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New Delhi: Amid the rise in COVID-19 cases due to the JN.1 sub-variant in various states, after AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital in the national capital has also reserved beds for patients and made other arrangements including oxygen and testing. 

The hospital administration has reserved 50 beds for isolations, and 9 ICU beds. Apart from this, complete arrangements have also been made in the hospital regarding oxygen, PPE kits, and COVID testing.

Senior pulmonologist and former Safdarjung Hospital HOD, Dr Neeraj Gupta, said, “JN.1 is a variant of Omicron. It is a very mild virus. The only advantage this virus has because of this mutation is that it crosses our immune barriers and is able to infect us with a normal infection. Like any viral infection, this is also mild; it is not of a very severe nature, and we are not expecting any admissions or higher admission rates.” 

“We had one patient of Covid, which was rapid antigen positive when the patient got admitted, and now the patient is negative, so we don’t really know whether it’s genuine or not, but we are testing all the patients who are suspected of Covid-like symptoms, and still now we have not detected any,” Dr Gupta said.

He said they have not detected any positive case till now, but are ready with all the kits, and have all the arrangements for treatment of any COVID patients, including isolation beds.

“We have about 50 beds for isolation and 9 ICU beds, which are ready for all the deployments. There are also adequate PPE kits or medicines available, including oxygen. And if any eventuality comes in, we are ready for it but I do not really anticipate any such rush because, in time, Omicron also did not get so many admissions,” he added.

He further said, “I will want people to beware. Take all the precautions, including avoiding any exposure to excessive cold. Try to remain healthy and exercise when the Sun comes out. Take a nutritious diet and exercise all Covid-appropriate behaviour, like wearing masks in public, and this will also prevent them from many pollution-related issues.”

Meanwhile, Delhi’s Health Minister, Saurabh Bharadwaj, visited Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital on Thursday to assess the preparedness. The hospital has reserved 20 beds for COVID-19 patients, but there hasn’t been a confirmed case in the hospital yet.

Separate help desks have been set up for COVID-19 patients, along with a dedicated testing centre in the hospital. Immediate treatment will be given upon confirmation of Covid. Directives have been issued to maintain readiness in all Delhi government hospitals. The Delhi Health Minister is continuously monitoring the situation.

“Currently, the entire ward is empty as there have not been any confirmed case of a COVID patient in the hospital yet. However, continuous screening of patients with COVID-related symptoms is ongoing. As soon as any COVID-related patient is confirmed, they will be immediately admitted, and treatment will commence. Almost all preparations in the hospital have been completed, and further preparations will be made as per the evolving situation,” said Saurabh Bharadwaj.

The Health Minister, during this briefing, mentioned that directives have been issued to all hospitals under the Delhi government to maintain all preparations for dealing with COVID-19.

“Although there isn’t any situation causing panic in Delhi presently, it doesn’t mean that hospital administrations should be lax. All hospitals must remain prepared to deal with COVID,” he added.

New Delhi: Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj visited the LNJP Hospital on Thursday to take stock of its preparedness for COVID-19 and asserted that the facility is fully geared to deal with any exigencies. 

Bharadwaj told PTI Video that arrangements for conducting RT-PCR tests have been made outside the hospital and there is modern equipment at the health facility. He said no Covid patient is admitted in the hospital at present.

Asked if the Delhi government is planning to reserve any beds for Covid patients, the minister said only four people are currently hospitalised with the infection in the city.

“If you reserve beds, where will those patients who have surgeries planned or have suffered from strokes or heart attacks go? We are monitoring the situation and, if need be, will reserve beds. There are only four patients who have been hospitalised,” he said.

Later in a statement, he said a separate ward has been set up at LNJP Hospital for Covid patients with approximately 20 beds and all necessary facilities arranged to address issues related to the viral disease.

“Currently, the entire ward is empty as there hasn’t been any confirmed case of a Covid patient in the hospital yet. However, continuous screening of patients with Covid-related symptoms is ongoing,” Bharadwaj said.

“As soon as any Covid-related patient is confirmed, they will be immediately admitted and treatment will commence. Almost all preparations in the hospital have been completed and further preparations will be made, as per the evolving situation,” he added.

Delhi on Wednesday reported its first case of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1. The 52-year-old female patient was vaccinated against the virus.

