Modern commemorative dates match modern threats. Take, for example, International AIDS Day, which the whole world celebrates on 1 December. The situation is dire, according to a new report @ on the evolution of the global HIV / AIDS epidemic in 2003 by the Joint United Nations Program on AIDS and the World Health Organization. Especially in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where the AIDS epidemic is gaining momentum. In 2003, 230 thousand people were infected with HIV in these regions.
A particularly alarming situation, according to UN experts, is emerging in the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the Baltic countries. Currently in Russia about 1 million people aged 15-49 are living with HIV. Since 1999, the total number of diagnosed HIV carriers in Latvia has grown fivefold. In 2002 there were 2,300 of them. The most recent HIV outbreaks in the region were in Central Asia, where 5458 cases of the virus were reported in 2002.
The majority of people living with HIV in the Eastern Europe and Asia region are young people. In Ukraine, 25% of people diagnosed with HIV infection are younger than 20 years old. In Belarus, 60% of those infected are aged 15-42, and in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, more than 70% of people diagnosed with HIV are under 30. Overall, more than 80% of HIV-infected people in this region are under 30. For example, in Western Europe and the United States, only 30% of all reported cases occur in people under the age of 29.
Injecting drug use is one of the main sources of infection. According to the presented report, only in the Russian Federation the number of injecting drug users can reach 3 million, in Ukraine - more than 600 thousand and in Kazakhstan - up to 200 thousand. The use of non-sterile equipment by drug addicts is still the norm.
The report also notes that an increasing number of new HIV infections are among women. One of the consequences of this phenomenon is a sharp increase in the number of cases of transmission of the virus from mother to child. “These epidemics in Eastern Europe and Asia are literally recent and can be stopped if prevention is targeted at those most affected - injecting drug users and sex workers - and is complemented by prevention work among young people in the whole. In some cases, even more basic preventive measures are required, such as screening donated blood for HIV, ”the report emphasizes.
Discrimination is one of the main barriers to preventing new infections, treating and mitigating the consequences of the epidemic, the authors of the report emphasize, since “by associating HIV / AIDS with groups of people who are perceived as 'outsiders', people have the illusion that they themselves are not at risk infection ".
The WHO data are even more alarming. According to them, there are now about 40 million people living with HIV worldwide, and 2.5 million of them are children and adolescents under the age of 15. The epicenter of the epidemic is Central and South Africa - here in some regions the proportion of HIV-infected reaches 30%. New territories that the epidemic is capturing are India, China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Russia, Ukraine, Estonia and Latvia. Every day about 8 thousand people die from diseases associated with HIV infection, and this figure is constantly increasing.
According to official data, there are now more than 250 thousand carriers of the virus in Russia, but independent experts tend to talk about 1.5-3 million people. The main Russian AIDS specialist, Professor Pokrovsky, predicts that if the situation develops at the current pace, then by 2007-2008 the number of AIDS patients will be in the tens of thousands. And their cure will depend on how the state finances AIDS programs.
In 2003, according to the budget, a little more than 120 million rubles were allocated for these purposes, of which 28 million were allocated for prevention (18 kopecks for each Russian), which is certainly not enough. In 2004, the situation can only improve thanks to foreign assistance, in particular from the World Bank, which provided Russia with a $ 5 million loan, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, which intends to allocate $ 80 million to the fight against AIDS in Russia within five years.
On the eve of December 1 ROMIR Monitoring conducted a special study on the attitude of Russian citizens to the problem of AIDS. A total of 1,500 Russians aged 18 and over were interviewed. The respondents were asked the question: "Do you know that December 1 is declared World AIDS Day?" 59% of the respondents said they know. 41% don't.
Sociologists also asked the respondents: "How would you assess the problem of the growing incidence of AIDS in our country?" The answers to it were distributed as follows: This is one of the most important problems - said 50%. This is an important problem, but there are more important problems - 36%. This is not a very important issue - said 6%. Against the background of other problems, this is not at all important - 4%. There is no such problem at all - said 1%. 3% found it difficult to answer.
It can be seen from the answers given that Russians take the threat of the spread of AIDS quite seriously. All that remains is for the government to find money to fight the "plague of the 21st century", and not count only on the fact that the West will help us.
To bookmarks
Summer is the worst time for illness. There are few things in the world less pleasant than "sleeping" in mid-July with a cold or flu and watching from the window how the hectic life passes by. Temperature, cough and runny nose will not allow you to go out of town or walk around the neighborhood. You will also have to forget about meetings with friends. But any illness tends to pass away.
