[The impact of ecological pressing on tuberculosis and nonspecific lung diseases in the Astrakhan' region].

The correlation analysis was used to examine the epidemiological indices of the morbidity of tuberculosis, pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, and lung cancer in the Astrakhan region in 1987-1994. The indices were compared with each other and with varying air, water, and soil levels of toxicants. The magnitude of the effects of pollutants on the incidence of respiratory diseases ranged from 61% (for tuberculosis) to 93.3% (for pneumonia). The effects of the water and soil concentrations of toxicants proved to be less insignificant, by varying from 28.7% in tuberculosis to 4.8% in lung cancer. The effects of toxicant levels on tuberculosis morbidity are 5 times less than those during fibrous-cavernous processes and twice less than in first detected tuberculosis at the stage of decay with bacterial isolation. The pollutants containing sulfur were found to adversely affect mainly patients with tuberculosis or lung cancer. The study makes it necessary to consider patients with the aforesaid diseases as the objects of ecological pressing that directly has impact on the course of diseases and their outcomes.