mutated so significantly that the immune system was not prepared to fight it. (Peters 4). Concluding that this virus had mutated to become a different strain, scientists also understood that the pathogens adapted to the immune system and were immune to its defenses so they could attack with without causing harm. This was probably the reason why it spread so quickly; there was little struggle for the virus to attack. Besides the mystery and severity, the main obstacle, after the pandemic deflated, was the fact that there was little significant evidence to study the virus, most victims were now buried and decomposed. It seemed as though there was no chance of finding any evidence of why this virus was so deadly. However, in 1997, …show more content…
Taubenburger compared the 1918 influenza virus with the normal flu virus. He found the key difference which was a mutation in the genetic code. With those differences, he was able to weaken the virus and create a vaccine for it. That weakened virus was not exact the ingredient to the vaccine formula but allowed Dr.
Taubenburger and may other scientists to create a recipe for viruses to come. There is finally relief of the horrors brought from the 1918 pandemic. Many lives suffered through two years of a deadly virus that no one would speak of. The virus was
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The thousands of deaths could perhaps now be known as thankful sacrifices. Because of these findings, scientists have a better idea of how to
Witucki !8 approach an arising virus and will never allow another pandemic become as deadly as their model. At first glance of the influenza virus, most people would probably feel slight sympathy and continue on with their day. It is only natural to think so considering the eye that reads of the pandemic do not see any relation to it today. However, that eye is merely covered in a blind of lacked knowledge. Although it occurred almost one hundred years ago, the world should still care for it today. These oblivious visuals do not comprehend the reality of it: the virus is still all around us and has found a way to incorporate itself through many pandemics that the modern age has experienced. Through the findings of the lungs, the world today has now been able to understand how the virus was able to be transmitted from one person to the next. Viruses cannot simply transmit themselves to one person at will. They need special genes to be able to unlock the cell and one of the specific Hemagglutinin genes, also known as the key to the cell. Once it has the correct
In two years between 1918 and 1919, A pandemic of influenza swept mercilessly over the planet, killing millions which stood in its path. Miraculously, the exact origin of the pandemic is unclear. What is exceedingly clear, however, is that often the actions of man aided in the spread of the virus, whether due to inadvertent endangerment, close quarters, religious principles, or failure to recognize the true threat that influenza posed.
The book “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, written by John M. Barry, covers the progression of the Spanish influenza, especially in the United States. Barry focuses not only on the influenza itself, though, but also on the social influences that allowed the virus to flourish. The book covers how medical practices in the United States had risen up just in time to combat the virus, but, due to societal issues and the war, the doctors struggled in areas where they should have been successful.
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.
Viruses, Plagues, and History, written by Michael Oldstone, is an insightful and highly educational book that details the history of, that’s right, viruses and plagues. Through typically dry, yet engaging prose, Oldstone recounts what seems like all of it while simultaneously bringing to light the contributions of those brave scientists who asked themselves, “why.” He focuses his attention on some of the most notable viruses such as smallpox, yellow fever, measles, polio, and later he focuses on more contemporary battles against disease.
In the early 1900’s medicine was making some steps closer into some great improvements for health and better understanding of the human body. Doctors with sufficient knowledge of the human body and cures for diseases and viruses were scarce. People were much more concerned with government and politics, than health and medicine, until one of the greatest and most grotesque lethal pandemics that’s struck the earth in human history. This pandemic the “Spanish Flu” spread so rapidly and had an extremely high mortality rate. This was caused by the close contact of humans and poor cleanliness and sanitation, and the host (virus) and the body taking harsh action
The mutation of existing viruses, the spread of existing viruses from one host species to another, and the dissemination of a viral disease from a small, isolated population that can lead to widespread epidemics.
With lacking medical knowledge, people never really grasped the concept or the cause of this epidemic; therefore, they did not know what to do to help cure or stop the spread of it. “In spite of only sketchy medical knowledge, the epidemiology of the plague was fully understood by the 18th century. It took many years of research, after the fact, to finally comprehend all the ins
The book The Great Influenza by John Barry takes us back to arguably one of the greatest medical disasters in human history, the book focuses on the influenza pandemic which took place in the year 1918. The world was at war in the First World War and with everyone preoccupied with happenings in Europe and winning the war, the influenza pandemic struck when the human race was least ready and most distracted by happenings all over the world. In total the influenza pandemic killed over a hundred million people on a global scale, clearly more than most of the deadliest diseases in modern times. John Barry leaves little to imagination in his book as he gives a vivid description of the influenza pandemic of 1918 and exactly how this pandemic affected the human race. The book clearly outlines the human activities that more or less handed the human race to the influenza on a silver platter. “There was a war on, a war we had to win” (Barry, p.337). An element of focus in the book is the political happenings back at the time not only in the United States of America but also all over the world and how politicians playing politics set the way for perhaps the greatest pandemic in human history to massacre millions of people. The book also takes an evaluator look at the available medical installations and technological proficiencies and how the influenza pandemic has affected medicine all over the world.
pandemics: the Spanish flu of 1918, the Asian flu, the Hong Kong flu and the terror and
Contagion is a movie based on a deadly virus, MEV-1, which spreads around the world in a matter of days (Shamberg, Sher, Jacobs & Soderbergh, 2011). The premise is that the MEV-1 virus is spread person-to-person via airborne droplets produced by sneezes or coughs, as well as by viruses deposited on fomites, such as glasses, doorknobs, peanuts, and so on. The virus circles the globe in a matter of days, causing coughs, fevers and seizures as scientists from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) scramble to identify the pathogen and develop a vaccine. MEV-1 is presented to the audience as a pandemic. During a pandemic preserving the functionality of society is a priority (Gostin,
From the sequence scientists were able to determine that virus probably began its life in an animal then mutated before picking up the power to infect people.
Since the beginning, humanity has overcome diseases that could potentially wipe out the human race. From earliest forms diseases such as measles to modern day pandemics such as AIDS, mankind has survived throughout history. Though diseases have plagued society it was only after the outbreak of the HIV virus in 1981 that brought to attention the dangers of incurable diseases. Before this time, with World War I and II, and the Cold War, public fear was based on the potential chance of a nuclear destruction of the planet. Since the outbreak of the HIV in 1981, public anxiety has been displaced from nuclear winter to that of microbial plagues. The enemy was now no longer a visible foe but that of an unknown contagion with no knowable cure. Recently in 2009, with the outbreak of the Swine Flu (H1N1) Virus public alert of the dangers of contagions increased. Science Fiction films since the outbreak of HIV have reflected the public fear of the unknown and unbeatable contagions. Films such as Outbreak (1995), Contagion (2011) and the recent World War Z (2013) have shown audiences a creative window of possible outcomes of an epidemic and what man would do in order to stop the
“Only yesterday mankind lived in fear of the scourges of smallpox, cholera, and plague………….. Today we are concerned with a different kind of hazard that lurks in our environment—a hazard we ourselves have introduced into our world as our modern way of life has evolved.”
immune system keeps the virus inactive, but it is possible for the virus to reactivate and cause a