The latest figures reveal it causes 500,000 deaths in India each year. According to the World Health Organization, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand account for 95 percent of the tuberculosis cases reported in Southeast Asia. The elimination of smallpox two decades ago led many to hope that infectious diseases would soon cease to be a problem. Vaccines against polio, measles, and diphtheria have all proven to be useful in greatly reducing disease rates. Meanwhile, other pathogens, such as tuberculosis, have rebounded and shown drug-resistance.
Tuberculosis is now the top infectious disease killer of adults worldwide.
HIV promises to reduce the life expectancy in a number of countries, including Zimbabwe. Researchers blame the rising levels of these diseases on a number of factors, including increased travel and climate changes that facilitate the spread of pathogens. Vaccines continue to play a key role in the ability to control infectious diseases, but researchers note that multi-disciplinary prevention approaches need to be instituted in order to increase success. Between 1990 and 1997, the number of people infected with the virus that causes AIDS tripled from 9.8 million to 30.3 million, the study found. A new urine test has detected the AIDS virus in people who showed no signs of infection in their blood.