Bulletin of the World Health Organization
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Bull. World Health Organ. · Jan 1992
Tuberculosis control and research strategies for the 1990s: memorandum from a WHO meeting.
Tuberculosis is the largest cause of death from a single infectious agent in the world, killing nearly 3 million people every year. This death toll represents 25% of avoidable adult deaths in developing countries. It imposes a heavy burden on the 8 million new individuals who contract the disease each year, and on their households; morbidity and mortality are concentrated in young adults. ⋯ Broad action is therefore warranted and should be aimed at introducing the effective strategies on as wide a scale as possible to reach the targets of 70% case detection and 85% cure of smear-positive patients, by the year 2000. Research is needed to implement these strategies throughout the world and to ensure that effective tools will remain available for controlling tuberculosis despite emerging problems such as resistance to the major drugs currently available. To make a real impact on the tuberculosis problem, a focused global programme must be created, under the leadership of WHO, to bring tuberculosis to the world's attention, to mobilize support on a major scale, and to provide direct guidance and support to national programmes.
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An epidemic of dengue haemorrhagic fever occurred in Delhi during 1988. A total of 21 paediatric patients with dengue haemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome were evaluated from September to November 1988. All the patients had fever, restlessness, ecchymotic spots and ascites. ⋯ The remaining 10 cases exhibited raised IgM antibody levels against dengue virus type 2. The fatality rate for serologically proven cases was 13% (2 of 15 patients), while for all patients (including those diagnosed clinically (6) and serologically (15)) it was 33.3% (7 of 21). Patients who survived had no sequelae, except one who had transient hypertension that lasted for two weeks.