mains ( GS II issues relating to health)
What's the NEWS
• Every April 17 World Haemophilia Day is recognised worldwide to increase awareness of haemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders.
• This is a critical effort since with increased awareness comes better diagnosis and access to care for the millions who remain without treatment.
Know! more about it
• World Haemophilia Day was started in 1989 by the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) which chose to bring the community together on April 17 in honour of WFH founder Frank Schnabel's birthday.
• April 17, 2019, will mark the 30th World Hemophilia Day
• On World Haemophilia Day we celebrate the theme of Reaching out - connect to your community.
• The World Haemophilia Day 2019 is aimed at reaching out and identifying new members of the bleeding disorders community.
Know! about Haemophilia and its Occurrence
• Haemophilia is a medical condition in which the ability of blood to clot is severely reduced. As a result, even a minor injury can cause severe bleeding. It is mostly inherited and is attributed to the defect in the X chromosome.
• If a girl is born with one defective X chromosome, her other X chromosome can compensate for it. As a result, she will be a carrier of haemophilia but she herself will not suffer from the condition.
• On the other hand, if both of her X chromosomes are defective she is bound to suffer from haemophilia.
• If a boy is born with a defective X chromosome, he does not have the second X chromosome to compensate for it. Hence he will suffer from haemophilia. That is the reason haemophilia is more common among men.
• Britain's Queen Victoria is the world's most widely known carrier of haemophilia. From her, the condition spread to a number of European royal families. Hence haemophilia is often referred to as the Royal Disease.
• Haemophilia A, occurs in about 1 in 5,000 births, while Haemophilia B is even rarer at about 1 in about 20,000 births.
• According to the World Federation of Haemophilia's Annual Global Survey 2017, there were over 1.96 lakh persons living with haemophilia across the world in 2017 and India emerged with the highest count at nearly 19,000.
Prelims Practise Questions
Consider the following statements regarding Measles
1. Measles is a highly contagious airborne fungal disease that causes fever, coughing and rashes, which can be deadly in rare cases.
2. Despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine, the disease remains an important cause of death among old age people globally.
3. The infection is transmitted through droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons.
4. The initial symptoms, which usually appear 10-12 days after infection, include high fever, a runny nose, bloodshot eyes and tiny white spots on the inside of the mouth.
Find the correct statements from the option given below
a. 3 and 4
b. 1 and 3
c. 2 and 4
d. All
Consider the following statements
1. The scientists have found that Saturn's largest moon Titan has small liquid lakes that run more than 100 metres deep, perched atop hills and filled with methane.
2. Titan is the most Earth-like body in the solar system. It has lakes, canyons, rivers, dune fields of organic sand particles about the same size as silica sand grains on Earth.
3. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency.
Find the correct statements from the option given below
a. 1 and 3
b. 2 and 3
c. 1 and 2
d. 1 2 and 3
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