Social Development, Political Development And Scientific Development

Throughout the history, influenza viruses have caused several pandemics or global epidemics, killing many people. For example, the influenza strike in 1918 to 1919 infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide, which is one-third of the planet’s population at the time and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million people. More than 25 percentage of the U.S. population were affected, and caused 675,000 deaths in U.S during the pandemic.(History, 2015). There were no effective treatments for this type of influenza and no available vaccines can prevent its spread during the period. (History, 2015) U.S government required general population to wear masks and other protective equipments in public areas, and many public places also closed due to the influenza strike. Health care providers tried everything they knew to save people, but none shows any evidence of effects. (National Center for Biotechnology Information [NCBI], 2015). Scientists found out that the influenza virus had invaded their lungs and caused pneumonia, which made so many people died from the pandemic (History,2015). Another influenza strike happened

In this essay I am going to talk the patterns and trends of health and ill health among different social groupings. I will talk about each pattern and trend in its own paragraph, Social class, Gender, Ethnicity, Age and Geographical location. I will talk about the links between these to health issues. I will back these up through the use of evidence such as statistics. I will then conclude what I have found out. Firstly I will talk about each pattern and trend.

Infectious epidemics and pandemics have happened all through mankind's history. “They remain the prime cause of death worldwide and will not be conquered during our lifetimes.” The flu of 1918 was one of the deadliest epidemics in history. “It infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide–about one-third of the planet’s population at the time–and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims. More than 25 percent of the U.S. population became sick, and some 675,000 Americans died during the pandemic.” No one knew how the virus spread, there were no antibiotics to fight it, and no flu shots to prevent it. In the final year of World War I, it struck terror in the hearts of people all across Europe and left more death in its wake than the combined military actions of the combatants. “It killed more Americans in a few months than World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the

As a result, the burden placed on the health care system is significantly reduced. Therefore, people at a high risk of contracting influenza should seriously consider being vaccinated. Evidence suggests that educating high-risk people about the influenza vaccine is worthwhile. For example, during the influenza season of 2000-2001, 70% of adults 65 years of age and older received the flu shot. This suggests

Walking down any given street in the year 1918 between the months of June and December, one would take notice of coffins lining the sidewalks. Nobody was on the streets, and dead bodies were stuffed into every available space. The Flu Epidemic of 1918 not only was the most devastating event of the twentieth century, but propelled the United States to search for a vaccine that has not yet been found, causing concern that the flu will strike again.

An epidemic as powerful and fatal as the Influenza outbreak of 1918, is horrific to hear about let alone to think about the possibilities of such an outbreak occurring again. Since the time period of the first outbreak, there has been countless new discoveries for vaccines and precautions against illnesses like this. If such an outbreak was to occur again, there is no doubt that it would be just as horrible, and difficult to deal with. However, I also do believe that the epidemic would not harmfully affect myself and others, if contracted as terribly as it did back in Philadelphia in 1918; due to the fact that scientists, physicians, and other medical personnel are now more educated and equipped with the proper equipment, medicine, and knowledge to fight this than there were back during that time.

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.

In recent years encouragement to get flu shots has become a yearly mantra. Elderly, children six months to two years, health care workers and immune-deficient people are urged in the strongest terms to go to their doctors or clinics and get a flu shot. This group encompasses about 98 million people. In the fall of 2004 this was in the forefront of American and to some extent the Western World media with the shortage of this flu seasons vaccine. Current medical wisdom states that flu shots are safe, effective and prevent mortality. A recent study published by The Journal of the American Medicine Association (JAMA) has brought the current wisdom into question. On February 14, 2005 JAMA

The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 impacted places throughout the world both negatively and positively. Often the reason for the major spread of pestilence was due to transportation of goods and people. This pandemic infected people worldwide, killing millions. Overall people responded to the pandemic in different ways through commitment to the task, consulting religion, avoiding contact with others, and the effort to raise public health awareness.

Each year 6-20% of U.S. residents are infected by influenza and more than 200,000 people are hospitalized due to complications (Klepser, Corn, Schmidt, Dering-Anderson, & Klepser, 2015). Influenza has a huge impact on not only the health of our nation, but economically, as well. Studies show that the single most effective way to prevent the spread of influenza is to vaccinate. The CDC recommends that all children over 6 months old to be vaccinated against influenza yearly (CDC, n.d.). Seldom have there been medical advancements that have impacted the health of billions of people. One such important medical advancement is the invention of vaccines. At the end of the 20th century, the CDC published its list of

What would later become one of the deadliest plagues the world had ever seen started innocuously enough in the spring of 1918 spreading through populations on both sides of the Atlantic. Remarkable for its highly infectious nature, the spring strain was relatively non-lethal, rarely killing infected individuals (Kolata, 1999). Thus little more than average attention was paid to the precursor of a virus that would eventually kill between twenty-one and one-hundred million individuals worldwide (Barry, 2004). Only after the fall wave of the 1918 influenza did it become a requirement to report cases of influenza thus information on this first wave is sporadic at best (Kolata, 1999). I will argue that the nature of this missing data combined

The United states faced one of the deadliest epidemics in US history from 1918-1919, killing nearly 675,000 americans. When it first started, it killed nearly half the US soldiers who fought in the war. By August of 1918, Philadelphia and Boston were already infected by influenza. Then by October 1919, influenza had killed nearly 200,000 americans.

This book titled Flu details the struggle of scientists searching for what in fact caused the 1918 Influenza epidemic and how to prevent another massive Flu outbreak. The 1918 Flu epidemic (also known as the Spanish Flu) which killed twenty to forty million people (about 3%-5% died) from every corner of the world. Unlike most flu strands which kill the extremes of the age spectrum, the flu in 1918 would kill males more than females, the very young, the very old, and surprisingly the healthy adults (between ages twenty to forty). Also, this strand would kill not just the ones living in undeveloped regions of the world, but also developed regions such as the United States where 25% of Americans were infected and 600,000 thousand died. The mortality

Avian influenza is a disease that has been wreaking havoc on human populations since the 16th century. With the recent outbreak in 1997 of a new H5N1 avian flu subtype, the world has begun preparing for a pandemic by looking upon its past affects. In the 20th Century, the world witnessed three pandemics in the years of 1918, 1957, and 1968. In 1918 no vaccine, antibiotic, or clear recognition of the disease was known. Killing over 40 million in less than a year, the H1N1 strain ingrained a deep and lasting fear of the virus throughout the world. Though 1957 and 1968 brought on milder pandemics, they still killed an estimated 3 million people and presented a new

In the spring of 1918, the first wave of one of the deadliest influenza pandemics began plaguing its victims (Peters, ix). Over the span of three lethal waves, the pandemic claimed approximately forty million victims, eradicating nearly twenty percent of the entire world’s population, or about one out of five individuals (Peters, ix). To make matters more dire, the ill-suited medical community was exceptionally unprepared for such a wide-scale pandemic: Doctors had very basic tools, knew little about diseases, and had no experience with vaccinations or prevention (Peters, 1-5; “The 1920s: Medicine and Health: Overview”, n.p.). People blindly faced the epidemic, relying on folk remedies such as consuming wine, drinking antiseptic, and