In the summer and rainy seasons of 2015, leptospirosis, a dangerous, neglected tropical disease, struck in multiple cities of India. Typically, Leptospira interrogans spreads under conditions of stagnant water, flood water, humidity, and proximity between man and beast. With 2017 facing the prospect of erratic monsoons and no major improvements nationwide in waste-water and flood-water management, what will the leptospirosis toll be? In turn, this translational study has led to the identification of promising candidates for the development of therapeutic diagnostic tests and sub-unit vaccines. PHC conundrumResearch at Yale also highlights the fact that across Primary Health Centres in India, rapid diagnostic tests often replace serological tests due to lack of adequate trained personnel.

Source: The Hindu March 05, 2017 00:35 UTC