Fortis rolls out online consultations across 23 hospitals amid lockdown

As the country continues with its lockdown, the step was conceived to continue patient care services without risking the health of patients or doctors

PTI

April 29, 2020 / 13:34 IST

Fortis Healthcare on Wednesday said it has rolled out online consultations for patients in 23 hospitals across its country-wide network amid the lockdown to contain coronavirus infections.

As the country continues with its lockdown, the step was conceived to continue patient care services without risking the health of patients or doctors, the healthcare major said in a statement.

Both tele-consults, as well as video consult services, have been running successfully with encouraging response from patients, it added.

“E-consultations are being organised to ensure the continuity of care for post-surgical upcountry patients," Fortis Healthcare Managing Director and CEO Ashutosh Raghuvanshi said.

Besides, patients with ailments like diabetes or hypertension and expecting mothers can also consult the doctors through this facility, he added.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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