Nº 3 (2011)

The paper provides a rationale for the importance of using the techniques of molecular biology to estimate the global movement of some types of infectious diseases. This proposition is analyzed using tuberculosis infection as an example. The epidemic Mycobacterium tuberculosis genotypes that are widely distributed in Russia, Estonia, Latvia, and some other countries of Europe and Asia are identified. The findings suggest that there was a one-stage and burst distribution of the M. tuberculosis Beijing genotype in the former Soviet Union countries in the first half of the 20th century.

Herpes zoster (HZ) is a human viral infectious disease characterized by a skin and nervous system lesion that has a common etiology and a close pathogenetic relationship to varicella. The topicality of HZ is due to its relatively widespread, the chance of long-term and severe complications as postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) in a large portion of patients, a severe clinical course, and frequent recurrences in risk-group patients (those infected with HIV, those with cancer and other diseases). The purpose of the study was to estimate the economic damage caused by HZ and PHN. The direct medical costs of out- and inpatient treatments in a patient with HZ and PHN were 66 625 and 121 356.2 rubles for uncomplicated (without PHN) and complicated (with PHN) HZ, respectively. In the Russian Federation, the annual total direct cost of drug provision and medical care for HZ and PHN was approximately 6 940 598 thousand rubles. The total loss due to HZ and PHN as direct and indirect costs in the Russian Federation was multicomponent and multifactorial and it amounts to 10 619 251.7 thousand rubles a year.

Fifty patients with chronic brucellosis were examined and treated. Chronic brucellosis infection was found to proceed in the presence of significant impairments in blood rheological properties and platelet function. Pathological changes mainly affect the microvascular bed. Incorporation of instenon into combination treatment for chronic inactive brucellosis normalized platelet aggregation and improved blood rheological properties. The effects of instenon were shown to promote the regression of individual clinical symptoms of the disease.

The paper reviews the problem of microbial resistance to antibacterial agents and considers the existing classifications of resistance to biocides. The data available on resistance mechanisms are systematized; each type of resistance is defined; a resistance classification is proposed by the authors.

The retrospective epidemiological survey considers where patients with severe surgical sepsis can be actively detected using the systemic inflammatory response syndrome scores in conjunction with an infectious focus and multiple organ failure to improve a registration system of sepsis cases. The above scores may be absolutely valid criteria for suspected severe sepsis screening.