White paper on academic emergency medicine in India: INDO-US Joint Working Group (JWG).

Emergency Medicine (EM) is a new discipline for India. As Medical Council of India (MCI) makes progress in recognizing the need to develop EM residency training programs in India it is important that there exist an established training model for future faculty, residents and medical students. This INDO-US white paper makes a serious attempt to recognize the opportunities and challenges in developing academic emergency medicine in India. The contents of this white paper address the overall scenario and are not targeted towards a person, physician, body, hospital or any other associated entity. This paper emphasizes the importance of MCI recognized training in Emergency Medicine for physicians in India.

Avian influenza: preparing for a pandemic.

Since 1996 to 2006 there have been regular outbreaks of influenza. The genetics of virus plays an important role in its virulence mechanism. In this era of the impending threat on the influenza pandemic it is imperative that there be exchange of knowledge regarding the virus and its virulence. This article tries to address the above motive. An exhaustive review of literature has been provided regarding this viral threat.

Clinical and epidemiological implications of meningococcal disease.

Meningococcal disease is caused by Neisseria meningitidis and is an infection which rapidly progresses to multiorgan failure. It was a major killer in the epidemics of the 1980's in the United States. With the advent of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine in the 1990s, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria meningitidis have become the most common causes of bacterial meningitis in the United States. This article provides a review of the meningococcal illness and attempts to update current information regarding the same.

Plague: a decade since the 1994 outbreaks in India.

The severe 1994 plague outbreaks in Surat and Beed drew attention to plague as a continuing source of both natural and potentially manmade disease. This article written a decade later reviews various aspects of Plague not only as a disease but also as an infectious disaster.

Hepatic sarcoidosis responding to chloroquine as steroid-sparing drug.

We report a 59-year-old lady who presented with exertional dyspnea and was diagnosed to have sarcoidosis. She responded to steroids, but one year later developed abdominal symptoms and was found to have hepatosplenomegaly. Liver biopsy showed non caseating granulomas. As she had developed steroid-induced diabetes she was started on chloroquine and responded well with regression of the liver and spleen during one year of treatment.