Essay On Bubonic Plague

By the time the plague began to decline in the 1400s, half of Europe’s population had perished from the effects of the plague (document 9). The following essay will explain why the Bubonic Plague was so devastating to European society because of how quickly the disease would spread, the passing of millions of people, and the lack of treatment and physicians. To begin with, not only had the Plague kill millions of people, but it affected families as well. The death of many loved ones caused family relationships to go downhill.

The 1300s Bubonic Plague, also known as The Black Death was the greatest epidemic known to mankind. This Plague started in 1347 and proceeded up until 1351, executing an estimated amount of 25 million individuals. It was relatively difficult to keep one from catching this infectious disease. The virus traveled not only through inflicted flea bites, but it was airborne as well. Attacking the rich, the poor, newborns and elders, everybody was an easy target. I firmly believe that the 1300s Bubonic Plague changed the way of world history.

The bubonic plague is a bacterial disease that is considered one of the most lethal in history. Recorded pandemics of the plague reach back to 541 A.D. and minor epidemics can still be found around the world (Plague). The plague consists of a bacterium called Yersinia pestis. This bacterium has the ability to mutate quickly and can easily destroy the immune system of the infected person, “it does this by injecting toxins into defense cells such as macrophages that are tasked with detecting bacterial infections. Once these cells are knocked out, the bacteria can multiply unhindered.” (Plague) The bubonic plague has a number of symptoms ranging from a headache to seizures. The most distinguishable

75 to 200 million people died from the Bubonic Plague it was estimated about 2\3 of the European population died. Bubonic Plague hurts the Immune system by attacking an invading it. The only way to stop the Bubonic plague is by antibiotics and prescription drugs that destroy the virus. If not treated it will enter the bloodstream and attacks the lungs. Which could give the body Pneumonic plague which is deadly and the Pneumonic plague will give people hepatitis which will give the body fatigue and muscle weakness. The cells in the body system fights off bad pathogens. It keeps the body from getting infected with viruses and diseases like the flu. The Bubonic plague entered the Immune System by changing it form to disguise itself so it will let it in when it is in the Immune System. It attacks by shutting it down and kills cells inside. So the body cannot fight it off. Then it enters the bloodstream and without the immune system it cannot be stopped because the immune system fights off the virus. And without it fighting off viruses the body is prone to any diseases and viruses like the t cell which keeps the flu virus away from the body. And the Bubonic plague kills the t cell which now it is prone to the flu. And it also attacks the b cell which makes antibodies which helps the body become healthier and safer.

The Black Death started off as a mysterious disease that started near the Black Sea in southern Ukraine. The victims of this disease suffered from headaches, staggered when they walked, and felt weak and tired. On the 3rd day of having this disease, your lymph nodes would begin to swell. This swelling became known as buboes, from the Greek word boubon, which means groin. This then gave this disease it 's official name: The Bubonic Plague. Victims would begin to bleed and usually died in the 5th day.

The plague was a catastrophic time in history, and happened more than once. It took millions and millions of people’s lives. It destroyed cities and countries, and many people suffered from it.

Why was the Bubonic Plague (Black Death) so Devastating to European Society? The Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the Black Death, was a huge epidemic in the mid-1300s. It killed off about 20 million Europeans within 1348 and 1351and was thought to originate from China and move westwards through means of infected fleas and rats through shipping and trade (Document 1).

The Bubonic Plague was an epidemic which tore through a developing and growing Europe. The lasting impact included the onset of the Dark Ages. The reasons why the Bubonic Plague was so devastating to European society include low sanitation quality, the continuing decline of public morale and the overall large number of lives lost. Each individual factor continued to depress the city allowing the plague to take complete advantage.

In the early 14th century, a terrible catastrophe fell upon Asia and Europe, the middle east and north Africa, that would change the course of history. The Black Death or Bubonic Plague was an outbreak of disease that killed one third of the European population in the period 1347-1350. It had a similarly devastating effect on nearby regions. The epidemic was caused by rats, which carried a bacterium. They in turn carried fleas which fed from their blood. When this source died, the fleas would jump onto a person and feed from their

When Bubonic Plague visited England in 1348, it was called the Great Mortality. We know it as the Black Death that lasted until 1352 and killed vast populations in Asia , North Africa , Europe , Iceland , and Greenland . In total, it extinguished as much as fifty percent of the world's population.

The first symptoms of the bubonic plague are headache, vomiting, nausea, aching joints and a feeling of ill health. The lymph nodes of the groin or of the armpit or neck suddenly start to become swollen and painful. The pulse and respiration rate of a bubonic plague victim is increased, and the victim will become listless and exhausted. The buboes will swell until they are approximately the size of a chicken egg. If a case is nonfatal than the temperature will begin to fall in about five days, and approaches normal in about two weeks, but in fatal cases death will probably occur within four days.

Have you ever wondered how The Bubonic Plague: Black Death got its name? When you have the disease, you get red spots on your skin and they later turn black. Also, the disease would attack parts of your lymph glands that are called buboes, that's where the word Bubonic came from; it was a very deadly disease. The plague started in China in the early 1330's. It started first in rodents only, and they carried it. They would then transfer it to fleas, which would in turn give it to humans through biting them. There were so many people who died, that they had to have mass graves for all the dead. The plaque went through Europe and left many families and people to flee their villages in fear of it. (themiddleages.net)

The pulse rate and respiration rate are increased, and the victim becomes exhausted and apathetic. The buboes swell until they approximate a chicken egg in size. In nonfatal cases, the temperature begins to fall in about five days, and approaches normal in about two weeks. In fatal cases, death results in about four days. In primary pneumonic plague, the sputum is at first slimy and tinted with blood; it later becomes free-flowing and bright red. Death occurs in most cases two or three days after the first appearance of symptoms. In primary septicemic plague, the victim has a sudden onset of high fever and turns deep purple in several hours, often dying within the same day that symptoms first develop. The purple color, which appears in all plague victims during their last hours, is due to respiratory failure; the popular name Black Death that is applied to the disease is derived from this symptom.

Bubonic plague is an infectious disease that is spread by the bacteria Yersinia pestis. These bacteria remain in a dormant state primarily in a rat flea’s foregut. Once the flea has bitten a victim it regurgitates the contents in its foregut into the bite location. Once the bacterium has entered into a mammal’s warm body it begins to reproduce and spread throughout the mammal’s body. The reproduction of this bacterium creates large painful swollen lymph nodes which are called buboes. Once these buboes get large enough they begin to ooze infected body fluid so that any contact between an infected person and a healthy person will facilitate the spread of this disease. (The Mayo Clinic Staff, 2012)

The Bubonic Plague and a variation called the septicemic plague was spread throughout Europe by oriental rats that carried infected fleas. Little is known to why the infection never seemed to affect the carrier rats. Infected fleas were being starved by the infection, so they began feasting upon the people they came into contact with. These fleas coming into contact with any human being would infect the human with the disease. These people were now carriers of the Bubonic plague or Black Death. These infected people would then spread the disease by coughing or coming into direct contact with another human being. However, this disease, since not being transmitted via rat would now be called the Pneumonic Plague. (www.insecta-inspecta.com).