Reuters News
June 9, 1999
Web posted at: 1:02 PM EDT (1702 GMT)
MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Cases of tuberculosis are increasing in Russia, and
the rise has prompted fears that the disease could spread worldwide, Russian
and international health officials said Wednesday.
Russian health ministry statistics obtained by Reuters showed that Russian
infection rates were double to quadruple central European levels and said
tuberculosis cases rose about 3 percent in 1998. David Heymann, the World
Health Organization's executive director for communicable diseases, said
humans could easily carry the disease around the world. "It is clear that
human beings, like mosquitoes, can be vectors of disease," he told
a news conference.
Statistics said nearly 25,000 died of tuberculosis last year among Russia's
population of 147 million. Prison populations, especially in pretrial units,
were especially susceptible to infection, he said. Russian jails hold about
1.1 million convicts and persons waiting for trial.
Russia's small but growing population of people with HIV (the human immunodeficiency
virus) were also susceptible, he said. Statistics, which included prisoners,
said 76 in every 100,000 Russians were diagnosed with tuberculosis last
year, up from 73.9 new cases per 100,000 in 1997.
Figures, not including prisoners, migrants and others, showed 56.8 new
cases per 100,000 in 1998, against 54.1 a year earlier.
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