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Brief history of yellow fever
Brief history of yellow fever
Brief history of yellow fever
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Philadelphia 1793 In Philadelphia 1793 it was very disastrous. With a population of approximately 55,000 in 1793. Philadelphia was America's largest city. There was this epidemic. It was spread throughout Philadelphia. The epidemic is called yellow fever. Yellow fever is known for bringing on a characteristic yellow tinge to the eyes and skin.During the epidemic 5,000 or more people were listed in the official register of death between August 1st and November 9th. That was by the time it ended. It was a viral disease that began with muscle pain. The Flavivirus causes yellow fever. It is transmitted when an infected female mosquito bites you. Fortunately in the United States we do not have the yellow fever disease. You only need the yellow
At the start of the book, Fever 1793, the story takes place at the Cook’s Coffeehouse. The main character, Matilda, is woken up by her mom flipping open the curtains, yelling at her to wake up and get started on her morning chores before the guests arrive. Before the guests arrive, Eliza, a free black, also their cook, starts making food for the guests who will be arriving as soon as the shop opens. Matilda has to take care of the garden that is on the backside of the house, help get ready to open the shop, and also Polly’s chores because Polly, their serving girl, didn’t show up to work. After a while Matilda’s mom went to see where Polly was and found out Polly had died the previous evening because of an unknown illness. Matilda’s mom and Grandfather help out and did whatever else that
There are two books I will be comparing, Fever 1793 and The Girl Who Owned a City. The main characters are Matty, a girl in 1973, and Lisa, a futuristic character.They are alike in many ways. They are also quite different. They are both about the same age, though Lisa might be a little younger.
At some point in a person's life, they must make the transition from childhood to adulthood. Many of a persons early life experiences can contribute to this transition, even if it is the simplest of things. Yellow Fever hit Philadelphia hard in 1793. It also hit hard in the book Fever: 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. In this book, fourteen year-old Mattie Cook?s life gets turned upside-down when Yellow Fever strikes Philadelphia. In her adventure, Mattie must show responsibility, and experience the pain of death before she matures into an adult.
Murphy, Jim. An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic 1793. New York, New York: Clariton Book, 2003. Print.
In closing, the variola virus affected a great amount in that era including, military strategy, trade, and native populations. Elizabeth A. Fenn’s book Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82 sheds light on a significant aspect of that era that had not been given proper credence beforehand. She also illuminated the effect of smallpox when it came to race and social status. With regard to race, smallpox decimated much of the non European populations partly because of their lack of an innate immunity to that virus and Europeans lack of regard for those of a different race. Fenn’s argument on social status showed how the poorer strata’s of society suffered more severely from the variola virus because of their lack of finances to get inoculated; thus, the poor often suffered a worse strain of the virus which often lead to death.
Colonial living in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the New World was both diverse and, in many cases, proved deadly through such avenues as disease, Native American attacks, a lack of proper medical treatment, and disastrous weather conditions. Even through all of these hardships, the first colonists persevered, doing their best to see the blessings in their lives and create a better life for their children through all of the uncertainties. Nothing, it seems, in the original colonies was set in stone except for the fact that they never knew what the next day would hold in store. Everything, even small mishaps, had dramatic impacts on the social, economic, and political aspects of their lives. These circumstances, however, were more strongly influenced by geography than class position, unlike what many were used to in England. How population, economics, disease, and climate played into the social conditions of early colonists is truly a story for the ages. Whether people were seeking land, religious freedom, or money and profits, everyone worked to a certain extent just to survive, let alone thrive, in the wilderness that was North America at that time.
This lead to the demise of the population when the disease was transported through the heart of an infected man. Once the doctors completed the heart transplant, the man came to life with the generic grey blood and he was much more hostile.... ... middle of paper ... ...