TJ columnist Ivan Talachev talks about the most terrible diseases that humanity has faced in the 21st century, and how the epidemics, which were predicted to have an "apocalyptic" status, gradually faded away, disappeared or are waiting for their return.
SARS
The history of the most "hyped" disease in the media began in 2002, when in the Chinese province of Guangdong for six months more than 300 cases of strange pneumonia were registered, which refused to respond to traditional treatments. Over the next six months, the disease claimed the lives of five people, and in the spring of 2003, cases of infection were reported in Hong Kong, America, Canada and Russia.
Thanks to the press, the disease has acquired the name "SARS". Officially, the "infection" is called SARS, or in the translation of the abbreviation into Russian SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).
Throughout its history, SARS has managed to get sick more than 8 thousand people. The lethality of the virus (the ratio of the number of deaths to the total number of infected) was approximately 10%, killing 774 people. The only patient from Russia with SARS was discharged a month after hospitalization from the hospital in Blagoveshchensk. The last outbreak of the disease was registered in 2004 in China.
For two years of its relevance, SARS managed to become a symbol of new unknown diseases, and the world got used to the image of people in gauze bandages and doctors in bacteriological protection suits. However, "SARS" disappeared from the news as quickly as it appeared in them.
Swine and bird flu (H1N1 and H5N1)
Not all diseases are born in humans and are transmitted between them. "Avian flu" got its name as a disease common only among birds. In 1997, the first case of poultry-to-human transmission of the virus was reported. An outbreak of flu among chickens then spread to 18 people, of whom six died.
Avian influenza infects birds, and is a scourge for birds: it can have a lethality rate of up to 100% and infect adjacent species. The danger to humans is not even the virus itself, but its ability to recombine genes. After several generations, it can get the ability to be transmitted from birds to people. So far, this process in the virus is happening chaotically: over 5 years of observation from 2003 to 2008, 361 cases of infection were recorded with 227 deaths due to the disease.
Swine flu epidemic in Delhi in March 2015. Photo by Reuters
The flu as such is constantly improving and developing. In each new organism, the virus undergoes certain changes, after which it is transmitted to a new carrier. The goal of any virus is to improve its virulence (learn to transmit further with great success) and resistance to any adversaries (drugs or antibodies).
Under the very name "influenza", as a consequence of this evolution, there is no longer one virus, but a whole group of its strains-varieties. All of them bear alphanumeric designations, for example, H1N1, better known as the "Spanish flu", which claimed about 50-100 million lives at the beginning of the last century and is still considered the most massive influenza pandemic in the history of mankind. Its repeated worldwide outbreak in 2009 earned it the name "swine flu". The virus has broken out in the United States, Canada, Germany, Mexico and the United Kingdom, infecting 221,000 people and killing nearly 2,000.
The last fatal case of avian flu (labeled H5N1) occurred in 2014. The last outbreak of swine flu was recorded in Delhi in March 2015. New strains continue to emerge and spread. In April 2013, China reported 453 cases and 175 deaths from a new strain of the virus called H7N9, which is still poorly understood and does not have its own "nickname".
Photo: Redux Pictures
Ebola virus
The Ebola virus, which causes Ebola haemorrhagic fever, was discovered in 1976. It is not transmitted by airborne droplets (only through bodily fluids) and has a high mortality rate - 70-90%.
Since its discovery, the virus has raged in some of the poorest countries in Africa (Sierra Leone, Senegal, Liberia and Nigeria). Ebola has emerged in “outbreaks”, with the last wave of cases occurring in 2014. Prior to this, Congo, Sudan and Uganda fell under fire.
The 2014 Ebola outbreak eclipsed all previous ones combined. As of the beginning of 2015, 13 thousand infected and 5 thousand deaths were registered. Outside of Africa, the World Health Association found only 24 cases of infection.
It is precisely because of the sluggish course of Ebola in the first world countries (10 cases in the United States and 13 cases in different European countries) that no pharmaceutical concern is still engaged in any research in the field of preventing or curing the virus. There is simply no large market for a potential vaccine or drug. The Ebola virus is considered a “disease for the poor,” as those who are sick usually lack access to clean water, clean housing and healthy food, which would be enough to prevent most infections.
Ebola continues to evolve, scientists say. Already in November 2014, scientists researching the virus managed to find 400 of its genetic variants. The constant relatively rapid development of the virus can make it difficult to find a vaccine. Virologists hope that the virus will not develop into airborne transmission in the near future.
