| Editor: In examining some of the recent news clips we've received of "pestilences in diverse places" (Matthew 24:7), we've been struck by how many there are and how quickly they're growing. Following is a brief overview of the bugs--both literal and figurative--ravaging the earth: |
Tuberculosis
(Reuters)
TB infects a third of the earth's population, killing nearly 3 million people every year,
spreading swiftly and freely through the air. Half the people infected don't realize they
have the disease, which health authorities talk only of trying to control. Eradication is
not even on the horizon. The World Health Organization estimates that more people will die
from TB this year than in any other year in history.
Malaria
(BBC)
It is estimated that at any time 2.5 billion people are at risk from malaria. It kills
3 million a year; 500 million are made very ill. Most cases occur in tropical Africa and
Southeast Asia. According to recent studies, malaria is more prevalent today than it has
been at any other period in history. More than 90 countries have malaria during all or
part of the year, and at any given time, up to 300 million people are infected with the
disease.
AIDS
(AP)
Every minute worldwide, five people between the ages of 10 and 24 become infected with
HIV, according to a new UN report. The UNAIDS report also warned that Eastern Europe is
set to become "one of the next epicenters" of the world AIDS crisis, with HIV
infection rates having increased at least sixfold since 1994. The young are particularly
hard-hit by the world epidemic, with at least one-third of the 30 million HIV carriers
being 24 or younger. Each day, 7,000 young people worldwide contract HIV, adding up to 2.6
million new infections annually.
Sleeping sickness
(CNN)
On the African continent, in the narrow band between the 15th parallels that bookend the
equator, a tiny fly is jeopardizing the lives of 55 million people and could be
responsible for one of the largest epidemics of this century. The bite of the tsetse fly
can carry a parasite that will work its way through your body and, if left untreated, put
you on course for a slow, agonizing and certain death.
It's called the sleeping sickness. 25,000 new cases of sleeping sickness are diagnosed each year. Dr. Michaleen Richer of the International Medical Corps said the prevalence of sleeping sickness has risen by more than 15 percent. "This is an epidemic of really catastrophic proportions," Michaleen added.
Dengue fever
(Reuters)
Scientists have warned that rising global temperatures could bring more than floods and
severe weather--they may allow for the wider spread of tropical illnesses like dengue
fever. The World Health Organization estimates that 2.5 billion people are currently at
risk from dengue fever. More than 240,000 cases were reported in Brazil in 1997. Dengue
fever killed 40 people in Venezuela in 1997, and infected 32,000. A recent outbreak in
Fiji killed eight people and infected 6,500.
Pneumonia
(MSNBC)
A new study shows that the bacterium called Streptococcus pneumonia is
penicillin-resistant in almost half of cases. A few years ago doctors could always assume
that penicillin would kill the pneumonia-causing organism. Now they always have to take
into account the possibility that penicillin won't work. "When the bacterium enters
the bloodstream, up to 20 percent of the people over age 65 may die of it," says Dr.
Jay Cutler of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. "And
mortality approaches 40 percent among those age 80 and over." But the bacteria do not
strike only the elderly. The same germ is responsible for most childhood ear
infections--which can spread to the blood and the brain if not stopped.
Bubonic plague
(AP)
For the first time, scientists have found a strain of the plague that is resistant to
all the antibiotics normally used to treat and prevent the deadly infectious disease. The
plague, the Black Death that killed one-fourth of the European population in the 1300s, is
spread by fleas that have bitten infected rats and other rodents or by sneezes and coughs
from infected people. Plague is considered a re-emerging disease by the World Health
Organization. The number of cases reported each year is growing, cases are cropping up in
more places and epidemics happened in 1994 in East Africa, Madagascar, Peru and India.
Rift Valley Fever
(BBC)
An outbreak of the hemorrhagic disease Rift Valley Fever is now estimated to have infected
89,000 people and killed more than 400 in northeastern Kenya and in Somalia. The Food and
Agricultural Organization of the UN has categorized the outbreak as an international
disaster because of fears that infected mosquitoes and animals may spread the disease to
other countries.