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COVID-19 was a health emergency of unfathomable proportion; but at the same time, it was also a misinformation pandemic, where fake news and half-truths ruled people’s psyche. Myths about COVID-19 infection, ways in which the disease could spread, incorrect data about infection rates, and the number of people infected or dead due to the pandemic made daily Headlines in News Paper Headlines and Prime Time News Shows. It was a new and evolving situation for everyone, including people, public personalities, politicians, and even the government. But behind all this chaos, there were a few unknown faces at work to help find and propagate the Truth.
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.” - Marie Curie
Staying true to the words of the First Woman to Win the Nobel Prize, Ishan Gupta – MBBS Student at AIIMS, New Delhi also embarked on the mission to understand COVID-19 and its different aspects from a scientific perspective. During the pandemic, Ishan was involved in multiple research projects about COVID-19 and how it infects and impacts people. Conducted and Published research papers on different topics related to COVID-19, ranging from the effectiveness of Covaxin (BBV152) and COVID-19 induced Mucormycosis among others.
Research on Effectiveness of Covaxin (BBV152) among Healthcare Workers
When scientists and researchers from across the globe were trying to come up with an effective vaccine to counter COVID-19, India’s BHARAT BioTech developed India's First Indigenous COVID-19 Vaccine. The indigenous vaccine uses Whole-Virion Inactivated Vero Cell-derived platform technology. While it was a proud moment that India was one of the few and first countries to have its own indigenously developed COVID-19 Vaccine, there was a lot of confusion and misinformation about its effectiveness and efficacy.
To clear the air around it, Ishan along with a larger group of researchers studied the efficacy of COVAXIN (BBV152) among Health Workers. The group studied the SARS-CoV-2 reinfection rate and estimated the effectiveness of the inactivated whole virion vaccine BBV152 against reinfection among health care workers (HCWs). The study concluded seen that BBV152 (Covaxin) was associated with more than 85% effectiveness against reinfection in HCWs following a complete vaccination schedule.
Risk Factors around COVID-19 Induced Mucormycosis
During the 2nd wave of COVID-19 along with the challenge of the COVID-19 virus, doctors were also faced with another threatening disease i.e., Mucormycosis. Commonly known as Black Fungus, the fungal infection wreaked havoc and was often blamed to be a new variant or symptom of the COVID-19 virus. To offer more clarity on the matter, Ishan along with a group of researchers published a paper about ‘Risk Factors for Coronavirus disease-associated Mucormycosis.
The study concluded that steroids should be used judiciously to prevent Coronavirus disease-associated Mucormycosis. Also, newer risk factors like prolonged use of cloth and surgical masks and repeated nasopharyngeal swab testing for the COVID-19 illness were found to be contributing to the rise in Mucormycosis infections during the 2nd wave of the pandemic.
Study on COVID-19 Infection among Pregnant Women
Another major concern that was highlighted during the 2nd wave of the pandemic was the rising infection numbers among pregnant women. To address health concerns and confusion about the same, Ishan with involved in the systematic review of clinical and laboratory parameters of 3,000 COVID-19 cases; Obstet Gynecol Sci. 2021. The research effectively proved that there was no evidence of vertical transmission of COVID-19 infection. The study also concluded that the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 were similar among pregnant and non-pregnant women. This helped policymakers, health caregivers, and primary physicians to promote early diagnosis and prevention among pregnant women.
Study on Impact of Increased Screen Time on Academic Performance
During the pandemic, education shifted to online mode increasing the students’ time to gadgets and screens. To assess the impact of this development, Ishan conducted brief research linking increased screen time with excessive daytime sleepiness and poor quality of sleep, which in turn led to the deterioration of the academic performance of university students. The Sleep Research study was conducted to correlate the daytime absolute power of electroencephalography (EEG) findings with academic performance and screen time in young adults.
The key findings of this research were that among the research subjects, those who were exposed to fewer gadgets and less screen time had good quality sleep which led to lower sleep latency. Consequently, they fared better academically as compared to their counterparts with high screen time. Ishan also found a statistically significant correlation of EEG absolute powers with the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale and academic performance shows that these are better objective indicators of levels of alertness. The one-line takeaway of this research was that “Excessive use of Gadgets and Screen time leads to poor quality of sleep in University students which has negative consequences for their academics and overall health.
Other Achievements
Apart from this, Ishan has also participated in various scientific events like Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan (VVM) by Vijnana Bharti and Vigyan Prasar, DST, Government of India, Mimamsa by IISER Pune, Neuromatch Academy (NMA), Developing Indian Physician Scientists (DIPS) Workshop by DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance. He has also presented research work in various national and international conferences like IFCPC, ICBMT, SOHO, ESH Conference on Lymphoid Malignancies, CYTOCON, NALCCON."
Ishan Gupta is a finalist for the Student Ambassador (Popular Choice) Award Because…when the world was worried about the pandemic, Ishan chose to be part of the solution and conducted extensive research on different topics related to COVID-19 and thereby aiding policymakers and healthcare workers to take right and timely decisions.
To Reach the Information Dossier Shared by Ishan Gupta Click Here.