TY - JOUR AU - Vitek, Charles R. AU - Wharton, Melinda T1 - Diphtheria in the Former Soviet Union: Reemergence of a Pandemic Disease T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 1998 VL - 4 IS - 4 SP - 539 SN - 1080-6059 AB - The massive reemergence of diphtheria in the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union marked the first large-scale diphtheria epidemic in industrialized countries in 3 decades. Factors contributing to the epidemic included a large population of susceptible adults; decreased childhood immunization, which compromised what had been a well-established childhood vaccination program; suboptimal socioeconomic conditions; and high population movement. The role of a change in the predominant circulating strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae in this epidemic remains uncertain. Massive, well-coordinated international assistance and unprecedented efforts to vaccinate adults were needed to control the epidemic. KW - Georgia KW - United States KW - Russia KW - Kazakhstan KW - Kyrgyzstan KW - Tajikistan KW - Turkmenistan KW - Uzbekistan KW - Armenia KW - Azerbaijan KW - Ukraine KW - Moldova KW - Belarus KW - Estonia KW - Latvia KW - Lithuania KW - Republic of Georgia DO - 10.3201/eid0404.980404 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/4/4/98-0404_article ER - End of Reference