The Influenza Epidemic

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.

Vaccination protects the spread of diseases around us. Getting vaccinated doesn’t only mean helping yourself, it means helping other people around you too. “The U.S. has seen 118 cases as of mid-May, compared with the 56 cases a year from 2001-2008” (Ropeik). This is important because it’s saying that the rate of vaccination is decreasing, which disease will be increasing. We shouldn’t let this continue because diseases would be spreading faster than ever. We should be alarmed and need to take action for our future and get vaccinated now. Getting vaccinated means protecting ourselves and our community. That’s the reason why vaccine were there in the first place, to

Take a good look. These are the effects of just some of dozens of infectious diseases we are dealing with today. Pretty gross isn’t it? Well here is the good news. These diseases are preventable. With the medical achievement of vaccinations, most viral infections have been significantly reduced if not completely eradicated. Everyone should get their vaccinations in order to protect both themselves and the people around them.

Polio, mumps, and diphtheria are a few of the diseases that have killed numerous amounts of people in the past. Yet, in today’s time, they are diseases people rarely hear about others dying from unless they are discussing the past. The reason for this is modern day vaccinations. Vaccinations are shots that help prevent against certain diseases. Vaccinations not only prevent diseases, but can also cause them to become nearly extinct in treated areas. One example of this would be the small pox vaccine, people were dying from this disease every day, and now you rarely, if ever, hear people talk about it. Although these vaccines are lifesaving, parents are becoming reluctant to provide these treatments for their children. For this reason, all children should be required to get particular vaccinations, unless they have certain medical conditions.

“Why should I get vaccinated? It is just a waste of time and money. I never got vaccinated before and never will.” That’s what one of my colleagues said when he was asked to get vaccinated during the outbreak of SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, few years ago in Mongolia. Then, I had reasoned him that disease comes all of a sudden and it is more serious than he thinks. As reported on CDC, Centers for Disease Control, 40 percent of all American parents were refusing one or more vaccines for their children (Willrich 3). So it is clearly one of the most significant public health issues today. There are lots of people who hold the belief against vaccination because of several reasons. Even though there is a public notion that vaccine

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.

The aftermath of this outbreak helped the world learn how to respond to deadly illnesses in an effective manor as well as moved the cause of science forward by striving to find a way to treat this disease. The event lead to the organizations responsible for controlling these outbreaks to grow and develop more proficient ways to battle the flu as well as many other sicknesses. Today, “international organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) provide leadership in global health matters. The WHO’s preparedness plans against influenza pandemics include six levels of pandemic alert, which determine the recommended actions it should take in conjunction with the international community, governments, and industry.6” This expansion has saved millions of lives as now flu vaccines are usually available in most communities as well as treatments for nearly every ailment known. Without these organizations influence the Swine Flu epidemic could have been much more devastating along with the hundreds of other disease that could have wiped out entire populations without the intervention of these groups. The government was also changed by this as they had

“The United States is on the verge of a public health crisis,” says Anthony Ciolli, a Juris Doctor (Ciolli). Communicable diseases are spreading quickly, because of lack of vaccinations due to religious and philosophical exemptions. In 2013, one hundred forty-five thousand, seven hundred (145,700) people died globally from measles alone, a preventable disease (“Measles”). Vaccines are beneficial to everyone, especially those who cannot be vaccinated but still contract the disease. A well-known medical journalist said, “Vaccines were responsible for stopping meningococcal disease outbreaks in the 1990s and early 2000s, and more recently, helped end the influenza pandemic in 2009” (Walkinshaw). Vaccines should be mandatory regardless of religious and philosophical objections, because they protect the world population as a whole from deadly diseases.

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

Prevention of a world wide outbreak lies within the education of what the virus is capable of

More people died from the flu than anything else. ´´Influenza viruses spread in tiny droplets caused by coughing and sneezing .´´ This is making it become a worldwide virus. However the people become infected with influenza by touching something that was contaminated with the virus influenza and touching their nose or mouth . Although most strains of influenza are harmless to wealthy individuals , the virus has the ability to mutate into harmful strains which may cause devastating epidemics .

Humanity, we as a whole are all aware and cautious about obvious illnesses and viruses that spread and how to avoid catching it with the right hygiene, flu shots, health care, etc, but how do we know we won't face a deadly pandemic like the one's humanity has faced throughout history and the 1918 pandemic. These viruses move around and adapt to any living thing it can find off of. Virus pandemics have left a huge amount of people dead and ill fro symptoms they faced from a small virus that started and spread in military camps in the US. Back then no one had acquired and immunity and care compared to our medicine and flu shots against almost every known virus that can be caught. We as a society are so careless when it comes to these things,

This disease is something you never want to face. We learned in “Silent Killer,” “In a single month, the flu killed 11,000 people in Philadelphia alone.” This caused the population of Philadelphia to drop a lot and it was all because of pandemics. In the text, “International Outbreak” it said, “It killed 280 of 318 people stricken.” The odds were not in people’s favor who caught the

Now, many once-forgotten diseases are reappearing. TIME Magazine reported that “In 2014, the U.S. experienced a major outbreak of measles that totaled 383 cases and was primarily spreading among an unvaccinated Amish community in Ohio.” (Measles Outbreak) The number of cases of these diseases is going up when it can be easily prevented. Worldwide, “Measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children even though a safe and cost-effective vaccine is available.” (World Health

The world has experienced a total of four pandemics within the twentieth century. These pandemics, as horrific and deadly as they are, have brought so much more positive advances to our health care system and how we prepare for biological threats. Although we are in the twenty-first century and we have advanced so far in healthcare, there is still the possibility of a deadly pandemic.