Comparing the AIDS Epidemic and The Plague The destruction and devastation caused by the 'Black Death' of the Middle Ages was a phenomenon left to wonder at in text books of historical Europe. An unstoppable plague swept the continent taking as much as eighty percent of the European population along with it (Forsyth). Today the world is plagued with a similar deadly disease. The AIDS epidemic continues to be incurable. In an essay written by David Herlihy, entitled 'Bubonic Plague: Historical Epidemiology and the Medical Problems,' the historic bubonic plague is compared with the current AIDS epidemic of today. According to his research, AIDS will probably prove to be the plague of the millennium (Herlihy p. 18). If one compares the epidemiology and social impact of these diseases they prove to be quite similar. The current AIDS epidemic has the potential to be the most dangerous and destructive plague of the millennium. No one knows exactly how the AIDS virus erupted. However, one presently dominant theory states that AIDS originated from monkeys in Africa that transmitted the HIV virus to humans through bites (Forsyth). As people migrated it reached Haiti and then spread to America (Clark p. 65). The bubonic plague, too, was a spontaneous epidemic. The Black Death occurred because a bacillus was carried by fleas that fed off the blood of humans and transmitted the deadly bacillus in the process (Packer). It began in China and spread by migration throughout all of Europe and even America (Forsyth). Efforts to contain both diseases were entirely unsuccessful. AIDS is now an international problem as was the bubonic plague. Like the bubonic plague did in the Middle Ages, AIDS is spreading at an alarming rate. In 1994 seventeen million people around the world were infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS, and four million had developed the disease (Packer). It is estimated that by the year 2000 more than forty million people, ninety percent in developing countries will be infected (Packer). The Black Death of the Middle Ages exterminated a third of the population of Europe in just four years. Also, like the bubonic plague, AIDS was once only found among certain delineated social groups: (Herlihy p. 18) drug abusers and homosexuals in this country and in prostitutes and their contacts in Africa. Due to the early epidemiology of AIDS cases, it was believed that only certain populations in specific areas were infected. Aids may have started out in small communities, but it spread quickly and widely.
Carl Zimmer the guest speaker of this broadcast states that in 1981 doctors described for the first time a new disease, a new syndrome which affected mostly homosexual men. The young men in Los Angeles were dying and the number of cases was growing faster and faster. The number of deaths was increasing from eighty to six hundred and twenty five in just the first few months. After the first few cases in LA, AIDS was declared to be one of the deadliest pandemics the world had ever seen after the plague in the Middle Ages.
Swenson, Robert. “Plagues, History, and AIDS.” American Scholar 57.2 (1988): 183-200. Academic Journal. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.
In the 1300’s, there was an outbreak of a disease known as the Black Death that engulfed all of Europe. This sickness, also know as the Bubonic Plague, rampaged throughout Europe killing over a third of the population. A bacteria known as Yersinia pestis caused the disease. The bacteria, originating in fleas, spread to rats and then to people. Black Death was spread from trade throughout Europe. The large cities were affected first, and then it spread to the less dense and populated surrounding areas. The mortality rate in large cities was near fifty percent of the population, while in more rural areas the rate was lower. This lasting effects of this disease changed Europe both socially and economically. The bubonic plague triggered a loss of faith and generated negative feelings towards the church, but positively affected the masses by creating opportunities that they didn’t have in the past.
When the black death mysteriously and suddenly hit Europe, it spread at an unbelievable speed leaving almost no city untouched. The citizens of fourteenth century Europe were unsure of how to cope with half the population being wiped out in such a short time span. What had caused this “great mortality”? Who was really to blame for their suffering? How were they to overcome it? While being overwhelmed with sickness and a number of dilemmas stemming from it, many societies became weak and eventually fell apart.
In the years 1331 to 1350 all of Europe broke out in an epidemic, called the Black Death. This terrible sickness murdered about one third of all the people in Europe, it spread, and killed quickly. People’s lives were changed drastically; they were scared to go outside in fear of catching the gross disease. The Black Death spread rapidly through Europe having significant impacts on society.
...ant events in the entirety of the history of Europe. The confusion and devastating effects of the plague on the people in Europe was the cause of a mass questioning of the effectiveness of religious authority leaders and ineffective attempts made by political authority leaders to inhibit the social growth of the lower class, a dramatic shift in the division of wealth in European society, and increased persecution and discrimination of Jews and other outlying groups in society. The Black Death was a very unexpected outbreak of disease in medieval Europe. Our modern society is still plagued by outbreaks of diseases, such as HIV and AIDS, Swine Flu [H1N1] and Bird Flu, [H7N9] so we must take in consideration the devastating mass effect this epidemic had on the people of the 14th century and be prepared should an epidemic similar in scale and proportion happen again.
The Bubonic Plague, or Black Death, was one of the most tragic pandemics in history. This disease is caused by the bacteria yersinia pestis which is found in rodents and fleas. Due to the medical advances that are available today, the bubonic plague is extremely rare. Other diseases that were spread throughout this time period consisted of Malaria, Small Pox, and Typhoid. There was a widespread of disease outbreaks due to the lack of sanitation, medicine, and as they believed, astrology.
