EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS OF THE PRESENT

Abstract

Now there is taken place forming of the new active risk factor contributing to the evolution of the epidemic process, namely, the technogenic environmental pollution as the manifestation of the scientific and technical progress which is closely connected with globalization processes. For the preservation of the own species for all history of the development, the human was to force to adapt to regular impact on the habitat of the negative natural factors promoting global changes of climatic conditions surrounding it. However, this feature cannot actively be shown to technogenic risk factors because this influence not only constantly changes, but also continuously increases at the expense of the constantly increasing number of the alien chemicals coming to the biosphere. Environmental pollution by industrial wastes results in significant differences in levels of the incidence of infectious diseases with its higher rates in territories of ecological trouble. Besides, in ecologically unfavorable conditions the instability of development of the epidemic process is revealed (shortening of long-term cycles and considerably bigger fluctuation band of incidence concerning the line of a trend in the years of its cyclical upswings). Technogenic pollution leads to a more severe clinical course of the infectious process, its longer duration, more frequent occurrence of complications, synchronization of process and lengthening of the convalescence period, promotes comorbidity formation. In ecologically unfavorable conditions the level of collective immunity against infections controlled with immune preventive measures in almost healthy children of school age is significantly lower, than in comparison group, which reduces the epidemiological efficiency of vaccine prevention. In the urbanized territories also a change of degree of pathogenicity takes place due to an increase in resistance of pathogens to antibacterial drugs that provide infections advantage for more wide circulation and promotes the growth of infectious pathology. All above-stated has allowed concretizing in the presented review its purpose as displays of an infectious pathology on organismal and population levels in the conditions of technogenic environmental contamination.