The most terrible skin diseases. Deadly nine: the most terrible infections in the world (11 photos)

You can die from a cold and from a runny nose, and from hiccups - the probability is an insignificant fraction of a percent, but it exists. Mortality from banal influenza is up to 30% in children under one year old and the elderly. And if you pick up one of the nine most dangerous infections, fractions of a percent will calculate the chance to recover.

1. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Spongiform encephalopathy, aka Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, ranked 1st among deadly infections. The infectious agent-causative agent was discovered relatively recently - mankind got acquainted with prion diseases in the middle of the 20th century. Prions are proteins that cause dysfunction and then cell death. Due to their special resistance, they can be transmitted from animal to person through digestive tract- a person becomes ill after eating a piece of beef with nervous tissue infected cow. The disease has been dormant for years. Then the patient begins to develop personality disorders - he becomes sloppy, grumpy, depressed, memory suffers, sometimes vision, up to blindness. For 8-24 months, dementia (dementia) develops, the patient dies from impaired brain activity. The disease is very rare (over the past 15 years, only 100 people have fallen ill), but it is absolutely incurable.

The human immunodeficiency virus has shifted from 1st to 2nd place quite recently. It is also referred to as new diseases - until the second half of the 20th century about infectious lesions immune system the doctors didn't know. According to one version, HIV appeared in Africa, passing to humans from chimpanzees. On the other hand, escaped from secret laboratory. In 1983, scientists succeeded in isolating infectious agent causing immune damage. The virus was transmitted from person to person through blood and semen through contact with broken skin or mucous membranes. At first, people from the “risk group” - homosexuals, drug addicts, prostitutes, fell ill with HIV, but as the epidemic grew, cases of infection appeared through blood transfusion, instruments, during childbirth, etc. Over 30 years of the HIV epidemic, more than 40 million people have been affected by HIV, of which about 4 million have already died, and the rest may die if HIV goes into the stage of AIDS - an immune lesion that makes the body defenseless against any infections. The first documented case of recovery was recorded in Berlin - an AIDS patient was given successful transplant bone marrow from an HIV-resistant donor.

3. Rabies

Honorary 3rd place is occupied by Rabies virus, the causative agent of rabies. Infection occurs through saliva through a bite. Incubation period ranges from 10 days to 1 year. The disease begins with a depressed state, slightly elevated temperature, itching and pain at the bite site. Occurs after 1-3 days acute phase- rabies, frightening others. The patient cannot drink, any sharp noise, flash of light, sound flowing water cause convulsions, hallucinations and violent attacks begin. After 1-4 days, the frightening symptoms subside, but paralysis appears. The patient dies from respiratory failure. Full course preventive vaccinations reduces the likelihood of disease to hundredths of a percent. However, after the onset of symptoms of the disease, recovery is almost impossible. With the help of the experimental "Milwaukee Protocol" (immersion in an artificial coma), four children have been saved since 2006.

4. Hemorrhagic fever

This term hides a whole group of tropical infections caused by filoviruses, arboviruses and arenaviruses. Some fevers are transmitted by airborne droplets, some through mosquito bites, some directly through the blood, contaminated things, meat and milk of sick animals. All hemorrhagic fevers are highly resistant to infectious carriers and are not destroyed in the external environment. Symptoms at the first stage are similar - heat, delirium, pain in muscles and bones, then bleeding from the physiological orifices of the body, hemorrhages, and blood clotting disorders join. The liver, heart, kidneys are often affected, and due to circulatory disorders, necrosis of the fingers and toes may occur. Mortality - from 10-20% with yellow fever(the safest, there is a vaccine, treatable) up to 90% for Marburg and Ebola (no vaccine and no cure).