2) Moore, J. (2004). The puzzling origins of AIDS: Although no one explanation has been universally accepted, four rival theories provide some important lesson. American Scientist, 92(6), 540-547. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/stable/27858482
The AIDS virus was a major turning point in world history. Contrary to popular belief, if a person gives blood to or recieves blood from a hospital or blood bank that person will not risk transmitting HIV, a.k.a. human immunodeficiency virus and that person does not risk transmitting AIDS, a.k.a. acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. In addition, “It is now generally accepted that HIV is a descendent of a Simian Immunodeficiency Virus because certain strains of SIVs bear a very close resemblance to HIV-1 and HIV-2, the two types of HIV” (AIDS Doctors).
“The 16th International Conference on AIDS: Will It Leave a Legacy?” National Library of Medicine. 19 Sept. 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2015. . The AIDS 2014 conference co-chairs reflect on the challenges and successes of the conference, highlighting sessions on microbicides and preventive vaccines, key concepts and progress regarding the design and conduct of clinical trials, and sessions on pre-exposure prophylaxis. The authors note that HIV transmission might be counterproductive because it overstates the risks, creates a false sense that HIV is someone else’s problem, provides further incentive for people to avoid learning their HIV status, and discourages HIV-positive people from accessing HIV-prevention resources. Although scientists try to come up with new solutions and treatments for AIDS, it is still a major problem in many parts of the world. Likewise, AIDS corresponds to disease associated with poverty, such as malaria, cholera, and tuberculosis because both diseases still persist, especially in North America and Europe. Rampant urbanization and overcrowding in the 1700s and 1800s caused massive outbreaks of cholera and tuberculosis. Although science played a significant role in the nineteenth century’s medical breakthroughs, living conditions, including overcrowding, air pollution, and unprotected water supplies, worsen the severity of cholera and tuberculosis. The modern age brought a better understanding of diseases, but it also gave rise to much greater global mobility, speeding up the widespread outbreak of epidemics and pandemics. Even today, AIDS and diseases such as tuberculosis and cholera spread easily through faster transportation, industrialization, and rapid
Cervo, Nathan A. "Camus' 'The Plague'." The Explicator 62.3 (2004): 169+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. http://liboc.tctc.edu:2058/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA116672803&v=2.1&u=tricotec_main&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w
HIV/AIDS is a very new disease discovered only 30 years ago. No one knows for sure how the disease came to be, but the fact that is extremely deadly (in fact one of the leading causes of death worldwide) cannot be disputed. Since signs and symptoms of HIV are pretty much invisible at first, it is nearly impossible to know when and where HIV first started. The pandemic began in the 1970s when it spread to five continents; North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia. There was a, “period of silence” during this time because people were afraid to say that they had contracted this new virus and were not aware of its severity. Due to this period of silence it is said that anywhere from 100,000-300,000 people become infected from 1970-1980. HIV transmission can occur in three ways: sexual transmission, transmission through blood and mother to child transmission (avert.org). Since the means in which the disease is spread are very complex, it became clear very shortly after the disease was recognized that something needed to be done at a global level.
Aids was actually discovered 1981. America was the first country to realize a new illness that was found among gay men. The cause of aids was said to be originated from Africa and was caused by a chimpanzee in West Africa that carried this disease. Scientists who study Aids believe that Aids carried into humans when humans would hunt these animals for meat and came in contact with their infected blood. Therefore, spreading Aids all throughout Africa and spreading further into the world. However, there is another version to how this started. USA was actually the first country to bring aids out into the public. This disease was later known as HIV which stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus and has no cure.
In 1981, a new fatal, infectious disease was diagnosed--AIDS (Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome). It began in major cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco. People, mostly homosexual men and intravenous drug users, were dying from very rare lung infections or from a cancer known as Kaposi’s sarcoma. They have not seen people getting these diseases in numerous years. Soon, it also affected hemophiliacs, blood recipients, prostitutes and their customers, and babies born from AIDS-infected women. AIDS was soon recognized as a worldwide health emergency, and as a fatal disease with no known cure, that quickly became an epidemic. When high-profile victims began to contract the virus, such as basketball star Magic Johnson, the feeling spread quickly that anyone, not just particular groups of people, could be at risk. AIDS impairs the human body’s immune system and leaves the victim susceptible to various infections. With new research, scientists think that the disease was first contracted through a certain type of green monkey in Africa, then somehow mutated into a virus that a human could get. AIDS is a complicated illness that may involve several phases. It is caused by a virus that can be passed from person to person. This virus is called HIV, or Human Immuno-deficiency Virus. In order for HIV to become full-blown AIDS, your T-cell count (number of a special type of white-blood cells that fight off diseases) has to drop below 200, or you have to get one of the symptoms of an AIDS-induced infection.
J. Segal and Dr. L. Segal outline their theory that AIDS is a man-made disease,