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Kurnool |AUG 30th - SEP 05th| VOL 04,2020

Health T H E N e w s p a p e r F o r C h i l d r e n

Antibodies to treat patients She was admitted to the National Heart Institute (NHI) 11
days ago and later developed pneumonia. She was put
unable to be vaccinated on ventilator support but suffered a cardiac arrest on

Saturday.
Unlike antiviral drugs being used to treat COVID-19, antibody therapies also
have the potential to prevent infection from taking hold in the rst place. The founding director of NHI, she was awarded the
Even if a vaccine is made available, Dr Pham said antibody treatments could Padma Bhushan in 1967 and the Padma Vibhushan in
be used in people who can't get vaccinated because of age or ill health. 1992. She was also the recipient of Harvard Medical
"In particular, in settings of elderly populations … prior to outbreak, you can International Award, Dr BC Roy Award and Kamla Menon
deliver an antibody-based therapy to protect that population that wouldn't be Research Award.
able to mount an immune response [to a vaccine]," she said.
The same applies to people who are immunocompromised. “In 1972, when I joined Maulana Azad Medical College
Antibody therapies could also be used to protect individuals at high-risk of as a rst-year MBBS student, Madam Padmavati was the
infection, such as healthcare workers. However, the challenge is knowing how director, the head of the medical college. She is the most
long this immunity would last — a question researchers are still trying to illustrious name in the eld of cardiology in this country.
answer. She strings together scores and scores of cardiologists to
Antibody-based therapies are currently used in cancer treatments and immune whom she was a teacher as well as a mentor. Even till the
disorders.
As a treatment for COVID-19, they would likely be more effective than the last moment, she was very sharp and would put us to
antivirals currently available, Dr Labzin said. shame at times when we would not recount an incident but
"I think the main drawback is that these antibody therapies are not cheap to she would remember it.
make — at least not yet," she said. She was a health enthusiast and swam till the age of 93-
"But they're denitely less expensive than they were." 94 years. She loved playing tennis, which she gave up
In the United States, pharmaceutical companies Regeneron and Eli Lily have some time ago. Her physical abilities were restricted over
clinical trials for antibody treatments underway, as well as UK-based company
AstraZeneca. the last ve years,” said Dr OP Yadava, Chief Cardiac
Surgeon and Chief Executive Ofcer at NHI.
Born in 1917 in Burma, now Myanmar, she graduated
from Rangoon Medical College from where she started
Dr Padmavati, among India’s her career in cardiology.
In 1967, she took over as Director-Principal of Maulana
top cardiologists, dies at 103 Azad Medical College where she also set up a

Cardiology Department. She then introduced the DM
course in Cardiology and other super specialities like the
She was admitted to the National Heart Institute (NHI) 11 rst coronary care unit and the rst coronary care van in
days ago and later developed pneumonia. She was put on India. She also established North India’s rst Cardiac
Catheterisation Laboratory at Lady Hardinge Medical
ventilator support but suffered a cardiac arrest on
College in 1954.
Saturday. “She was a role model. We learnt a lot from her that

New Delhi : 31st Aug 2020,Monday helped us establish a healthy relationship with patients.
A strong-willed woman, a pioneer in cardiology and a doctor with a heart of My rst encounter with her was at the examination hall in
gold – this is how the medical fraternity remembers 103-year-old cardiologist MAMC when she came as an external examiner. She had
Dr Padmavati Sivaramakrishna Iyer, known simply as Dr Padmavati, who
passed away Saturday after contracting Covid-19 earlier this month. a reputation of being strict and we were very scared of
her. In 1974, I got a chance to interact with her when I
joined the MD medicine at MAMC. My thesis was later
guided by her and I got to work with her closely. She was
disciplined, dedicated, and never said no to poor
patients… In those days, cardiology was not as
developed as it is now and only basic CATH lab was
available. Her opinions hold great value and were highly
acknowledged across the country. At a time when
coronary heart disease was not even an issue, she gave
strong emphasis on prevention of heart disease,” said Dr
KK Sethi, chairman of Delhi Health and Lung Institute.

Dr Padmavati passed away Saturday after
contracting Covid-19 earlier this month.

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