South Korean doctors in Seoul in June 2015. Photo: Getty Images
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)
The newest contagion on the list of candidates for 21st century epidemics, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, opened with the first case in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The very first outbreak of a then new disease showed a mortality rate of 50%. By October 2013, there were already 145 MERS cases in the world with a mortality rate of up to 40%.
The virus made its full appearance in South Korea. The first case of MERS in the new outbreak was reported on May 20, 2015. At the moment, the epidemic in the country is practically suppressed, but single infections do not allow the Seoul authorities to consider the incident settled. According to the South Korean authorities, MERS infected 183 people and caused 33 deaths. As of July 2015, more than 2,000 people are in quarantine.
Photo of the MERS pathogen. Photo by Reuters
At the moment, there is no cure for MERS, and work is underway on a vaccine that could prevent the disease. For three years MERS has managed to mark in France, Germany, Egypt, Greece, Tunisia and Thailand. During the existence of the disease, there were 1154 cases of infection with 431 deaths.
be healthy
Instead of a conclusion, I would like to quote the memo from the World Health Organization concerning the prevention of swine flu. Among other guidelines, it recommends "washing your hands thoroughly and frequently with soap and water, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including adequate sleep, eating healthy foods and being physically active." Also, the memo strongly asks to refrain from contact with people who show signs of illness (fever, cough). At the first manifestation of symptoms, you should see a doctor, avoid contact with loved ones and refrain from visiting work or public places.
These tips remain useful regardless of whether one or another dangerous disease is raging somewhere nearby or on the other side of the world. Compliance with the rules of basic hygiene and adherence to common sense in most cases is enough to maintain your health. Even Michel de Nostrdam in the middle of the 16th century "treated" people from bubonic plague with useless lavender pills, prescribing to perform the usual hygiene procedures before taking them. People started taking baths, washing their hands before eating, and making fresh beds every day. From the settlements and towns where Nostradamus conducted his medical activities, the plague receded. The secret, as you can imagine, is not in the pills.
Watch yourself and be careful
Ivan Talachev,
Especially for TJ
For decades, people's lives have been changing, and along with it, diseases. Medicine is making strides forward, and technical progress does not stand still. We can only hope that the epidemics of infectious diseases that destroyed entire cities in the Middle Ages are irrevocably gone, but the number of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, obesity, anorexia is growing rapidly ...
What ailments are rightfully called diseases of the 21st century? What do people have to suffer with in the near future?
1. Cancer
Cancer, a disease that has persecuted man, is one of the terrible diseases of the century. Caused by multiple causes, such as radiation and chemicals such as organic dyes, exhaust fumes, some food preservatives. Chronic fatigue and stress also, oddly enough, trigger the growth of cancer cells. Cancer can develop due to papilloma viruses and genital herpes, sexually transmitted infections. So promiscuous, unprotected sex life, which is quite common nowadays, is a serious risk factor.
Of course, it will not be possible to avoid all the troubles of life, but it is within the power of everyone to improve the quality of life and prolong it. The key to success in a proper balanced diet, adherence to the daily regimen, in moderate exertion. Well, perhaps the most important thing is to learn how to relax without alcohol and other bad habits, because nowadays a modern person has many interesting hobbies, travel, sports that can maintain an optimistic view of the world.
Tuberculosis is a terrible infectious disease that has long ceased to be a disease of alcoholics, homeless people, prisoners, and has changed its social status. Doctors sound the alarm because of the mutation of viruses, and drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis arise.
In the 90s, information appeared that with the onset of the 21st century, tuberculosis will disappear, as smallpox once disappeared. However, practice shows that the problem of tuberculosis is becoming more and more widespread, medicines are becoming ineffective, and the need for phthisiatricians is growing. And it was not in vain that a huge prize was promised to those who invented a universal means of diagnosing and treating this disease.
The terrible scourge of the 21st century is mental illness - anorexia, a person has an inadequate and pathological desire to lose weight, there is a fear of obesity. In 95% of cases, these are young women who see themselves in the mirror more fully than they really are.
In other words, the lady resembles a skeleton that has been covered with skin, but she still thinks that she has lost a little weight. And every extra 100 grams of weight he perceives as irreparable obesity, and every piece of food that he managed to refuse, on the contrary, he perceives as a victory and an approach to perfection, well, of course, if a bony, unattractive body with an emaciated appearance can be considered perfection. A person is "addicted" to refusing to eat like drugs.
Whatever the cause of such an illness, but a person suffering from it needs the help of doctors and relatives. Not everyone can realize that a crooked mirror is only an illusion, and must be broken before the consequences become dire.