Yersinia pestis, the plague bacterium, has long since retired as the deadliest bacterium. During the Great Plague of the 14th century, this infection managed to destroy about a third of the population of Europe, in the 17th century it wiped out a fifth of London. However, already at the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian doctor Vladimir Khavkin developed the so-called Khavkin vaccine, which protects against the disease. In 1910-11, the last large-scale plague epidemic occurred, affecting about 100,000 people in China. In the 21st century, the average number of cases is about 2500 per year. Symptoms - the appearance of characteristic abscesses (buboes) in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe axillary or inguinal lymph nodes, fever, fever, delirium. If modern antibiotics are used, the mortality rate from an uncomplicated form is low, but with a septic or pulmonary form (the latter is also dangerous with a “plague cloud” around patients, consisting of bacteria released during coughing) is up to 90%.

6. anthrax

The anthrax bacterium, Bacillus anthracis, was the first pathogen to be caught by "germ hunter" Robert Koch in 1876 and identified as the causative agent. Anthrax is highly contagious, forms special spores that are unusually resistant to external influences- the carcass of a cow that has died from an ulcer can poison the soil for several decades. Infection occurs through direct contact with pathogens, occasionally through gastrointestinal tract or air contaminated with spores. Up to 98% of the disease is skin forms, with the appearance of necrotic ulcers. Further recovery or transition of the disease to the intestinal or especially dangerous pulmonary form of the disease is possible, with the occurrence of blood poisoning and pneumonia. Mortality at skin form without treatment up to 20%, with a pulmonary form - up to 90%, even with treatment.

The last of the "old guard" of especially dangerous infections, still causing deadly epidemics - 200,000 patients, more than 3,000 deaths in 2010 in Haiti. The causative agent is Vibrio cholerae. Transmitted through faeces, contaminated water and food. Up to 80% of people exposed to the pathogen remain healthy or carry the disease to mild form. But 20% experience moderate, severe and fulminant forms of the disease. Symptoms of cholera are painless diarrhea up to 20 times a day, vomiting, convulsions and severe dehydration, leading to death. At full treatment(antibiotics of the tetracycline series and fluoroquinolones, hydration, restoration of electrolyte and salt balance) the chance of dying is low, without treatment, mortality reaches 85%.

8. Meningococcal infection

Meningococcus Neisseria meningitidis is the most insidious infectious agent of the most dangerous. The body affects not only the pathogen itself, but also the toxins released during the decay of dead bacteria. The carrier is only a person, it is transmitted by airborne droplets, with close contact. Children and people with weakened immune systems get sick mainly, about 15% of total number who were in contact. Uncomplicated disease - nasopharyngitis, runny nose, tonsillitis and fever, without consequences. Meningococcemia is characterized by high fever, rash and hemorrhage, meningitis - septic brain damage, meningoencephalitis - paralysis. Mortality without treatment - up to 70%, with timely therapy - 5%.

9. Tularemia

She is mouse fever, deer disease, "small plague", etc. It is caused by the small Gram-negative bacterium Francisella tularensis. It is transmitted through the air, through ticks, mosquitoes, contact with patients, food products etc., virulence is close to 100%. The symptoms are similar in appearance to the plague - buboes, lymphadenitis, high fever, pulmonary forms. Not lethal, but causes long-term disruption and, theoretically, is an ideal basis for the development of bacteriological weapons.

10. Ebola virus
The Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with blood, secretions, other fluids and organs infected person. Airborne transmission of the virus does not occur. The incubation period is from 2 to 21 days.
Ebola is characterized by a sudden increase in body temperature, severe general weakness, muscle and headaches, and sore throat. This is often accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases both internal and external bleeding. Lab tests reveal low levels whites blood cells and platelets along with elevated levels of liver enzymes.
In severe cases of the disease, intensive replacement therapy, as patients are often dehydrated and require intravenous fluids or oral rehydration with solutions containing electrolytes.
special treatment hemorrhagic fever Ebola or a vaccine against it still does not exist. As of 2012, none of the major pharmaceutical companies has invested in the development of an Ebola vaccine, since such a vaccine has a potentially very limited market for sales: in 36 years (since 1976) there were only 2,200 cases.

