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Although the second decade of the 2019st century begins, and medicine has made tremendous progress, we are still threatened by epidemics. Diseases previously considered eradicated are returning. New strains of bacteria and viruses appear, and antibiotic resistance causes old drugs to lose their effectiveness. What epidemics was the world struggling with in XNUMX?
Massive measles attack. The epidemic also reached Poland
Since the beginning of 2019, there has been a sharp increase in the number of measles cases in many countries around the world. The US Department of Health reported that there have been no such number of patients in the US in 25 years. In September, measles took hold of Samoa, a small country in Oceania, where schools were closed and compulsory immunization was introduced. However, the Democratic Republic of Congo experienced the greatest epidemic. So far, over 184 thousand people fell ill there. people.
When it comes to Europe, Ukraine in particular has a problem with measles. The disease is spreading at an alarming rate in our eastern neighbors. It has already fallen over 40 thousand. people. As a result of an epidemic Greece, Albania, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom lost their measles-free status. 2019 also ended with a record number of measles cases in Poland. By the end of November, 1488 people had been infected. For comparison, in the same period of the previous year there were 234 cases, which is over six times less. According to virologists, one patient can infect up to 18 people. Measles remains a fatal disease. 1 to 3 people out of a thousand infected die from it.
More about the measles epidemic: Record increase in measles incidence. Viruses reach Poland from beyond the eastern border
Ebola in Africa. Second biggest explosion in history
Throughout 2019, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is struggling not only with measles, but also with the second largest Ebola epidemic in history, hailed by the WHO a global health threat. December figures show over 2200 deaths and over 3300 confirmed infections. The first outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever were detected in August 2018 in the provinces of Kivu and Ituri. Ebola could move from Congo to Uganda and Rwanda and from there to other countries. So far, it has not been possible to completely contain the disease, though The World Health Organization sent over 800 volunteers to help. The fight against the epidemic is hindered by the conflicts that are ongoing in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are attacks on health centers and medical services.
Also read: Ebola virus kills every second infected person. Hope in a higher dose of the drug
HIV continues to spread. There are more and more infections
International organizations are doing their best to deal with HIV. According to the UNAIDS strategy (ie 90–90–90), by 2020, 90 percent. infected people were to be diagnosed and the same was to be received antiretroviral therapy (ARV). It was also expected that 90 percent. patients, treatment will be effective. The implementation of this plan was expected to halt the spread of HIV. Meanwhile, epidemiological data clearly show that the number of people infected with the virus is not decreasing at all. It is admittedly smaller and smaller in Western Europe, but on the contrary in Eastern countries. According to the latest data, UNAIDS in the east has increased by as much as 60 percent in the last few years. Our Country is the main source of the epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where 10–15 percent of the population is growing every year. HIV positive people. In Poland, over a thousand people are infected with HIV each year.
Read more about how HIV is combated.
New Delhi. The superbug paralyzes hospitals
The New Delhi bacterium, first detected 10 years ago – in the capital of India, also continues to attack. Within a year, the superbug has already reached almost all countries in Europe, North America and Asia. Since then, New Delhi, that is NDM type pneumoniae (Klebsiella pneumoniae), takes an ever greater toll. It spreads very quickly between hospital patients. After her detection, in 2019, admissions were suspended at many branches of Polish institutions, including in Warsaw, Rzeszów, Kielce, Radomsko and Zielona Góra, where in August the bacterium was detected in 22 patients, including three newborns. Its characteristic feature is resistance to antibiotics, even those “last chance”. Inflammation caused by the New Delhi bacterium can lead, among others, to to sepsis. According to the National Reference Center for Antimicrobial Susceptibility in September, the number of New Delhi infected with the bacterium in Poland exceeded 2019 in 3. and is constantly growing. Doctors predict that by 2050, superbugs around the world will kill up to 10 million people.
Read more about antibiotic resistance: Antibiotics stop working. There will be no drugs for superbugs soon?
Measles, HIV, Ebola and New Delhi are not all the global health problems we are facing in 2020, however. Epidemics are discussed not only in the context of infectious diseases, but also civilization diseases. Doctors are sounding the alarm that more and more people suffer from obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis and cancer. Poland is in the forefront of countries with the highest increase in the incidence.
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- Resistant bacteria more and more dangerous
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