Mankind is accustomed to considering itself the creator of history, but with one glance at the past, it becomes obvious that this is not so - viruses and infections have shaped our culture, psychology, and economy no less than other factors. The difference between diseases of the past and the coronavirus pandemic is that the victims sometimes had no idea either about the causes of the disease or about the methods of prevention. Time Out picked up ten striking examples.
Justinian's Plague (541-750)The plague became the first pandemic in the history of mankind. Appearing most likely in Egypt, the Justinian plague on trade routes came to Constantinople, then to Africa, Europe, and Asia. Only in 2013, scientists came to the conclusion that the same plague bacillus became the causative agent of the disease, as in the case of bubonic plague. Symptoms of the disease were diverse: fever, nausea, sensitivity to light, and many others. The Byzantine empire was left almost without able-bodied citizens, handicraft and trade affairs were suspended, most of the survivors were buried - 66% of the population died in Constantinople. In subsequent years, Justinianova plague went to Europe, where, according to various estimates, it destroyed from 25 to 50 million people.
Black Death (1346-1353)The second pandemic exterminated from 30% to 60% of the population of Europe. In some cities, mortality reached 90% and there was not enough land to bury all the dead. The causes of mass illness are called protracted wars, droughts and rodent migration. Patients died in whole families for several days. Symptoms often included the appearance of black and blue spots on the skin, buboes, and carbuncles - doctors of that time advised refusal from intimate life, wine with spices and positive thoughts as prevention. The catastrophe left its mark on the future history of mankind: the positive consequences include the admission of women to medical activity and the increased requirements for organization and remuneration. In Russia, the plague also visited, destroying almost completely Smolensk, Pskov, and some other cities
Kokolitstli (1545-1548 and 1576-1578)The Spaniards, who first arrived in Mexico in the sixteenth century, brought not only progress but also deadly diseases to the local resident. The scariest was kokolitstli ("pestilence" in the Nahuatl language). The Spaniards themselves easily tolerated the disease, since, according to scientists, they were able to develop immunity - mortality among the Aztecs was 90%. In the years 1545-1548, 12-15 million people died from coccolictsli, in 1576-1578 another 2 million. The ancient Aztec civilization was virtually destroyed. Among the symptoms of the disease, doctors noted fever, headache, darkened tongue, cramps, nose, and ear bleeding. Scientists have not yet figured out the real cause of the disease: someone considers it a kind of hemorrhagic fever, someone sees the cause in the Salmonella bacterium - it was found in the remains of the dead.
Third Cholera Pandemic (1846-1860)This outbreak of cholera became the most massive mortality pandemic of the 19th century. The disease originated in India, from there spread to Asia, Europe, and the Russian Empire. In tsarist Russia, there were more victims than in other countries: 1,772,439 people fell ill and 690,160 died. The main cause of the disease was the neglect of clean water: toilets could be located near sources, and people could easily bathe in rivers polluted with feces. Only in 1854, the English doctor John Snow noticed the pattern between infection and water, which was used by the infected. On one of the streets of London, 500 people died in ten days, they all drank from one source, into which, as it turned out, water flowed from the cesspool of the house where a child had been ill with cholera shortly before.
Third plague pandemic (1855-1959)
This time the plague originated in the Chinese province of Yunnan, from where it spread to the whole world. In China and India alone, 12 million people became victims of the disease. This time, scientists had the opportunity to more effectively study the disease. By the end of the 19th century, the causative agent and carrier of the disease finally became known, and the plague ceased to be one of the most dangerous enemies of mankind: antibiotics work against the plague stick, and rats can be exterminated. The microorganism that causes the plague was named Yersinia pestis in honor of the French doctor who isolated him, Alexander Yersen.
The Spanish Woman (1918-1919)
In 18 months, the disease killed 90-100 million people. The difference between this virus is that it affects healthy, young people, while the flu is usually considered dangerous for the elderly, young and weak. The virus was named “Spanish" by accident - military censorship of the countries participating in World War I did not allow the press to talk about the pandemic, and neutral Spain did not have such restrictions. The history of the “Spanish woman” clearly shows the importance of effective state methods to combat the pandemic: in 1918, the Philadelphia authorities did not postpone the parade, which was aimed at raising money for warring compatriots, and two days later the city had 635 new cases of the disease, and Philadelphia became one of the American leaders in mortality from the Spanish flu.
Asian flu (1957)Most researchers believe the disease began in China. Thanks to the already advanced transportation system, Asian flu quickly spread to other countries: more than 70 thousand people died in the United States alone. In total, from two to four million people died from a new disease in the world according to various estimates. Asian influenza has been caused by a new subtype of virus A (H2N2). This influenza pandemic was one of three that happened in the 20th century, and the least fatal, as scientists quickly managed to get a vaccine. The public for a long time mistrusted the virus, and only after a detailed article by The Times did people begin to take measures. Symptoms were classic for the flu: fever, muscle pain, cough. Fatal cases have been associated with the development of pneumonia. The epidemic of typhus in the First World War (1918-1922)This infection is transmitted from a patient to a healthy person by an ordinary body louse, so the war, accompanied by unsanitary conditions, a lot of people living together and the lack of quality medical care was the beginning of the epidemic. Typhoid fever patients complain of back pain, fever, and chills, and after a few days, a pink rash appears on the body. On the western front, lice treatment stations were installed everywhere. In the east, such measures were not practiced, and among the Russian, Polish and Romanian soldiers, several million died of typhus. Typhus continued to haunt the Russians in the Civil War: more people died from it than from all military confrontations between the “white” and “red” - about three million people.
HIV's infection (1981-present)Presumably, humanity received HIV from monkeys in the 20th century. The widespread of the disease began in the 80s. In 1981, several articles appeared on the development of rare homosexual diseases in young homosexual men — pneumonitis pneumonia and Kaposi’s sarcoma — previously characteristic of completely different age and social groups. Initially, a false opinion was spread in society that only homosexuals and drug addicts were susceptible to the disease, in subsequent years it became obvious that any person could become infected through sexual contact or through blood; children can get the virus with breast milk. Without treatment, an infected person can live an average of 9-11 years; modern medicines can extend this period to 70-80 years.
Commentaires