4. Drug addiction
Drug addiction has long been social in nature. Most often it happens under the pressure of the environment, for the sake of interest, in order to become "one of our own" in the company. Drug addiction is growing and affects virtually every fifth inhabitant of our country. Today, there is not a single region in Russia where drugs are not used or distributed. They affect the psyche in such a way that irreversible degradation and complete physical exhaustion of the body occurs.
For the sake of the drug, he will go to any immoral acts, which will still lead to irreversible consequences. They say just one trick is enough to become "addicted".
Doctors agree that AIDS is the first global epidemic. With its size, it covered all the epidemics taken together, which humanity suffered during its development. This terrible disease is provoked by Immunodeficiency Viruses I and II. Entering the body, the virus slowly kills the cells that support the immune system, and causes a complete and irreversible depletion of the immune system, and the patient dies even from trivial infections.
Nowadays it is very easy to get AIDS... If lymph nodes are enlarged in different parts of the body, prolonged diarrhea, weight loss for no reason by 10 or more kg, spots and blisters on the skin are the first symptoms in which you immediately need to "run" to the doctor. Despite all efforts, the battle to defeat this disease is far from over. Scientists do not stop fighting the spread of the disease, and are working on obtaining a vaccine, but so far all the successes do not answer the most important question - how to finally defeat AIDS?
Quite recently, all TV channels kept repeating that a terrifying and incurable disease was approaching Russia. Many were indifferent to this, but the Ebola virus is a very serious disease and has a high degree of infection. The number of victims has reached several thousand people. Spreaders of this merciless virus leading to death - inhabitants of africa.
It is believed that Ebola loves hot climates. Scientists also suggested that bats can be the main carriers of the infection, and pets can also be carriers. Fever is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, resulting in a fight against spread. Tests have shown that there is no vaccine for the Ebola virus, but scientists promise to come up with a cure for a virus that is no doubt trying to kill the entire world. If a person does not recover within 7 to 16 days after the initial symptoms, then the likelihood of death increases.
7. Strokes and heart attacks
Strokes and heart attacks can be considered terrible diseases of the 21st century, and they are getting younger every year. Due to improper lifestyle, frequent stress, bad habits, abuse of fatty foods, overeating, the metabolism of cholesterol and fatty acids is disrupted, which gradually accumulate on the walls of blood vessels and form atherosclerotic plaques. This leads to a narrowing of the diameter of the vessels and, accordingly, to a decrease in their blood supply.
So, physical training, balanced nutrition, sufficient water consumption, rejection of bad habits, a positive emotional attitude - this simple set of measures allows you to prevent the onset and development of unpleasant symptoms accompanied by heart attack and stroke.
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that is very relevant in our modern society. Depression, social problems, anxiety disorders, unemployment, poverty can all lead to schizophrenia. Such patients live 10-12 years less than healthy people. There are times when a person commits suicide at the time of an attack.
Another dangerous group of effective disorders is depression, which is characterized by low mood, slow movement, slowness of thought. There are other symptoms of depression, but only a specialist can assess their severity. The tense rhythm of life, neuroses, stress, lack of sleep exhaust the nervous system. Also, with the development of chronic diseases, "hard thoughts" appear, which leads to depression. Scientists call depression the problem of the new century - and, obviously, they are not exaggerating.
According to some reports, overweight and obesity is present in every third inhabitant of the country, which is characteristic of excessive development of adipose tissue, and manifests itself in many symptoms that depend on the degree of obesity. Obesity is a condition in which the body accumulates so much fat that it can pose a threat to the development of serious diseases.
According to statistics in the world about 300 million adults alone are obese, obesity is already common among children. Lack of exercise and excessive consumption of high-calorie foods are perhaps the two most important causes of obesity. But there are all kinds of treatments that obesity can be overcome.
Terrible diseases of the 21st century can be forgotten. Every day, doctors save lives. Thanks to such work, patients have every chance to live a long and happy life. The main thing is to hope and believe!
Since the beginning of the XXI century, the population of the Earth has faced a number of epidemics of infectious diseases affecting people and animals in vast territories that significantly exceed the borders of individual states. These are diseases previously known to science, and their new varieties. The SARS (SARS) epidemic, outbreaks of influenza viruses and the spread of Ebola have become major challenges for the World Health Organization (WHO) and have received significant publicity through extensive media coverage. About the features of these diseases and the consequences of such epidemics - in the material ITAR-TASS.
