As per media sources, tuberculosis emerged as the deadliest infectious disease with claims close to three lakh lives between 2012 and 2016. Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh are known for registering a high number of deaths per one lakh population. Though deaths due to TB are declining, vector-borne diseases and deaths are on the rise in recent years. Sikkim recorded 66 per cent, the highest deaths. Lakshadweep, Bihar, and Jammu and Kashmir registered the least per one lakh, i.e., one per lakh.
Most Killer Infectious Diseases
The following diseases are regarded as the most infectious diseases with particular reference to India:
- Tuberculosis (TB) Tuberculosis is a disease caused by a bacteria, called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attacks the lungs but can also damage other parts of the body. It is a communicable disease, i.e., it spreads through air on coughing, sneezing, or talking closely. The Indian government has announced to rid the country of it by 2025, the global elimination deadline. In 2016 itself, about 4,23,000 people died of TB in India.
It is of three types—MDR-TB, XDR-TB, and TDR-TB. MDR-TB is the multidrug-resistant TB, which is a health security threat. As per WHO estimates, 6,00,000 new cases were recorded with resistance to the most effective and first-live drug ‘rifampicin’ of which 4,90,000 had MDR-TB and almost half of them were in India.
Causes A high rate of hospital-derived infection, poor sanitation, low adherence of patients to prescription medicines, and stopping to take medicine midway.
XDR-TB is extensively drug-resistant TB and is a rare type of MDR-TB that is resistant to ‘isoniazid’ and ‘refampin’ plus any ‘fluoroquinolones’ and is at least one of the three injectable second-live drugs (amikacin, kanamycin, or capreomycin).
TDR-TB in totally drug-resistant-TB, which was isolated in 2012 in the fluid samples of 12 TB patients. There is thus a growing need for new TB medications, as previously effective means of treatment are rapidly becoming obsolete.
- Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) A serious infection, ARI prevents normal breathing function. Generally, it begins as a viral infection in the nose, trachea, or lungs. If not properly treated, it can damage the entire respiratory system.
- Water- and Food-transmitted Diseases These diseases are caused by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii and the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, etc. These can cause serious and sometimes chronic conditions. Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli are some of the diseases.
- Vector-borne Diseases A severe and fatal strain that is fast spreading, vector-borne diseases (VBD) include dengue, Japanese encephalitis, lymphatic filariasis, and sandfly-transmitted kala-azar. India leads the world in dengue burden. These diseases are caused by vectors (hosts) such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa, transferable from one host to another.
- Viral Hepatitis Virtal Hepatitis causes liver inflammation when tissues of the body become injured or infected. Several different viruses cause hepatitis, including Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E.
- Malaria A disease caused by mosquito bite, India’s malaria surveillance system ranks among the worst in the world as per WHO 2017 report. Unsanitary conditions create breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
- Polio Though eradicated in India, live type-2 polio strains were in circulation in samples of vaccines. India faces a resurgence of polio.
- Pneumonia Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs, caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi, etc. It is both treatable and preventable. India has the highest burden of pneumonia in the world. Pneumonia is estimated to kill 1.7 million of India’s children by 2030.
- HIV/AIDS HIV is a virus (human immunodeficiency virus) that damages the immune system and is still a major global public health issue, having claimed more than 32 million lives so far. In 2016, 80,000 new cases were recorded in our country.
- measles A highly contagious infectious disease, it is caused by the measles virus. Initial symptoms typically include fever often greater than 104 °F, cough, running nose, and inflamed eyes. India is home to second highest number of children unvaccinated against measles.
- Nipah Virus Nipah virus has 70 per cent mortality rate. First detected in Kerala in 2018, it has no known vaccination so far and is, therefore, more worrisome.
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