• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Infectious diseases the #2 killer worldwide

Infection Control Weekly Monitor, October 29, 2008

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Infection Control Weekly Monitor!

Infectious diseases are the second most dangerous killer, leading to 16.2 percent of worldwide deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Heart disease, infectious diseases, and cancer remain the world’s top three killers, the WHO said in a report, released October 27, on the global burden of disease. Only heart attacks and related problems kill more people than infectious diseases, claiming 29 percent of people who die each year, reported the Associated Press (AP). Cancer claims 12.6 percent of global deaths.

The death rate from infectious diseases actually dropped from 2002, when they accounted for 19.1 percent of the world’s deaths. This drop was partially due to estimates for AIDS deaths being revised downward last year, said Colin Mathers, the lead author of the report. Deaths from malaria are also lower and the number of deaths from measles dropped as a result of the wider use of vaccination, the AP reported.

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Infection Control Weekly Monitor!

• Comment
• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive

Comments