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Infectious diseases

Rabies: Less than one survivor per year

In 2017, a disease killed everybody it infected in India. The disease in question also happens to be 100 percent vaccine preventable. Such is the strange dichotomy of rabies. Its relative rarity compared to diseases such as  malaria mean it often goes unreported in the Indian media. This does not make it any less deadly. …

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Leptospirosis and the Indian efforts to bring about a vaccine

Indian scientists at the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC) may be fast approaching a cure for leptospirosis. Also known as Weil’s disease, leptospirosis was responsible for over one million infections in 2015. Indian scientists working on the vaccine, however, believe almost all of these cases could have been preventable.  Leptospirosis is typically the name given …

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Isolation of those afflicted with leprosy. Remnants of archaic laws to blame?

Leprosy will be eradicated from India in 2018, Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda announced earlier this year. Could discrimination threaten achievement of this goal?  Archaic laws dating to 1898 regarding the treatment of those suffering from leprosy were in effect until 2016. After this a bill was passed seeking to eradicate social stigma surrounding …

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HIV hotspots in the northeast: A threat to national progress?

India’s efforts to tackle HIV is bearing fruit. The numbers of new HIV infections, AIDS-related deaths and people living with HIV all fell substantially. However, the success did not come without a caveat. India may be making progress against HIV but experts have warned it is not yet on course to meet targets of reducing …

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Diphtheria, a growing threat to young adults?

Diphtheria levels in India are at a thirty year high. Does this point towards failings in India’s vaccination efforts against the disease? Diphtheria is a potentially fatal infection of the respiratory tract, caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae. It is typically seen among children or those over the age of 25. However, India is seeing …

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PCV vaccine coverage: Worth the cost?

Almost 35,000 lives could be saved by an Indian government vaccination drive targeting one of the country’s biggest killers of children under five: pneumonia. Plans from the Centre are currently in place for a nationwide rollout of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV). This plan could significantly reduce the incidence of diseases such as pneumonia, which current estimates …

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Swine flu alert in India, first case reported

Swine flu has shown first signs of return in India. Health officials in Kolkata, West Bengal have issued an alert after a case of the disease was reported on Monday. Swine flu made global headlines in 2009 after an outbreak reached pandemic proportions. The disease caused, according to one estimate, more than 284,000 deaths worldwide. …

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What’s the hepatitis burden in India?

Less than one tenth of people infected with hepatitis are aware of it – and fewer than a tenth of those who are aware receive the necessary treatment. These were the grim figures issued by Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh ahead of World Hepatitis Day this year. Dr Singh – the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional …

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Kerala takes stand against hospital acquired infections

Kerala has learnt its lessons after the Nipah tragedy. It is to introduce a policy to control and prevent hospital acquired infections.  The move comes after the Nipah virus outbreak in the state earlier this year, in which all but four of those who succumbed to the virus contracted it in hospital. “We are working …

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One in one hundred HIV positive in Manipur

In the state of Manipur one in every one hundred individuals is HIV positive according to a recent study on HIV prevalence in India. The study revealed that Manipur had the highest percentage of HIV positive individuals of all Indian states, with 1.06 percent of the population affected. This figure was followed by Mizoram, at …

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