Milk in Nepal and India: the difference!

-
Image
 I have observed that whenever milk ferments when I am in India, the paneer or cottage cheese does not come out easily. Even if I boil it and add lime juice to it, the cheese formed is quite little and more powdery than cheesy.  But when the same happens in Nepal, the cheese formation is immediate, dense and cheesy. I do not have to do more efforts to get cottage cheese out of the milk in Nepal. What is the reason? I checked internet and found some factors that can affect the quality and amount of cheese  1. Freedom from pathogenic bacteria - Good cheese forms of milk is free from pathogenic bacteria. Differences between Nepali vs Indian panipuri  2. Different milk quality with different amounts of fats and proteins  3. Ultra-pasteurization can destroy vital enzymes and bacteria that are required for cheese formation  4. If temperature of milk is less when it ferments, cheese formation will be less.  5. If milk is rancid, it means it's fats are also br...
Post a Comment

What is norovirus? What are it's symptoms and how to prevent it's infection?

-

 Norovirus, also called the winter vomiting bug causes a significant number of cases of gastroenteritis in the world. It causes, vomiting, loose motions, and gastric pain. Fever with or without headache might be present. Usually, dehydration is less but common in young, old, and those that have co-morbid conditions. 

Norovirus

The virus gets its name from Norwalk in Ohio where it was first reported in 1968. It is a non-enveloped virus and is a single-stranded positive-sense RNA virus. RNA is around 7.5 kB long. The virus has an icosahedral structure.  It replicates cytoplasmically. It has 7 genogroups and several genotypes. Most infections are of genogroups GI and GII. Infectivity is high and just 5-20 viral particles can cause it. Transmission is person to person and through contaminated surfaces and food. Salad and shellfish are notorious to cause it.  Breathing aerolized particles can also cause infection. Viral shedding continues for a long time after symptoms subside. 

https://healthfitnessnwellnessblog.blogspot.com/2022/01/celibacy-is-higher-in-gen-z-reasons-and.html

Symptoms of the infection

Norovirus spreads by fecal-oral route. The symptoms arise 1/2 to 2 days after the virus enters the body. Symptoms that are predominantly noticed are vomiting, loose motions, and stomach pain. There may be fever and headache. If water intake is low due to any reason, it could cause dehydration. This is more common in extremes of age and patients with other associated health conditions. The infection is self limiting and lasts for a day to 3 days. 


Around the globe, annually 685 million cases of noroviral gut I section are reported. And 200k deaths occur per year due to it. It occurs in both developed and developing world. Cases and deaths are more in under 5 age group. It commonly occurs in winter and in outbreaks in overcrowded housing conditions. 

Diagnosis is by PCR which is reliable. ELIZA with antibodies has less sensitivity and specificity. Usually these tests are not available but done only during outbreaks. 

Treatment and prevention

No specific treatment exists. Drink lots of oral fluids. Intravenous fluids may be required in some. Antiemetic or antidiarrhoeal drugs are needed in some with excessive symptoms. 

Immunity lasts against the specific genotype of norovirus for 6 months to 2 years. Hand hygiene and decontamination of infected surfaces can help prevent infection. Alcohol-based sanitizers are not useful because the virus is not enveloped and alcohol acts only via disruption of the viral envelope. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Morton's toe: Everything you need to know about your longer second toe

-
Image
 Often, one notices that the second toe of some people is longer than the great toe. People say different things for it. Many of them say that it implies that the owner of such a longer second toe is a dominant, creative, energetic person in real life and very ambitious and peace and happiness-loving. But no one has tried to understand the reason, science, medicine and problems of having such a toe. It is called as Morton’s toe or Greek foot.  What is a Greek foot? Many people in the world have a longer second toe of the foot. Such feature may be on one side or in both the feet. It is called Morton’s toe or Greek foot. The other names for it are Morton’s foot or royal toe. But the reason is not the second toe is longer but the fact is that the first metatarsal below the great toe is shorter. Thus it is not due to the faulty phalanges but due to the difference in height of the metatarsals. Since the second metatarsal is relatively longer than the first metatarsal, the joint at ...
Read more

There can be no universal forgiveness! It never exists!

-
Image
Forgiveness or pardon means clearing off the feelings of resentment or revenge towards the offender. In most contexts it implies giving up any expectation of justice. People justify this act of forgiveness from a religious point of view and psychologists justify it as an act that would bring peace to the victim. But my experience tells me that both religion as well as psychologists are absolutely wrong in asking a victim to forgive the evil person. This act is bad from a society point of view and would lead to a rise in crimes and unhappiness. Let me explain in depth with examples. 1. I have a friend in the UK. She is originally from Nigeria. She has two siblings who are married with children and she herself is single and childless. In the year 2009, she had gone to her hometown. There her siblings tortured her physically and mentally and put her under house arrest. They did not want to give her any ancestral property and assets. She managed to free herself with the help of a friend an...
Read more

Voluntary childlessness is on the rise in the world! What are the reasons for it?

-
Image
 The decision of couples to have no children by choice seems tough but is increasing in the modern world. Though society looks down at such couples, the availability of effective and safe contraception and old age support from non-family agencies has made things a bit easier for such decisions to be made.  Reasons for voluntary childlessness 1. Personal reasons such as not wanting responsibilities of a child.  2. The emphasis on career rather than reproduction 3. The lack of desire to forward one's family genes or line due to child abuse.  4. Anguish against existence in general. 5. Non-readiness to give up one's freetime and social time for children rearing 6. Happier to help others raise kids 7. Preferring a pet over a child 8. Not wanting to give up personal space and sharing it with a child.  9. Not happy with child-rearing things such as cleaning up mess, disturbing one's sleep etc. 10. Not particularly fond of children behavior. 11. In some situations, one...
Read more