Cubital fossa is the usual site for performing venepuncture in the clinical settings for health screenings and diagnostic purposes. This procedure is simple and uncomplicated but occasionally can lead to bleeding and pain in the form of complex regional pain syndrome. Superficial veins of the upper limb are often used for venepuncture for transfusion purposes and for obtaining blood samples. These veins are also used for cardiac catheterisation and giving intravenous injections. During routine cadaveric dissection, a cubital venous variation was observed in a 45-yr –old, male cadaver. The median cubital vein initiated from cephalic vein passed upwards and laterally superficial to posterior branch of medial cutaneous nerve of forearm. In the middle of its course, it gave off an ascending channel which further divided into medial and lateral tributaries. The medial tributary terminated into the basilic vein, whereas the lateral tributary ascended laterally superficial to a branch of lateral cutaneous nerve of forearm and drained into cephalic vein at the level of elbow joint. Various patterns of superficial cubital veins have been mentioned in literature. Awareness of such anatomical variations is crucial while performing venepuncture in clinical settings as well as for creating arteriovenous fistulas for hemodialysis purpose.

The ongoing coronavirus threat from China has spread rapidly to other nations and has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). The pandemic has resulted in over half of the world's population living under conditions of lockdown. Several academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies that are in different stages of development have plunged into the vaccine development race against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The demand for immediate therapy and potential prevention of COVID-19 is growing with the increase in the number of individuals affected due to the seriousness of the disease, global dissemination, lack of prophylactics, and therapeutics. The challenging part is a need for vigorous testing for immunogenicity, safety, efficacy, and level of protection conferred in the hosts for the vaccines. As the world responds to the COVID-19 pandemic, we face the challenge of an overabundance of information related to the virus. Inaccurate information and myths spread widely and at speed, making it more difficult for the public to identify verified facts and advice from trusted sources, such as their local health authority or WHO. This review focuses on types of vaccine candidates against COVID-19 in clinical as well as in the preclinical development platform.

Introduction: Stroke is a common cause of mortality and morbidity and has an increasing prevalence across the world.1 Bilirubin is now being considered an antioxidant which increases in response to diseases associated with increased oxidative stress. Hence the present observational study was undertaken to assess the bilirubin levels with the outcome of acute ischemic stroke. Methods: This observational study was conducted from January 2018 to December 2018 on 64 ischemic stroke patients admitted at KLE’S Dr. Prabhakar kore hospital at Belagavi, Karnataka. All adult patients above 18 years of age presenting with cerebrovascular accident and proved as ischemic stroke on CT scan or MRI scan were included. The patients were empirically divided into different Groups based on the bilirubin level. They were then analysed with their NIHSS scores for assessing stroke severity. Results: A total of 64 patients were included in the final analysis. The mean total bilirubin level in the patients was 0.68±0.34 mg/dl ( mean±SD). 34.3% (22) of ischemic stroke patients in the study had serum total bilirubin levels 0.7 mg/dl or more. Mean NIHSS Score for Group 1(Low) total bilirubin group was 9.37 and for Group 2(High) bilirubin group was 10.9, which was statistically not significant. This indicates that there was no significant correlation between total bilirubin and severity of symptoms at the time of admission.There was no statistically significant correlation between NIHSS and direct bilirubin levels Conclusion: The current study has documented no association between the bilirubin levels and stroke severity and prognosis.