In order to understand a problem, the first step is to figure out how the problem came about. To fully understand the cause of Pandemics and the disastrous effects they have on society, scientists reflect back on previous outbreaks in history. The Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918 took the world by storm and caused major havoc across the globe. An estimated 25 to 50 million people died from the disease and over 500 million people were affected around the world. Though people survived this catastrophic outbreak, they faced many struggles later as life went on. Those who were exposed to the disease very early in life faced noncancerous issues such as cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease. A research study was completed in order to find out how big of a threat early disease exposure and old age mortality was from the three waves of the pandemic that hit the United States in 1918. For each pandemic wave, the results were much different. The results were different from each wave because of a couple of factors. One being the severity of the influenza diseases during the wave and the other being how long the wave last. The second wave which lasted from September of 1918 until the end of 1918 was the deadliest. The rates in which people were exposed to the disease If the society does not start developing a well-developed plan to prevent an outbreak from occurring, the world could succumb to disease like they did to plagues in the 14th century. This article is very relevant considering it is the most recent pandemic outbreak that caused the most concern. An even more concerning factor about Ebola is the fact that symptoms can be flu like, which influenza is a type of pandemic as well. The disease is a double-edged
The influenza or flu pandemic of 1918 to 1919, the deadliest in modern history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide–about one-third of the planet’s population at the time–and estimates place the number of victims anywhere from 25 to 100 million. More than 25 percent of the U.S. population became sick, and some 675,000 Americans died during the pandemic. The 1918 flu was first observed in Europe, the U.S. and parts of Asia before swiftly spreading around the world. Surprisingly, many flu victims were young, otherwise healthy adults. At the time, there were no effective drugs or vaccines to treat this killer flu strain or prevent its spread. In the U.S., citizens were ordered to wear masks, and schools, theaters and other public
--------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Essen, G. A., "The Socio-Economic Impact of Influenza". http://www.eswi.org/Bulletin_October_1997.cfm [2] Frayha, Husn. " Influenza Vaccination: A Call for Action" http://www.kfshrc.edu.sa/annals/176/97-248R.html [3] "Influenza". http://www.caw.ca/whatwedo/health&safety/factsheet/hsfssubstanceno37.asp
"Pandemic Flu History." Home. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d. Web. 23 Mar.
One of the most virulent strains of influenza in history ravaged the world and decimated the populations around the world. Present during World War I, the 1918 strain of pandemic influenza found many opportunities to spread through the war. At the time, science wasn’t advanced enough to study the virus, much less find a cure; medical personnel were helpless when it came to fighting the disease, and so the flu went on to infect millions and kill at a rate 25 times higher than the standard.
In 1918 to 1919 a flu pandemic broke out known as the Spanish flu. A majority of the people who caught this illness passed on quickly. Others passed on from complications caused by bacteria. An estimated twenty to forty percent of the world’s population contracted the illness.
The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 occurred during the midst of World War I, and it would claim more lives than the war itself. The disease erupted suddenly without a forewarning and spread rapidly across the globe. It seemed as though all of humanity had fallen under the mercy of this deadly illness. Influenza had very clear symptoms as described by William Collier in his letter to The Lancet. After a patient seizes their temperature can run up to 105° or more while their pulse averages at about 90 beats per minute. The high temperature and low pulse are frequently combined with epistaxis (nosebleed) and cyanosis (blueness of the skin). The epistaxis is caused by the high temperature and the cyanosis is caused by a lack of oxygen due to the decreased pulse (Kent 34). The author of Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919, Susan Kinglsey Kent, provides a brief history of the pandemic and documents from the time period. Many of the included documents show how unprepared and unorganized governments attempted to contain and control a disease they had never experienced, and how the expectations of the governments changed as a result of their successes and failures.
