Shortages of Vaccine Plague Russia
Russia has virtually no vaccines for major childhood diseases, and polluted drinking water has caused illnesses such as dysentery and gastroenteritis to soar in parts of Siberia, the federal Centers for Disease Control said Thursday.
The center reported that a U.S. health team that visited six regions of Russia from Jan. 16 to Feb. 6 found critical shortages of vaccines for measles, polio, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.
“During 1991, the (Russian) incidence of certain infectious diseases increased, reversing previous trends,” the report said, adding that reported cases of diphtheria last year rose 54%, pertussis 25% and measles 12% over 1990 cases.
Most critical, the report said, is a lack of measles vaccine, because virtually all 3 million children born annually in Russia will get measles unless vaccinated.
Compounding the problem is the idling during 1991 of Russian plants that manufacture vaccine, “depleted” reserves at year-end and lack of vaccine in current international relief shipments.
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