The Plague Of Plagues : Smallpox

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The plague of plagues
With the major strides in medicine that have come about in the last few decades, the notion of a plague seems to be becoming less of a possibility and more a thing of antiquity. Around the latter half of the 20th century, doctors thought that disease as a whole would be eradicated with the new vaccinations and antibiotics that were being produced. For the first time in history it seemed as if diseases were under control. It was not long before the arrogance of modern medicine found new epidemics that were not so easily cured. To this day the only disease to be eradicated is smallpox, which was announced in the 1980s. Decades after achieving the eradication of small pox in nature, new pathogens like SARs, AIDS/HIV,…show more content…
During the initial infection, the infected are reported to experience a period of influenza-like symptoms, which are soon followed by an extended period of time without any visible anomalies. As the conditions of the infected person worsen, it causes more and more problems with the immune system. The complications plaguing the immune system makes it difficult for the immune system to effectively combat disease. This results in the infected person becoming more likely to get infections. HIV spreads primarily via sexual intercourse conducted without adequate protection. Other ways to contract the disease are: contaminated blood transfusions, hypodermic needles, and passing from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding.
The first documented case of HIV was in 1959. It is believed that HIV may have been spreading throughout the United States since 1966. Allegedly the spread of HIV and AIDS across the United States can be traced all the way back to an unnamed male who contracted the disease while in Haiti and brought it to the US. It did not take long for the disease to spread uncontrollably throughout the U.S, infamously throughout the homosexual community. In 1981, the initial cases of AIDS were a group of homosexual males with no recorded cases of impaired immunity who displayed symptoms of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, an uncommon infection that typically
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