[Epidemiology of chronic rheumatic disease of heart among teenagers in the Republic of Dagestan].

The morbidity of rheumatic heart diseases (RHD) was studied, for the purpose of designing a set of measures to prevent them, among the teenagers in the Republic of Dagestan. The studies were based on the medical aid appealability, hospitalization data and clinical-and-epidemiological research made, with respect to climatic-and-geographic zones, in 3 rural areas and in the city of Makhachkala. A total of 1142 teenagers were questioned; laboratory-instrumental examinations were made for 234 teenagers. According to the data analysis, RHD and acute rheumatic fever (ARF) have been recently on the rise in the Republic, where the average morbidity figures are 4.5-fold higher versus those registered in whole Russia. The morbidity rate of RHD went up 1.8-fold, and that of ARF--1.5-fold, in Dagestan during 2000-2002. According to clinical-and-epidemiological examinations, RHD prevail among rural youth residing primarily in plains and, to a less extent, in highlands. Finally, measures are suggested, on the basis of research, for the prevention of RHD among youth.