Résumé
Leishmaniasis, a vector-borne disease, has been endemic in India since ancient times 1, 2. At present, it is a serious public health problem in Indian subcontinent, especially in state of Bihar. It is caused by obligate intracellular protozoa of the genus Leishmania and is responsible for a broad spectrum of clinical syndromes: Cutaneous lieshmaniasis (CL), Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and Mucocutaneousleishmaniasis (ML). VL, locally known as kala-azar in India, is the most aggressive form and if undervalued is fatal. Here we describe an imported case of visceral leishmaniasisreported in the State of Punjab which is non-endemic for the disease. The importance of the case lies in the fact that, a case of Visceral Leishmaniasis has been reported after a gap of 4 years in the State.
Résumé
Developing countries are going through a demographic transition. Non-communicable diseases like hypertension are emerging in epidemic proportions. Education and awareness among people is the key to reduce the burden of the disease. To see the levels of awareness and characteristic of aware and unaware hypertensives, 7630 employees in Shimla town were screened for hypertension. Hypertension was detected in 2535 cases of which 559 (22.05%) were aware. The aware hypertensives were predominantly symptomatic and had higher age and blood pressure than the unaware hypertensives. The aware hypertensives were predominantly overweight. This low level of awareness highlights the need for a comprehensive hypertension education programme to be taken up at the national level.