I CHANCED upon a website attracting tourists to visit India. The site had also one catchy line, which reads like this: "Before embarking on your India vacations, you must make yourself familiar with different diseases that are common in Indian climatic conditions.

Personally, I liked this caution note. I am sure, each country, including the developed ones in the world, would be sensitive to some form of disease or another, which every traveler ought to know before he makes his travel plans. However, coming back to the list of some of the common diseases in India, those are listed below. The idea of writing this article is not only to highlight various diseases common in India but also to make aware Foundations and others about possible steps taken by some for complete eradication of these:

1) Hepatitis A - Brief description: It is an acute but benign form of viral hepatitis caused by RNA virus that does not persist in the blood serum and is usually transmitted by taking food or drink that is contaminated with fecal matter

Hepatitis A vaccination is recommended for all travelers to India.

2) Typhoid - Brief description: It is a serious infection marked by intestinal inflammation and ulceration; caused by Salmonella typhosa ingested with food or water. All travelers are recommended to take Typhoid vaccination.

3) Polio - Brief description: Poliomyelitis (’polio’) is a viral paralytic disease. The causative agent, a virus called poliovirus, enters the body orally, infecting the intestinal lining. It may proceed to the blood stream and into the central nervous system causing paralysis and muscle weakness.

4) Yellow Fever - Brief description: An acute systemic (bodywide) illness caused by a virus called Flavivirus. In severe case, the viral infection causes high fever, bleeding in the skin and necrosis (death) of cells in the kidney and liver. The damage done to the liver from the virus results in severe jaundice, which yellows the skin

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Vaccination for yellow fever is required only for travelers arriving from or transiting through any yellow-fever-infected area like Africa.

5) Japanese Encephalitis - Brief description: Mosquito-borne viral infection, is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia. Japanese encephalitis virus cannot be transmitted from person-to-person.

This vaccine is recommended for travelers staying for more than 1 month and traveling to rural areas or travelers engaging in extensive unprotected outdoor activities in rural areas, especially after dusk.