Leishmaniasis
"The Sting of The Sand Fly"
By Jared Yeazell
Admittedly, since the beginning of time, disease has played a drastic role in the history of society. It has affected economic conditions, wars, and natural disasters. The impact of any disease can be far greater than some far better known catastrophes. In 1918, an epidemic of influenza swept the globe, killing between 20 million and 40 million people. Within a few months, more than 500,000 Americans had died. This is a number far greater than the number of people killed during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War
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Physicians in the Indian subcontinent would describe it as Kala-Azar. More recently, evidence of the cutaneous form of the disease was found in the Ecuador and Peru in the pre-Inca potteries depicting king lesions and deformed faces dating back to the first century AD. Additionally, 15th and 16th century texts from the Inca period and from the Spanish colonial mention "Valley Sickness," "Andean Sickness," or "White Leprosy" which are likely to be Cutaneous Leishmaniasis.
Following this a little further, Leishmaniasis is usually transmitted in many tropical and subtropical countries, and is found in certain parts of about 88 countries. Currently, approximately 350 million people are living in these areas. It affects as many as 12 million people worldwide, with around 2 million new cases each year. Leishmaniasis is also found through much of the Americas from northern Argentina to southern Texas, though not in Uruguay or Chile, and has recently been shown to be spreading to north Texas. During 2004, it is estimated that around 3,400 Colombian troops, operating in the jungles near the south of the country, were infected with Leishmaniasis. Within Afghanistan, Leishmaniasis occurs commonly due to bad sanitations and waste left uncollected in the streets. Additionally, Leishmaniasis has been reported by U.S. troops stationed in Saudi Arabia and Iraq since the Gulf War of 1990. Also, in some areas of southern Europe, Leishmaniasis is becoming an
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.
Syphilis is a rare sexually transmitted disease that causes serious health problems and complications if left untreated. This disease has stages and many symptoms. Both genders can contract it, but it can be cured and certainly prevented.
The worst pandemic in human history took place between the 14th and the 19th century. However it would peak between the years of 1348 to 1350 It caused over 25 million deaths and reduced 1/3 of Europe’s population. It was even known to wipe out entire cities and even kill so many people that there was no one to even bury the bodies. This pandemic was known as the Black Plague. This plague was a huge part of history that would lead to the changes of religion, culture, economics, and politics. The black plague is known for causing a huge impact on Europe however that’s not where the disease originated from. (Haensch)
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.
Diseases have always been a threat to humans, all throughout history. One of the most destructive disease outbreaks in history was the plague outbreak which peaked in 1346 to 1353, in Europe, commonly known as the Black Death. This plague outbreak was extremely deadly and killed 30-60% of the European population at the time of the outbreak. The outbreak is commonly believed to have been caused by the bubonic plague, but modern evidence suggests that the Black Death was caused by pneumonic plague, a much more contagious and deadly infection.
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
Although populations in ancient societies suffered attacks, invasions, starvation, and persecution, there was a more efficient killer that exterminated countless people. The most dreaded killers in the ancient world were disease, infections and epidemics. In many major wars the main peril was not gunfire, nor assault, but the easily communicable diseases that rapidly wiped out whole divisions of closely quartered soldiers. Until the time of Hippocrates, in the struggle between life and death, it was, more often than not, death that prevailed when a malady was involved. In the modern world, although illness is still a concern, advances in thought and technique have led to the highest birth rates in recorded history. No longer is a fever a
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.
Then, in the fall of 1918, influenza struck. People everywhere fell victim to the Spanish flu, dying of uncontrollable hemorrhaging that filled the lungs and caused the patients to drown (Crane 1). Estimates say that approximately 20 to 40 percent of the world’s population became ill, and the worldwide death toll was around 20 to 40 million (“NVPO” 2). Around 675,000 people died in America alone (Crane 5). The Spanish flu struck quickly; you could feel well in the morning, get sick by noon, and be dead by nightfall (“NVPO” 2). The doctors were unable to cure the Spanish flu, so the people resorted to superstitious practices, such as wearing a
Malaria (also called biduoterian fever, blackwater fever, falciparum malaria, plasmodium, Quartan malaria, and tertian malaria) is one of the most infectious and most common diseases in the world. This serious, sometimes-fatal disease is caused by a parasite that is carried by a certain species of mosquito called the Anopheles. It claims more lives every year than any other transmissible disease except tuberculosis. Every year, five hundred million adults and children (around nine percent of the world’s population) contract the disease and of these, one hundred million people die. Children are more susceptible to the disease than adults, and in Africa, where ninety percent of the world’s cases occur and where eighty percent of the cases
Smallpox is known as a deadly disease usually bringing its uprising back in the early 70's. In 1973 a young child in Bangladesh caught an unknown disease. Scientist worked hard on the kid and found a regular vaccine to it but it was too late a group of food donors that worked in the U.S brought the disease back home.The U.S went on national alert trying to vaccinate anyone they could.So the uprising came.
Many historians call the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 the deadliest disease outbreak of all time. As many as 100 million people were killed as a direct result of this disease (Taubenberger 1). The Great Pandemic affected everyone, the prosperous and the poor, developed and underdeveloped nations. Entire villages in Alaska were wiped out because of the viral disease (Public Health Service). The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 was caused by World War One, a high volume of immigration, and poor sanitary conditions.
Malaria or other similar diseases like malaria has been recognized and encountered by humans for more than 4,000 years. Malaria is caused by the genus Plasmodium parasites, which enter the human body and are transmitted to people through the bite of a mosquito infected with the parasite (Q&A, Malaria). Once the parasite enters the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver and then infect red blood cells. The malaria parasite was first discovered on November 6, 1880, by a French army surgeon named Charles Louis Al phonse Laveran. While stationed in
Leishmaniasis is a parasitic infection that effects 15 to 20 million people globally each year. It is mainly found in the Tropics, Subtropics, and Southern Europe. Most infections are the result of the bite of an infected female sandfly, but it can also be delivered in vitro or by the use of contaminated needles.