Epidemic scorecard

Epidemic scorecard: A tally of epidemics.

The scorecard, based on estimates from the World Health Organization in 2003, reads as follows: Tuberculosis: 8 million new cases and 2 million deaths a year. A third of the world population has TB. Drug-resistant incurable strains on the rise. Malaria: 300-500 million new cases and a million deaths a year. Drug-resistant forms are increasing. Hepatitis B: 10-30 million new cases and a million death a year from hepatitis B, a leading cause of cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure. Diarrheal diseases: 2.7 billion new cases and 1.9 million deaths, mainly of children, per year from cholera, shigella, typhoid, E. coli, and other agents of diarrhea. HIV/AIDS: 5.5 million new cases of HIV infection and 3.1 million deaths a year from AIDS. Measles: 30 million new cases and nearly 900,000 deaths a year. Measles (also called rubeola) is entirely preventable with a vaccine that costs 26 cents that has been available since 1963. Dengue fever: 20 million new cases and 24,000 deaths a year from this mosquito-borne disease. Influenza: 3-5 million new cases and 250,000 deaths a year. Yellow fever: 200,000 new cases and 30,000 deaths a year. SARS: About 5,400 cases and 350 deaths from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the first 180 days of the epidemic.