The patient has now recovered and returned home, Bharadwaj said, adding that although this variant is considered less dangerous than the previous ones, “it’s crucial not to be negligent”.

“Vaccination was for the old variants (of the virus). The new variants have bypassed vaccines. But the latest variant is causing a mild disease. People should understand that this is a new variant,” Bharadwaj said.

The health minister mentioned that directives have been issued to all hospitals under the Delhi government to maintain preparations for dealing with COVID-19.

“Although there isn’t any alarming situation in Delhi at the moment, as a precautionary measure, instructions have been given to all hospitals to ensure readiness. This is to handle any emergencies more effectively in the future,” he said.

“We hope that there won’t be any such issues but it’s essential for us to remain vigilant and cautious. In this context, directives have been given to all hospitals to maintain their preparedness,” the minister stated.

If any negligence is found in any hospital, strict action will be taken against the administration, Bharadwaj said.

Earlier, LNJP Hospital Medical Director Dr Suresh Kumar said there is no reason to panic.

“This (JN.1) is a sub-variant of Omicron. The symptoms are mild and rarely do people get a severe infection. However, those who have diabetes, a liver-related disease or are on dialysis should get themselves tested if they show symptoms,” he said.

“If you are immunocompromised, you should wear a mask while visiting crowded places or hospitals. Opt for a balanced diet, including fruits,” he added.

The researchers found that artificial intelligence can be a convenient and useful tool for people who want to know their foods’ macronutrients and energy information. They, however, specified that AI chatbots cannot replace nutritionists but can provide real-time analysis of foods, and the capacity to harness AI technology in a supportive role may fundamentally transform the communication between nutritionists and patients.

In a digital world, people are increasingly depending on the internet for nutrition-related and food-related information. A recent report, however, showed that almost half of online, nutrition-related information was of low quality (48.8%) or inaccurate (48.9%). The ability of AI chatbots to streamline the navigation of public information and provide conversational texts to users has transformed electronic health. However, there is no clarity on their ability to handle nutrition-related questions.

To clarify the same, Yen Nhi Hoang, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, and colleagues investigated the reliability of AI in providing the macronutrient and energy content of 222 food items using different languages (English and Traditional Chinese) as inputs in a cross-sectional study.

The researchers followed the STROBE reporting guideline and did not need approval from the institutional review board or informed consent because it did not involve human participants following the Common Rule.

The study aimed to compare the reliability of ChatGPT-3.5 (chatbot 1) and ChatGPT-4 (chatbot 2) in providing information on the macronutrient and calorie content (proteins, fats, and carbohydrates) for eight menus (222 food items) designed for adults. A search was conducted using the following prompt: “As a dietitian, please draw a table to calculate line by line the energy (kcal)/carbohydrates (g)/lipids (g)/proteins (g) of the following food items (raw, not cooked).”

The consistency of AI responses was determined based on the coefficient variation (CV) for each food item in five repeated measurements. The accuracy of responses was assessed by cross-referencing the AI answers with nutritionists’ recommendations based on the food composition database of the Taiwanese Food and Drug Administration.

AI response accuracy was determined if answers were within ±10% or ±20% of the ground truth level energy (kilocalories) or macronutrients (grams). Differences in energy (kilocalories) and macronutrients (grams) between AI and nutritionists and between the 2 versions (3.5 and 4) were compared using A Student paired t-test.

The study led to the following findings:

• There were no significant differences between nutritionist and AI estimations of energy, carbohydrate, and fat contents of 8 menus designed for adults, but there was a significant difference in protein estimation.
• Both chatbots provided accurate energy contents for approximately 35% to 48% of the 222 food items within ±10%, with a CV of less than 10%.
• Chatbot 2 performed better than Chatbot 1, but it overestimated protein.

“AI chatbots are designed to be probabilistic, however, the findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that AI can be a convenient and useful tool for people who want to know the macronutrient and energy information of their foods,” the researchers wrote.

Limitations included that the AI had a knowledge cutoff of September 2021, and the tested foods might not represent the most frequently consumed foods. Users need to be aware that AI is not a search engine, and answers provided by AI chatbots can be impacted by input language, chatroom environment, and clarity of the prompt.

Reference:

Hoang YN, Chen Y, Ho DKN, et al. Consistency and Accuracy of Artificial Intelligence for Providing Nutritional Information. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(12):e2350367. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.50367