№ 1 (2014)

The paper presents long-term generalized data on the results and prospects in the study of acute enteric infections in children and adults at the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, Russian Inspectorate for the Protection of Consumer Rights and Human Welfare.

Objective. To assess the current leptospirosis situation in the Stavropol Territory. Materials and methods. Statistical and epidemiological analyses were used to study leptospirosis epidemiological and epizootiological data in the Stavropol Territory. Results. The territory was divided into zones according to leptospirosis morbidity rates; the specific features of the epidemic process in leptospirosis were found; the epizootiological situation of Leptospira infection in the Stavropol Territory was studied. Conclusion. The human leptospirosis situation has remained relatively stable, but the epizootiological situation has been tense in the Stavropol Territory in recent years.

Objective. To establish the epidemiological features of primary drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the Belgorod region to optimize anti-epidemic and preventive actions aimed at timely detecting the disease and locating its foci. Materials and methods. The prevalence of primary drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in newly diagnosed patients in the Belgorod region in the past 5 years (2006-2011) was studied. Results. With the lower tuberculosis incidence rates among the Belgorod Region population, there was an increase in the proportion of bacillar patients. In 2006 to 2011, the proportion of first detected patients excreting M. tuberculosis resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin tended to increase by 13.2%, which was suggestive of the intensive circulation of the pathogen that was mutidrug-resistant to antituberculosis drugs. Conclusion. The developed method for epidemiologically studying tuberculosis foci, which includes the mapping of administrative areas in the Belgorod Region, can concentrate efforts to detect tuberculosis and to prevent its distribution in the epidemiologically most dangerous direction, namely in the tuberculosis endemic foci and also necessitates the introduction of molecular epidemiological and laboratory studies in these areas.

The chronic viral hepatitis epidemic situation is not improving in the Russian Federation. Objective. To estimate the prevalence of active forms of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) to identify those who need specific antiviral therapy. Materials and methods. In 2003 to 2010, a total of 252614 people were examined for serum HBsAg and, if the latter was found, other markers characterizing the activity of CHB. The need for therapy was determined according to the European algorithm for the management of CHB patients. Clinical, epidemiological, laboratory (blood biochemical tests, serological and molecular biological assays) and statistical studies and instrumental diagnosis (fibroelastometry) were used. Results. The prevalence of ABsAg in the Moscow Region is 4.1%. CHB is most common in the active reproductive age groups 20-29 and 30-39 years. The relative proportion of HBsAg-positive women has considerably increased in recent years. The prevalence of HBsAg-positive hepatitis is 83.5%. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA was found in 63.3% of the examined HBsAg-positive persons and the viral load was high in 20.0%. Enhanced alanine aminotransferase activity was recorded in 34.9% of the patients with detectable HBV DNA; it was more significantly noted in those with a high viral load. Conclusion. The large-scale survey of the Moscow Region’s population showed a higher proportion (4.1%) of HBsAg-positive persons than annual morbidity rates and that in the study conducted in the narrow indicator groups (donors and pregnant women). According to the results of clinical and laboratory studies with consideration for HBV DNA levels, antiviral therapy for CHB is recommended for almost a quarter of patients.

The author analyzes the incidence rates of enteric infections in the infants of the Orenburg Region in the period 2008-2012. Rotavirus gastroenteritis occupies a top place in the pattern of verified enteric infections in infants less than 2 years; their proportion is as high as 56% in different years. The epidemic process activity in rotavirus infection is maintained due to the pediatric population whose proportion in the age pattern of morbidity was 67% in Orenburg in 2012. The involvement of infants in the epidemic process necessitates rotavirus infection monitoring and specific prevention.

Nizhny State Medical Academy, Ministry of Health of Russia, Nizhny Novgorod The paper gives a well-reasoned disagreement with the definition of disinfectology and a critical appraisal of the terms and definitions concerning disinfectology and the disinfecting activities of particularly those who will not encourage the development of disinfection. The artificially created science disinfectology has no logic of philosophical and historical development, its laws, hypotheses, theories, and others, which is a foundation for any science. The existing papers of disinfectologists do not answer the question of what disinfectology as science is based on. The authors present their vision of disinfectology as three independent research areas of epidemiology: disinfection, disinsection, and disinfestation rather than a single scientific discipline.

The paper is devoted to the 90th anniversary of the Department of Communicable Diseases, Kazan State Medical University that is the founder of the Kazan School of Infectologists. Professor B.A. Volter, a postgraduate of the Saint Petersburg Imperial Military Medical Academy, was the first organizer and leader of the Department. He laid the groundwork for a pathogenetic research area of the Department. Since the earliest days of its existence, all researchers have been actively involved in controlling louse-borne typhus, typhoid and relapsing fevers, dysentery, malaria, and other infections. In the 1970s and 1980s, much work was done on developing pathogenetic therapy for meningococcal infection, influenza, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in the Middle Volga Region, as well as intensive therapy for infectious toxic shock. The present-day activities of the Department are associated with researches in the pathogenesis of viral hepatitis and HIV infection and with development of their antiviral therapy options. The Department plays a great role in the education of healthcare professionals and in the postgraduate training of primary health care physicians in the topical issues of infectious diseases. Professor B.A. Volter’s successors cherish and continue to develop the best traditions of the Kazan school of Infectologists.

The author states her view of Academician B.L. Cherkassky’ role in the development of Russian epidemiological science and practice. In-depth analysis of biographical materials about the life and work of the scientist, as well as his experience has allowed the identification of the main conditions that contributed to personality formation in the outstanding Russian epidemiologist. The scope of the scientific heritage of B.L. Cherkassky, continuity of his scientific ideas, and some of the most significant results obtained by his disciples in implementing main research areas are demonstrated.