If Pyotr Tchaikovsky had not drunk unboiled water, the grandson of Peter I had not fallen ill with smallpox, and Anton Chekhov could have been vaccinated against tuberculosis, the world would have been different. Dangerous diseases almost wiped out humanity from the globe, and some continue to rage to this day.
The plague was transmitted to people from rat fleas, the Spaniard - from wild birds, smallpox - from camels, malaria - from mosquitoes, AIDS - from chimpanzees ... Man has never been protected from diseases that he carried the world, and it took hundreds of years to learn how to deal with them.

There are truly tragic chapters in world history called "pandemics" - global epidemics that affected the population of a vast territory at the same time. Entire villages and islands died out. And no one knows what twists and turns in history would have awaited mankind if all these people - of different classes and cultures - had remained to live. Perhaps all the progress of the 20th century is the result of the fact that, among others, scientists, writers, artists, doctors and other people who make the world “spin” have finally stopped dying. Today we decided to talk about the seven most deadly diseases that have definitely changed and continue to change the fate of our planet.

Plague

Until recently, the plague was one of the most deadly diseases for mankind. When infected with the bubonic form of plague, a person died in 95% of cases; with pneumonic plague, he was doomed with a probability of 98–99%. Three of the world's largest black death epidemics have claimed millions of lives around the world. Thus, the Plague of Justinian, which originated in the Eastern Roman Empire in 541 under Emperor Justinian I, swept half the world - the Middle East, Europe and East Asia - and took more than 100 million lives in two centuries. According to eyewitnesses, at the height of the epidemic in 544, up to 5,000 people died in Constantinople daily, the city lost 40% of the population. In Europe, the plague killed up to 25 million people.

The second largest plague pandemic came from China in the middle of the 14th century and spread like wildfire throughout Asia and Europe, reaching North Africa and Greenland. Medieval medicine could not cope with the Black Sea - over two decades, at least 60 million people died, many regions lost half of their population.

The third plague pandemic, which also originated in China, was already rampant in the 19th century and ended only at the beginning of the 20th - in India alone, it claimed the lives of 6 million people. All these epidemics threw humanity back many years, paralyzing the economy, culture and any development.

About the plague infection and is transmitted to humans from fleas infected by rodents, has only recently become known. The causative agent of the disease - the plague bacillus - was discovered in 1894. And the first anti-plague drugs were created and tested by Russian scientists at the beginning of the 20th century. The vaccine from fever-killed plague bacilli was the first to be developed and tested by the immunologist Vladimir Khavkin, after which he successfully vaccinated the population of India. the first live vaccine against the plague was created and tested by the bacteriologist Magdalina Pokrovskaya in 1934. And in 1947 Soviet doctors were the first in the world to use streptomycin for the treatment of plague, which helped to "revive" even the most hopeless patients during the epidemic in Manchuria. Although the disease was generally defeated, local plague epidemics still periodically flare up on the planet: for example, at the beginning of this year, black death “visited” Madagascar, killing more than 50 people. Every year, the number of plague cases is about 2,500 people.


Victims: Roman emperors Marcus Aurelius and Claudius II, Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomakh, Russian artist Andrei Rublev, Italian painters Andrea del Castagno and Titian Vecellio, French playwright Alexander Ardi and Estonian sculptor Christian Ackerman.

black pox

Today it is considered completely defeated. Last case infection with smallpox (smallpox) was recorded in 1977 in Somalia. However, until recently it was a real scourge for humanity: the mortality rate was 40%, in the 20th century alone, the virus killed from 300 million to 500 million people. The first epidemic occurred in the 4th century in China, then the population of Korea, Japan, and India suffered. The Koreans believed in the spirit of smallpox and tried to appease it with food and wine placed on an altar dedicated to the “Honored Smallpox Guest.” The Indians, on the other hand, represented smallpox in the form of the goddess Mariatale, an extremely irritable woman in red clothes. The rash from smallpox in their imagination appeared from the wrath of this goddess: angry with her father, she tore her necklace and threw the beads in his face - this is how the ulcers characteristic of the disease appeared.

