No 2 (2011)

Epidemiology is now considered to be a basic medical science belonging to the area of preventive medicine. Its main subject is pathology that manifests itself at the levels of the supraorganism (communities, populations), i.e. morbidity. Epidemiology deals with the incidence of any diseases regardless of their origin, especially as the latter of many diseases is still far from being deciphered. The epidemiology of communicable and non-communicable diseases comprises two sections of the single science. They are identical in their essence and have the common subject of investigation - morbidity (the population level of organization of pathology), a single scientific method (epidemiological), and an overall aim to prevent the incidence of diseases. Epidemiology is justly regarded as a main preventive discipline of modern medicine. The Department of Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, will be 80 years old in 2011. The department has been a methodical center in epidemiology teaching. Its researchers are actively engaged in educational-and-methodical and research work and take part in fulfilling educational and research grants. The department has a laboratory that aims to develop new technologies for the epidemiological surveillance and prevention of communicable diseases. There is an actively working student research circle. The department-trained specialists are the heads of the departments of epidemiology, research institutes, and laboratories in our country. The new stage of development will require that the department should do intensive educational-and-methodical, and research work.

The paper considers the most common bioecological elements of the anthrax infection cycle, which determine the manifestation of an epizootic process. It gives the characteristic features of the nosoarea globally and in the Russian Federation in recent years. The actual facts of the spread of anthrax infection of unnatural origin are described.

The paper considers the results of studying the quality of life among adolescents with chronic viral hepatitis B and C versus healthy persons of the same age. It is shown that there are no great clinically important differences in the emotional and social functioning of adolescents with chronic viral hepatitides having a minimal activity.

The time course of changes in the blood levels of ascorbic acid, thiamine, and pyridoxine was studied in patients with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in relation to the disease severity and period and season. The levels of the vitamins were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. In moderate and severe HFRS, there was a drastic drop in the vitamin concentrations in the feverish and oliguric periods of moderate and severe forms of HFRS. In severe HFRS, the concentrations of vitamins B1, B6, and C were significantly lower than those in moderate HFRS. In polyuria, the levels of the vitamins increased, but remained significantly lower than those in the control group. The conventional vitamin therapy in patients with moderate and severe HFRS does not result in elimination of hypovitaminoses and calls for further investigation for the correction of detected disorders.

The efficiency of planned chickenpox vaccine prophylaxis in infants has been proved using the data available in foreign publications. The highest epidemiological and immunological effects were observed after double vaccination within the immunization schedule. The epidemiological regularities of varicella in Russia and the results of a study of the immune structure of the population to the pathogen of this infection suggest that infants need primary vaccination in the second year of life before going to children’s preschool facilities. By taking into account the experience with combination vaccines against measles, rubella, and mumps and the prospect of using tetravaccine against these infections and varicella and to ensure a high coverage, the infants should be vaccinated against varicella in the same periods - at 12 months and 6 years.

The paper analyzes current Russian and international guidelines for the choice of first-line antiretroviral therapy (ARVT) regimens for previously untreated HIV-infected patients. It reviews the convincing data obtained from large-scale trials of the efficacy and safety of ritonavir-boosted atazanavir, which have served as a basis for this drug to be included into the basic regimens of starting therapy for HIV infection. The paper discusses the advantages of atazanavir in terms of efficacy, safety, tolerability, and easiness-to-use, which may be considered as a rationale for its inclusion into the basic first-line ARVT regimens in our country.

The paper deals with various aspects of new infections. It discusses the terminology and structurization of the infections by the time of their detection. The authors analyze 203 new nosological entities over the period 1950-2010 and present their pattern by the groups of pathogens and their reservoirs.

The paper presents data on the currently available aetiotropic drugs for the treatment of influenza and acute respiratory viral infections (ARVI). It shows it necessary to apply the comprehensive approach to combating ARVI and influenza, which provides, in addition to vaccination to elaborate immunity, the use of interferon preparations and inductors to mobilize the nonspecific defense system, as well as antiviral chemopreparations to complete an inhibitory process for viral replication, by keeping in mind real viral strains and their resistance, as well as medico-economic components.