Renal involvement in tropical infections

The tropics have unique health care problems that have not been of much concern to rest of the world until recently. Increasing travel and immigration have made neglected tropical diseases relevant for almost all regions in the world. Geographically, the tropical region is limited to an area till 23° 26’ 16’’ on either side of equator and characterized by direct overhead presence of sun at least once in a year. This definition encompasses almost one third of earth’s landmass, which is home to majority of the world population along with animal and plant biodiversity.1 Generally, tropics are characterized by a hot climate, usually throughout the year. The level of rainfall varies from as low as 2 cm/year in dry arid deserts to almost 9 m/year in tropical rainforests. Hot and humid climate that is conducive to support life in its various forms is hallmark of tropical ecosystem. Persistence of microorganisms, their reservoirs and vectors is greatly facilitated by this tropical ecology. The great biodiversity adds to complex interactions between them and adds to evolution with changing circumstances. Human contact with this ecosystem in almost unavoidable in most of the poor tropical countries because of prevailing poor social and economic circumstances translating into increased susceptibility to infections and poor access to health care services.