Studying smallpox, people noticed that this disease rarely affects those who deal with cows and horses - milkmaids, grooms, cavalrymen were more resistant to the disease. Later it was proved that the human smallpox virus is very similar to camel and, as scientists suggest, it was camels that were the first sources of infection, and contact with infected artiodactyls gives it some immunity.

Victims: smallpox was a curse for many royals - from it to different time the ruler of the Incas, Wayna Capac, and the ruler of the Acetcas, Cuitlahuac, died, British Queen Maria II, King of France Louis XV, 17-year-old King of Spain Louis I, who was in power for only seven months, 14-year-old grandson of Peter the Great Peter II and three Japanese emperors. It is not known what this world would have been like if these kings had remained on their thrones.

Tuberculosis

In the 19th century, tuberculosis killed a quarter of the adult population of Europe - many were in their prime, productive, young and full of plans. In the 20th century, about 100 million people died from tuberculosis worldwide. type of bacterium sickening, was discovered by Robert Koch back in 1882, but so far mankind cannot get rid of this disease. According to scientists, a third of the world's population is infected with Koch's wand, and new case infection occurs every second.

According to WHO, in 2013, 9 million people fell ill with tuberculosis and 1.5 million died from this disease. He is the most deadly modern infections after AIDS. It is enough for a sick person to sneeze to infect others. At the same time, timely diagnosis and treatment of this disease is very effective: since 2000, doctors have managed to save more than 40 million human lives.

Victims: Consumption ended the lives of many famous people, not allowing them to complete all their plans.


Writers Anton Chekhov, Ilya Ilf, Konstantin Aksakov, Franz Kafka, Emilia Bronte, artists Boris Kustodiev and Vasily Perov, actress Vivien Leigh and others fell victim to it.

Malaria

How many millions of lives have been claimed by mosquitoes and mosquitoes, it will hardly ever be possible to calculate. To date, it is malarial mosquitoes that are considered the most dangerous animals for humans - much more dangerous than lions, crocodiles, sharks and other predators. Hundreds of thousands of people die every year from the bites of small insects. The vast majority suffer the future of humanity - children under the age of five.

In 2015 alone, 214 million people fell ill with malaria, and 438,000 of them died. Until 2000, mortality was 60% higher. An estimated 3.2 billion people, nearly half of humanity, are at risk of contracting malaria at all times. This is mainly the population of African countries south of the Sahara, but there is a chance of catching malaria in Asia, going on vacation.

There is no vaccination against malaria, but insecticides and repellents can be a lifesaver against mosquitoes. By the way, scientists did not immediately succeed in guessing that it was the mosquito that causes fever, chills and other signs of the disease. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, several doctors experimented at once: they deliberately let themselves be bitten by mosquitoes caught in malaria hospitals. These heroic experiments helped to recognize the enemy in person and begin to fight him.

Victims: the legendary Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun died of malaria, as well as Pope Urban VII, the writer Dante, the revolutionary Oliver Cromwell.

HIV

“Patient Zero” is considered to be a certain Gaetan Dugas, a Canadian steward who was accused of spreading HIV and AIDS in the 1980s. However, recent studies have shown that the virus was transmitted to humans much earlier: at the beginning of the 20th century, a hunter from the Congo who butchered the carcass of a sick chimpanzee monkey became infected with it.

Today, HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is one of the top ten causes of death in the world (ranks eighth after coronary disease, stroke, cancer and other lung diseases, diabetes and diarrhoea). According to WHO estimates, 39 million people died from HIV and AIDS, the infection claims 1.5 million lives annually.

Like tuberculosis, sub-Saharan Africa is also a hotspot for HIV. There is no cure for the disease, but thanks to therapy, the infected continue an almost full life. At the end of 2014, there were approximately 40 million people living with HIV worldwide, with 2 million people worldwide having acquired the disease in 2014. In countries affected by HIV and AIDS, the pandemic is hindering economic growth and increasing poverty.

Last thing:


Victims: including famous victims AIDS historian Michel Foucault, science fiction writer Isaac Asimov (infected through donated blood during heart surgery), singer Freddie Mercury, actor Rock Hudson, Soviet choreographer Rudolf Nureyev.