As U.S. health professionals and scientists work with their Russian counterparts on prevention, treatment, and control strategies, both nations will benefit. Diphtheria serves as an example. Years ago in the United States, diphtheria was a widespread and greatly feared disease, striking about 150,000 people annually and killing about one in ten. Today, only a few cases occur each year. The contrast with diphtheria-related morbidity and mortality in Russia is considerable and indeed was cause for alarm recently upon the increase in Russian immigration to the United States.
Diphtheria constitutes an epidemic in Russia and the number of cases continues to rise.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the current rarity of diphtheria in the United States is due primarily to the high level of appropriate immunization in children and to an apparent reduction in the poison-carrying strains of the bacteria. However, the increasing percentage of diphtheria cases in adults suggests that many adults may not be protected against diphtheria because they do not receive boosters every 10 years as recommended. In the Literature , Etcetera Return to the Prevention Report index.