Whether it is because of the hygienic conditions, of life, of eating habits … Diseases supposed to belong to the past are indeed present in France and in the world: scabies, measles, gout, tuberculosis, whooping cough and syphillis.
In August 2018, cases of scurvy, a disease caused by a severe vitamin C deficiency (which was readily associated with sailors, deprived of fruits and vegetables during long crossings), were even reported in the United States.
Causes, symptoms, treatments … Focus on these 6 very current diseases.
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Syphilis, sexually transmitted
According to a recent study of the National Institute for Public Health Surveillance, syphilis, a sexually transmitted infection extremely contagious (caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum), has made a big comeback since the early 2000s. InVS has therefore set up a voluntary surveillance network in order to follow the evolution of the disease, which is no longer one of the notifiable diseases since 2000.
In 2014, there are more than 1000 cases syphilis which were declared to the InVS (including 84% affecting men who have sex with men) but the real number of cases is undoubtedly much higher. This resurgence of the disease is linked to a increase in risky practices observed since the end of the 90s. “We have indeed observed, since 1997, an increase in the proportion of men who do not protect their anal intercourse with occasional partners with a condom” underlines the Institute for Public Health Surveillance.
Measles, severe in some cases
Measles is a highly contagious viral infection. The introduction of a dose of measles vaccine into the vaccination schedule in 1983 and then of a second dose in 1997 gradually brought the number of cases down. However, the circulation of the virus is still active and continues to spread within the population (including adults) because the minimum vaccination coverage rate necessary to block the road to the virus (95%) is far from being achieved.
Due to a lack of sufficient vaccination coverage, in 2015, 22,000 cases of measles were reported in Europe. This is far from trivial because the disease, which is wrongly considered to be benign, can kill: the leading cause of death is pneumonia in children and acute encephalitis in adults.
Whooping cough, difficult to prevent
What was thought to be a missing childhood illness is also making a comeback. But now, whooping cough not only affects children but adolescents and young adults. Quite simply because the immunity conferred by the vaccine is not definitive but also because the protective effect of the vaccine is no longer effective enough in the face of an bacteria that is mutating.
Pertussis has not been a notifiable disease since 1986, but a surveillance network (Rénacoq) has been set up at the hospital. According to this network, 200 to 600 cases of pertussis are identified in France each year, with a high risk of serious forms in infants under 3 months (not yet vaccinated).
Scabies, very contagious
Scabies is a highly contagious parasitosis linked to the colonization of the superficial layers of the epidermis by a mite. In recent years, the National Institute for Public Health Surveillance has been talking about increase in the number of cases of scabies in the population. For the researchers, this progression is due primarily to the increase in “imported cases” with travel and migration, but also to a delay in diagnosis linked to the ignorance of this disease that was believed to have disappeared. The spread of scabies is favored by community life: nurseries and nursing homes (hospitals for dependent elderly people) are its favorite places.
However, contrary to popular belief, it is not a disease linked to hygienic conditions: it affects both the rich and the less rich, clean and less clean, regardless of the social environment.
This upsurge also worries dermatologists because the disease absolutely cannot cure itself and the treatments are often out of stock.
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Gout, linked to eating habits
Another disease that we thought was buried and which is making a comeback. Drop is a form of arthritis that occurs as a reaction to an abnormally high level of uric acid in the blood, caused by drinking too much alcohol (especially beer), soda or certain rich foods. Our current diet (too rich, too sweet, too alcoholic) has therefore favored the reappearance of the disease. According to a study carried out by a rheumatologist at Lariboisière hospital, it would affect approximately one in 100 people in France.
Tuberculosis on the move
Tuberculosis is often considered a disease of the past because the vaccine which protects against it (the famous BCG) is no longer compulsory since 2007. For many people, this is proof that tuberculosis is ancient history! However, the disease has not completely disappeared.
This very contagious disease spreads through the airways: sneezing, coughing, spitting up the tuberculosis bacilli into the surrounding air. It is estimated that one infected and untreated person can infect 10 to 15 other people. In France, 60% of cases occur in the Ile-de-France region. They mainly affect people from Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia.
But what worries the health authorities a lot is that a form of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis has appeared, which cannot be cured by conventional treatments. The World Health Organization even estimates that this multidrug-resistant tuberculosis will kill 75 million people in the world by 2050.
