India has 23% of the global burden of active tuberculosis (TB) patients and 27% of the world’s “missing” patients, which includes those who may not have received effective TB care and could potentially spread TB to others. The “cascade of care” is a useful model for visualizing deficiencies in case detection and retention in care, in order to prioritize interventions.

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Dengue is a major public health problem in the tropics. Despite its global importance, population-based mortality rates attributable to dengue are largely unknown. Dengue vaccines are now in late stage clinical trials and one vaccine has been licensed in several countries. Evidence-based decisions regarding the future use of dengue vaccines will depend on robust estimates of disease burden which should include mortality.

Over the last two decades, ovarian cancer mortality rates have levelled or declined. There are, however, persisting and substantial differences in ovarian cancer patterns and trends. Researchers updated global trends in ovarian cancer mortality to 2012, and predicted trends in rates to 2020 using data from the World Health Organization database.

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Zika virus disease is caused by a ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus, which is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes of the Aedes aegypti species. Around 80% of infections are asymptomatic. Symptomatic infections are characterized by mild fever lasting from four to seven days, associated with maculopapular rash, arthralgia, conjunctivitis, muscle pain and headache. Until recently, Zika virus disease has never been associated with deaths, intrauterine infections, or congenital anomalies. In 2013 and 2014, during an outbreak in French Polynesia, the disease was linked with GuillainBarré syndrome.

The objective of the study was to extend a nation-wide rotavirus surveillance network in India, and to generate geographically representative data on rotaviral disease burden and prevalent strains.

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Mesenteric cystic lymphangiomas are benign congenital tumors characterized by the proliferation of lymphatic channels. There is an uncommon disorder that constitutes 0.5 % of all lymphangiomas and can cause fatal complications such as volvulus, intestinal obstruction and traumatic or spontaneous rupture, requiring emergency surgery. For this reason, prenatal diagnosis is important. We present a three day old newborn with multiple cystic abdominal lymphangioma treated with resection anastomosis through prenatal diagnosis.

A large number of diseases have been grouped together as ‘rare diseases’, because we do not know much about them. There is no consensus on the definition of a rare disease. This is because, obtaining reliable statistical estimates of the frequency of occurrence of a rare event, such as prevalence of a rare disease, requires an inordinately large sample size, collection of which costs prohibitively large amount of money. (Editorial)

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South Africa has more people living with HIV, an estimated 6.6 million, than any country in the world. About half are now receiving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, which has greatly stressed the country's health care system. Now, South Africa plans to encourage all infected people to learn their status and start treatment as part of the drive to end its epidemic. The cornerstone of the campaign is the fact that HIV-infected people who take ARVs and fully suppress their virus rarely transmit to others.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the major causes of cardiovascular diseases in developing countries. CHD among neonates and young children is responsible for the largest proportion of mortality (30–50%) caused by birth defects . Though there is a significantly reducing trend observed in both overall and infant mortality resulting from CHD in developed countries like USA and Europe, CHD contributes 14% among 10.3 million total deaths in India, with 1931 disability adjusted life years (DALYs) per 100,000.

The unfolding story of Zika virus in the Americas is much more than a mosquito-borne disease that may affect fetal development. It is the story of a disease that exposed problems and raised challenges that the affected health systems and governments cannot ignore. Next, based largely on lessons provided by Brazil’s Zika epidemic, we discuss five critical problems and challenges and reflect on opportunities to remedy them. 

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