Current epidemiological aspects of streptococcal and poststreptococcal diseases in the Russian Federation

Epidemiological situation related to the spread of streptococcal infection and post-streptococcal diseases in the world remains tense in recent decades. According to the World Health Organization, more than 616 million cases of streptococcal pharyngitis occur annually in the world. Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in infectious diseases and one of the main human pathogens. The prevalence of severe cases of GAS infections amounted to 18.1 million people worldwide. At the same time, in recent years outbreaks of scarlet fever have been recorded in some countries. In 2011, scarlet fever rate was 10 times higher than the average rate of the previous decade. In the past 3 years, epidemics of scarlet fever have been registered in the UK, with an increased incidence every year. Although there are significant achievements in the fight against rheumatic fever (RF), it keeps reminding of itself in the form of new outbreaks. Currently, acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is not a mass disease, but it is a serious problem associated with heart damage. In the article, we analyzed incidence and prevalence of RF, rheumatic heart disease (RHD), chronic pharyngitis, nasopharyngitis, sinusitis and rhinitis. We present the comparative characteristic among children, adolescents and adults. We also describe high epidemiological and social significance of the problem and possible increase of RF and RHD, which cause significant social and economic damage, remaining the urgent problem of public health in Russia. It was revealed that the situation with ARF and RHD in Russia remains unstable. Between 1997 and 2016, epidemiological indicators of streptococcal infection tend to increase moderately. ARF incidence significantly increases with an average growth rate (AGR) of 2.5 %, while its prevalence has the opposite tendency to decrease. AGR was –29.2 %. RFD incidence showed a significant indicators increase with AGR of +1.1 %. At the same time, the prevalence tended to decrease and STP was –2 %. The situation makes it necessary to strengthen the epidemiological control of streptococcal infection and increase the alertness of doctors regarding the new cases of ARF and RHD.