[과학을읽다]Besides Corona… China ranks first in global infectious diseases

WHO publishes statistical results for the last 23 years

[아시아경제 김봉수 기자] Even before Corona virus 19, there were infectious diseases with strong infectivity and toxicity. These include influenza, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and Ebola. A recent study has revealed where these serious communicable diseases are most common around the world. China, where Corona 19 was first reported, first, followed by Saudi Arabia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

On the 25th, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a paper containing these research results in the international non-profit journal PLOS Global public health.

The research team came to this conclusion after collecting and analyzing 2,789 cases from the World Health Organization’s Disease Frequency Statistics (DON) for around 23 years between 1996 and 2019. According to the type of disease, influenza replaced the most common infectious disease with 776 group cases during this period. It was followed by 316 cases of MERS and 308 cases of Ebola. 278 cases of cholera, 162 cases of yellow fever, 123 cases of meningococcal infection, 118 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV), 105 cases of polio, 58 cases of dengue fever, 52 cases of Marburg, etc. .

By country, China was overwhelming with 262 works. It has been identified as the country most affected by infectious diseases. Of these, 218 were the flu. It was followed by Saudi Arabia with 189 cases (MERS 179 cases) and the Democratic Republic of Congo with 171 cases (Ebola cases 105 cases), respectively. In addition, Indonesia 146 cases (123 flu cases), Egypt 115 cases (112 flu cases), Uganda 83 cases (Ebola 57 cases), Vietnam 81 cases (flu 77 cases), Liberia 74 cases (Ebola 49 cases), Nigeria 69 cases, 68 cases in Guinea, etc.

Scientists pay attention to the results of studies on the distribution of cases of these communicable diseases. First of all, an analysis is that such diversity results from differences in the ability of individual countries to monitor and respond to diseases designated as priorities for quarantine and those designated as targets of concern. The state of public health systems in each country is also a key variable. At the very least, countries with surveillance and response capabilities can report more cases. Egypt, for example, had a staggering 115 cases of infectious disease during that period, but not a single case was reported in the neighboring country of Libya. Libya’s public health system has nearly collapsed after two civil wars.

Mark Smolinsky, chairman of the non-profit organization ‘Ending Pandemic’, told the international journal ‘Nature’ that “the results of this study will provide validated information about large-scale infectious disease outbreaks and will be a useful tool for record the history of infectious diseases.” “It is important to support transparent reporting systems so that we can identify and respond more quickly to outbreaks of infectious diseases globally,” he said.

Correspondent Kim Bong-soo bskim@asiae.co.kr