SARS
In November 2002, an outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)) was reported in the southern China province of Guangdong. Soon the epidemic spread to other parts of China, Vietnam, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, with individual cases reported in North America and Europe.In Russia, only one case of the disease was recorded: on May 8, 2013, a man diagnosed with SARS was hospitalized in Blagoveshchensk, Amur Region, by June 11, the patient was cured and was discharged from the hospital.
According to WHO, during the epidemic in 2002-2003, the total number of cases in 37 countries of the world reached 8437 people, of whom 813 died. As of 2014, no effective vaccine against this disease has been created, work in this area is being carried out in the USA, Canada , China and Russia.
Bird flu
In February 2013, avian influenza, a disease caused by the H5N1 and H7N9 viruses transmitted from infected poultry to humans, emerged in South and East Asia. To prevent the spread of the epidemic, the extermination of poultry is practiced (for example, in 2003, after 100 cases of human infection, more than 140 million chickens were slaughtered in Asia).According to the World Health Organization, from 2003 to December 2013 there were 649 cases of human infection with the H5N1 virus in 15 countries, 384 people died. Complications lead to death from bird flu: the development of pneumonia, damage to the kidneys, liver, hematopoietic organs.
In Russia, the bird flu virus was detected on July 10, 2005 in the village of Suzdalka, Novosibirsk region, later it was found in the Tomsk, Omsk, Tyumen, Kurgan regions, in the Altai Territory. In total, according to the Rosselkhoznadzor, the disease of birds was confirmed in 51 settlements of six constituent entities of Russia. During the entire period of the spread of bird flu in the country, no cases of human infection were recorded.
The last death of a person from bird flu to date was registered in January 2014 in Canada (the deceased became infected during a trip to Beijing).
Swine flu
In 2009, a serious outbreak of the new H1N1 virus that causes swine flu (transmitted both from animals to humans and between people) occurred in Mexico City, then the disease began to spread throughout Mexico and the United States. |
The first case of infection in Europe was recorded in Spain in April; subsequently, swine flu was detected in almost all European countries. In June, WHO experts announced the start of the first pandemic of a new influenza virus in 41 years.
Treatment for swine flu is the same as for regular seasonal flu; the main risk is that the patient will develop pneumonia. The mortality rate for infection with this virus does not exceed the mortality rate for infection with other strains of influenza: according to the WHO, more than 414 thousand laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with the H1N1 virus have been recorded in the world, more than 5 thousand cases have died.
On the territory of Russia in 2009, the first cases of swine flu appeared in May, by November the number of officially confirmed cases was 3122, 14 people died. At the same time, about 1 billion people fall ill with the usual seasonal flu in the world every year, of which 3 million die.
Polio
In 2014, there was an increase in cases of infection with poliomyelitis, an acute viral disease in which spinal cord damage, paralysis and muscle atrophy occur (the disease is dangerous mainly for children under the age of five). There is no cure for poliomyelitis, but the introduction of specialized vaccines in the 1950s made it possible to effectively prevent the disease.Since 1988, the number of polio cases has decreased by more than 99% - according to WHO estimates, from 350,000 in more than 125 states to 406 cases reported in 2013 in only a few countries. Countries such as Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan remain endemic for poliomyelitis, with cases reported in 2013-2014 in the Syrian Arab Republic (17 cases), Cameroon (seven cases) and Equatorial Guinea (five cases).
Ebola virus
A significant threat is posed by hemorrhagic - an acute viral disease with a mortality rate of up to 90%, affecting humans and some species of animals.The Ebola virus was first identified in Sudan and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1976; today, WHO experts identify five of its varieties. Human infection occurs through contact with infected bats, chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelopes and porcupines; The Ebola virus is spread from person to person.
Vaccines have not yet been developed against this disease, there are only experimental drugs to alleviate the course of the disease.
Since January 2014, the Ebola epidemic, which previously plagued Central Africa, began to actively spread in the west of the continent. The outbreak of hemorrhagic fever has become the longest and most fatal in all 40 years of the disease's existence.
In Guinea, 415 cases of the disease were recorded (of which 314 were fatal), in Liberia - 224 (127), in Sierra Leone - 454 (219).
On August 8, 2014, experts from the WHO emergency committee at a meeting in Geneva announced that the spread of the Ebola virus poses a threat of international importance.
According to the latest statistics of the organization, in 2014, 1,711 people were infected with the fever, the number of victims reached 932.
In Russia, there are two registered deaths from Ebola. They are unrelated to the current epidemic and occurred in 1996 and 2004; in both cases, employees of scientific centers became infected with the virus through negligence, injecting experimental animals.
