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The Effects Of The Black Death In The Middle Ages

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Living through the Black Death in the Middle Ages was one of the most horrifying times to be alive. In this time period, Europe had a growing population (Marks, Olesky, Dunn, Rowling, & Tuchman, n.d.). When the Black death hit, no one had any knowledge on what to do or how to prevent the spread of the disease. The deadly disease arrived from the sea and was carried by rodent fleas infected with the bacterium Yersinia pestis. The infectious disease was very deadly and ended up killing one-third of Europe’s population (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017). Protecting yourself from the plague was very hard to do in Middle Ages. There were many different methods to protect yourself from the plague in the Middle Ages, however, not all of them were effective. The plague, if left untreated will only get worse and the Yersina bacteria will spread throughout the body. The first stage of the plague is bubonic. The bubonic plague infects the immune system and causes inflammation. The infection can also create painful buboes on the skin. The second stage is septicemic, the Yersina bacteria will enter the bloodstream and will start to multiply until the host dies. The bacteria at this point can also move into the lungs and cause pneumonic plague. The pneumonic plague is very deadly and once the bacteria is in the lungs it can be spread from person to person through coughing and inhaling the bacteria through air. During the middle ages, there was no treatment or a cure that

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