With no treatment half of patients who enter the second phase die within ten to fourteen days. Similar to yellow fever, malaria was transmitted to humans through mosquito bites, causing symptoms such as fever, fatigue, and vomiting. Difficult to recognize at first malaria continues to cause yellowing of the skin, seizures, and even death; these symptoms normally begin after ten to fifteen days after being contracted. Malaria was brought over to early America through slavery and killed millions of people between the seventeenth and twentieth century. Throughout the growth and expansion of America there was been several disease outbreaks both endemic and epidemic such as small pox, measles, yellow fever, and malaria. Starting with the Colombian exchange and slavery these diseases were brought to the new world and spread like wildfires that devastated populations both native and nonnative. Most commonly known for the death toll on the native Americans these diseases were so costly due to low resistance, poor sanitation, and inadequate
The perspective the author gives to this book is a unique. Smallpox according to most histories does not play the role of a major character, but a minor part. In my opinion smallpox was a major factor during the Revolutionary War, and Feen focuses on several key areas which allows us to see just how bad this epidemic was and the grip it had not only on the soldiers, but the colonist as well.
The filth of the cities promoted the spread of disease faster than doctors could discover a cure. This encouraged large outbreaks of many deadly diseases. And it is said that throughout this period there were people who went about the cities and towns with wagons calling "Bring out your dead!" in a fashion similar to that of the Medieval era during the bubonic plague (Which, by the way, was not yet a dead disease).
It was a bubonic plague that came from Asia and spread by black rats infested with fleas. The plague spread like a wildfire because people who lived in high populated areas were living very close to each other and had no idea what was the cause of the disease or how to cure it. The signs of the “inevitable death” where blood from the nose, fever, aching and swellings big as an “apple” in the groin or under the armpits. From there the disease spread through the body in different directions and soon after it changed into black spots that appeared on the arms and thighs. Due to the lack of medical knowledge, no doctors manage to find a remedy. Furthermore a large number of people without any kind of medical experience tried to help the sick but most of them failed “...there was now a multitude both of men and of women who practiced without having received the slightest tincture of medical science - and, being in ignorance of its source, failed to apply the proper remedies…” (Boccaccio). The plague was so deadly that it was enough for a person to get infected by only touching the close of the
The plague was spread by fleas, which were not effected by the disease. Fleas first infected the rats, which lived off garbage and sewage. The rats then spread the infection to the humans. Rats were a common sight in the cities, due to the poor sanitary conditions, so no one suspected them (www.tartans.com). In the winter the plague seemed to disappear, but only because fleas were dormant then. Each spring, the plague attacked again, killing new victims (www.byu.edu). The effects of the plague were devastating. After just five years, twenty-five million people were dead - one third of Europe's population. Once people were infected they infected others very rapidly. As a result, in order to avoid the disease, many fled to the countryside where the lower population density helped to decrease the speed at which the disease spread (www.tartans.com). From a person's time of infection to his or her death was less than one week (www.home.nycap.rr.com). The plague became known as "The Black Death" because of the discoloration of the skin and black enlarged lymph nodes that appeared on the second day of contracting the disease. The term "The Black Death" was not invented until after 1800. Contemporaries called it "the pestilence" (Cantor 7).
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
Thru our History there has had a numerous of unforgettable moments that left scars in the nations society. One of most memorable tragedies took place in 1793, the epidemic of the Yellow Fever. At the time of the spread of the disease, no one imagined that the Delaware River, who provided Philadelphia with goods and wealth, was going to turn its back on the citizens and provide them with death and sorrows. Yellow Fever was a disease that was carried by a mosquito, its microscopic bite gave the victims a numerous of horrifying symptoms. It was so drastic that doctors of that time had no idea how to treat it, and the decisions that a medical professional took was not the smartest one. Until this day,
Yellow Fever is a disease that is transmitted by infected mosquitos from person to person that is typically found in tropical and subtropical areas such as South America and Africa. Currently in Brazil, a Yellow Fever outbreak is one of the worst the country has ever seen. The disease is spreading rapidly in large cities such as Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. This rapid spread of Yellow Fever is threatening to become Brazil’s first epidemic since 1942. In order to prevent this epidemic, health officials are attempting to vaccinate 95 percent of the population in 77 cities across Brazil that are at risk for the spread of Yellow Fever, totaling approximately 23 million people.