The Department of Research and Development, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences organized a Mini Symposium on COVID-19 on 8th August, 2020. It was a physical-cum-virtual symposium, held with support from Dr. Soumya Mishra, Academic Secretary, KIMS.
The meeting was well-attended by 40 participants who were physically present apart from 100 participants online. The panel of speakers included Dr. B. Ravindran (Emeritus Professor, ILS); Dr. Sanghamitra Pati (Director, RMRC, Bhubaneswar); Prof. Dr Ramnath Misra, (HOD, Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology); Prof. Dr. A.C. Anand, (HOD, Gastroenterology); Prof. Dr. P. Pujari, (HOD, General Surgery); and Dr. Sakir Ahmed, (Asst. Prof. Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology) from KIMS.
Dr. Ravindran spoke about the biology of the coronavirus, its virulence and mutation potentiality. Dr. Pati discussed various issues related to diagnosis of COVID-19 including RT-PCR and rapid Antigen-testing. Prof. Ramnath Misra spoke about the host immune response of the virus and pathogenic mechanism.
Prof. Anand lucidly discussed the issues and precautions of medical intervention, while Prof. Pujari highlighted the risk of health workers involved in surgical managements of COVID-19.Prof. Panda gave details of Candidate vaccines of COVID-19 and Dr. Ahmed gave an update on medical treatment of COVD-19, including antiviral, biological and plasma therapy.
Maj. Gen. Prof. Dr. Pradeep Kumar Patnaik, Principal, KIMS, welcomed the speakers and introduced the topic. The symposium was well appreciated.