Amid the COVID pandemic, the Nation is under lockdown, which has been extended till 3rd May. Pertaining to this, the second session of JEE Main (April Session) which were scheduled to be conducted from 5th April to 11th April 2020 have been postponed until further notice. While the expectations are that it may be conducted by the end of May, students/ serious aspirants have an extended preparation time available which shall be put to effective utilization. Students must stay positive and need to focus on revision and analysing their setbacks. As per the previous schedule, most of the aspirants must have gone through the complete syllabus and must be making the last minute revision now. While the whole Nation is under lockdown, and social distancing seems to be the only effective control method right now, there is an urgent need to deal positively with this crisis. The need of the hour is to utilize the extra time productively and plan the preparations in a coherent manner. Make a Feasible schedule – this Lockdown period should be effectively utilised for revision and hence meticulous planning will have efficient outcomes, keeping the major focus on gaining conceptual understanding of the subjects. While it must be difficult for students to study without having access to daily classes and lose focus off their schedule. At this point of time it is necessary to keep calm and patient and follow a systematic schedule to ensure effective preparation and best use one’s productivity. Consult Online Classes – Online platforms are available that provides a virtual classroom ambience with complete notes, expert opinions, online classes, mock tests etc for best student preparation. One such portal is myPAT, powered by FIITJEE that allow them to learn by staying in the safety and security of their homes and ensure better learning outcomes, save time and increase accessibility at the same time. Follow Three Tier Revision – The stage has arrived where revision is the most important aspect of the preparation process and the best way to tackle the challenge is to have a well-structured and organized revision strategy. Three Tier Revision method suggests that students should first revise the topic on the same day, then after 3 days and then revise the same topic at the end of the week. This way, you will be able to get strong hold on topics and subjects which stay in your memory for longer period. If you revise a topic the same day when you study it, you find it easy to revise and grab; while on the other hand if you revise that topics after few days of studying it, it becomes difficult to understand and revise and consume more time. Study Important Formulae: It is important to study important formulae at the time of revision. This will help you in solving the questions within a short time in the exam. As most of the questions in Physics/ Mathematics will be formula-based, it is important to stay in touch with the same for a better score in the exam. Practice Mock test- Mock tests play an important role in making familiar with strong and weak areas. To analyze your preparation, students are advised to take mock tests. Stay motivated & Take regular breaks to relax – Do not sit for long hours together in a panic to study all at once, but instead take small and frequent breaks at least after one hour of focussed revision. These intervals are essential for the brain to retrieve information and revive the energy, making you ready for the next sessions. Channelize your concentration. There may be many distractions and thoughts running in the mind. Focus and overcome the complications with interest and determination, to learn it easy way. After analyzing the confusions and wrong attempts, weak areas from the Phase 1 of JEE Main, aspirants need to work on those areas more and more, without wasting time, in order to get ample time for practice and revision. This time should generally be made use of in consolidating one’s preparation, focusing on problem solving and overcoming the weaker areas in preparation. This extra time must be wisely utilized to perfect the ability to solve problems with a deep perception of concept involved, improving the time needed to solve the given problem, identifying the weak spots and correcting them. Right Strategy and Time Management play a vital role in deciding the rank for an aspirant. The remaining weeks should be wisely used for revision, maintaining speed& increasing accuracy to solve a particular problem, identifying the weaker areas and correcting them. Finally, it is the relative performance that will matter on the exam day. So, put in your best performance and you will ace JEE Main 2020. Authored By R L Trikha, Director, FIITJEE Group.

About half a billion people worldwide are living with genital herpes, and several billion have an oral herpes infection, new estimates show, highlighting the need to improve awareness and scale up services to prevent and treat herpes.

About 13% of the world’s population aged 15 to 49 years were living with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection in 2016, the latest year for which data is available. HSV-2 is almost exclusively sexually transmitted, causing genital herpes. Infection can lead to recurring, often painful, genital sores in up to a third of people infected.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is mainly transmitted by oral to oral contact to cause oral herpes infection – sometimes leading to painful sores in or around the mouth (“cold sores”). However, HSV-1 can also be transmitted to the genital area through oral sex, causing genital herpes.

Around 67% of the world’s population aged 0 to 49 had HSV-1 infection in 2016 – an estimated 3.7 billion people. Most of these infections were oral; however, between 122 million to 192 million people were estimated to have genital HSV-1 infection.

Genital herpes is a substantial health concern worldwide – beyond the potential pain and discomfort suffered by people living with the infection, the associated social consequences can have a profound effect on sexual and reproductive health” says Dr Ian Askew, Director of the Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research at the World Health Organization (WHO).

Herpes and HIV

People with HSV-2 infection are at least three times more likely to become infected with HIV, if exposed. Thus, HSV-2 likely plays a substantial role in the spread of HIV globally. Women are more susceptible to both HSV-2 and HIV. Women living in the WHO Africa Region have the highest HSV-2 prevalence and exposure to HIV – putting them at greatest risk of HIV infection.

No cure: vaccine needed

There is no cure for herpes. Antiviral medications, such as acyclovir, famciclovir, and valacyclovir, can help to reduce the severity and frequency of symptoms but cannot cure the infection.

Better awareness, improved access to antiviral medications and heightened HIV prevention efforts for those with genital HSV symptoms are needed globally. In addition, development of better treatment and prevention interventions is needed, particularly HSV vaccines.

“A vaccine against HSV infection would not only help to promote and protect the health and well-being of millions of people, particularly women, worldwide – it could also potentially have an impact on slowing the spread of HIV, if developed and provided alongside other HIV prevention strategies” says Dr Meg Doherty, Director of the WHO Department of Global HIV, Hepatitis, and STI Programmes.

Authored by staff at the University of Bristol, the WHO, and Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar, and published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, this new study estimates the global infection prevalence and incidence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 in 2016.