The “Malaria Evolution in South Asia” (MESA) program project is an International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research (ICEMR) sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health. This US–India collaborative program will study the origin of genetic diversity of malaria parasites and their selection on the Indian subcontinent. This knowledge should contribute to a better understanding of unexpected disease outbreaks and unpredictable disease presentations from Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax infections. In this first of two reviews, we highlight malaria prevalence in India. In particular, we draw attention to variations in distribution of different human-parasites and different vectors, variation in drug resistance traits, and multiple forms of clinical presentations. Uneven malaria severity in India is often attributed to large discrepancies in health care accessibility as well as human migrations within the country and across neighboring borders. Poor access to health care goes hand in hand with poor reporting from some of the same areas, combining to possibly distort disease prevalence and death from malaria in some parts of India. Corrections are underway in the form of increased resources for disease control, greater engagement of village-level health workers for early diagnosis and treatment, and possibly new public–private partnerships activities accompanying traditional national malaria control programs in the most severely affected areas. A second accompanying review raises the possibility that, beyond uneven health care, evolutionary pressures may alter malaria parasites in ways that contribute to severe disease in India, particularly in the NE corridor of India bordering Myanmar Narayanasamy et al., 2012.

Dengue is an acute mosquito-borne infection caused by dengue viruses from the genus flavivirus. Neurologic complications have been attributed chiefly to metabolic alterations and to focal and sometimes massive intracranial haemorrhages, but anecdotal cases and limited case series have indicated the possibility of viral CNS and skeletal muscle invasion causing encephalitis and myositis. We present a case of a 40-year-old male who presented with severe dengue myositis resulting in quadriparesis, respiratory failure and acute renal failure with red urine. His elevated serum creatine kinase (CK), serum and urine myoglobin levels justified rhabdomyolysis as the cause of acute renal failure. A muscle biopsy revealed inflammatory myositis. He required ventilator support for respiratory failure and was treated conservatively. This case highlights the severe and persistent muscle involvement in dengue which is a rarity.

Prevalence of prehypertension was found to be high in females, also there was a strong correlation between prehypertension and BMI, WHR and WC suggesting a positive correlation between obesity and prehypertension. Prehypertensive group also showed an exaggerated BP response to exercise stress testing.

Aim: To study Electroencephalogram (EEG) in different stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Materials and Methods:This observational study was carried out in the Department of Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Sawangi (Meghe), Wardha conducted over a period of 24 months, spanning from August 2011 to August 2013. Eighty three cases of CKD at different stages were studied. EEG was done in all the subjects and the various EEG dynamics like morphometric waveform patterns, symmetricity, amplitude were recorded and compared with the different stages of CKD. Results:We found that characteristic changes were observed with increasing severity of CKD. Slow delta wave patterns were more prominent in stage 5 (p<0.0001), asymmetric discharges, dysthymia, sharp wave transients and low amplitude wave forms were more prominent beyond Stage 4 (p<0.0001).