Although it’s still unknown exactly where the specific strain of influenza that caused the pandemic came from, the 1918 flu was first observed in Europe, the U.S., and parts of Asia before spreading around the world in a matter of months. Spain was one of the earliest countries to be hit by the disease, giving it the name the Spanish Flu, despite the fact that it wasn’t isolated in one place. An estimated 20 million to 50 million victims were killed by the flu, though other estimates run as high as 100 million. It’s impossible to know exact numbers due to the lack of medical records kept at the time. Surprisingly, many of these victims were previously healthy, young adults that were normally resistant to that type of contagious disease. Like many other illnesses during this time, doctors had no idea what caused the flu or how to treat it because there were no effective vaccines or drugs to treat the flu. Making matters worse, World War l had left most of America with a shortage of physicians, and many of those available came down with the flu themselves. Schools and homes had to be used as makeshift hospitals run by medical students because hospitals in some areas were so crammed with patients. The public health departments imposed quarantines and ordinances in an attempt to confine the spread of the disease. Citizens were ordered to wear
Influenza is a major public health problem which outbreaks all over the world. Resulting in considerable sickness and death rates. Furthermore, it is a highly infectious airborne disease and is caused by the influenza virus. Influenza is transmitted easily from one person to another person which has a great impact on society. When a member of society becomes sick, it is more prone to spread to other people. In the United States, every year between 5 to 20 percent of the population is affected by influenza. As a result of this, between 3,000 and 49,000 deaths have occurred per year (Biggerstaff et al., 2014). Therefore, the influenza vaccine is the most effective strategy to prevent influenza. This essay will examine two significant reasons for influenza vaccination which are the loss of workforce and economic burden as well as one effect regarding herd immunity.
The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 had a major effect on the public health in America at the time. Coordination between different levels and branches of government improved communication regarding the spread of influenza, improved the amount of people in hospitals, increased the spread of vaccines, and led to improvements in infection control and containment of the flu. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1997248/).
“The Influenza Pandemic of 1918.” Billings, Molly. Stanford University Virology. June 1, 1997. retrieved from http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/
The human population has a high susceptibility to the contraction of new diseases and outbreaks of these diseases are of high risk. Diseases in recent times that have broken out into the human population are the H7N9 flu strain and SARS. Despite the risk, outbreaks like H7N9 and SARS have been controlled due to epidemiology and other disease control methods. Outbreaks of disease are not uncommon to the human population as they move to new areas around the world with foreign diseases that the native residents would have developed a resistance to.
The Influenza of 1918. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1989. Print Use: I will use this as an extra source to supplement The Great Influenza and get more detailed information about Philadelphia, as well as Sans Francisco if I feel it would be useful. Secondary Furman, Bess. A Profile of the United States Public Health Service 1798-1948.
Ebola, a major threat to today's society, is threatening all parts of today's culture. In this paper one will be presented with six major points of analyses. The first an outbreak timeline, the next three are a basic overview of the deadly virus. In the fifth, one will be presented with what things are being blamed for these violent outbreaks. And in the sixth and final point one will be shown what is being done to better the situation.
One of the current major concerns in the world is the outbreak of Ebola. Ebola is a infectious disease that comes from the Ebola virus and it can cause death if the patient is left untreated. The disease can be managed with treatment of the patient, however. Ebola is a disease that is a major concern in the Subsaharan African Realm, and in the North American Realm,but it is beginning to be dealt with sufficiently in the Northern American Realm.
In the 1960s, doctors in the United States predicted that infectious diseases were in decline. US surgeon Dr. William H. Stewart told the nation that it had already seen most of the frontiers in the field of contagious disease. Epidemiology seemed destined to become a scientific backwater (Karlen 1995, 3). Although people thought that this particular field was gradually dying, it wasn’t. A lot more of it was destined to come. By the late 1980s, it became clear that people’s initial belief of infectious diseases declining needed to be qualified, as a host of new diseases emerged to infect human beings (Smallman & Brown, 2011).With the current trends, the epidemics and pandemics we have faced have created a very chaotic and unreliable future for mankind. As of today, it has really been difficult to prevent global epidemics and pandemics. Although the cases may be different from one state to another, the challenges we all face are all interconnected in this globalized world.