Sarah Dolitsky Help Received: Previous Artifacts,
Dr. Hinks Films, PowerPoints, & Class Notes
BI-245X-01
6 MAY 2019
Word Count: 958
Final Reflective Essay
Reflecting back on this semester of Epidemics and Society, I have come to realize the immense impact a society has on a disease and vice versa. Growing up I was slightly ignorant when it came to diseases, only knowing that I got vaccines to keep me healthy. The only infectious disease I can recall growing up was the H1N1 “swine flu” that terrified people. Since I was never directly affected by anything of this nature, I never realized the impact these diseases had on our society as a whole.
After taking Epidemics and Society I now know how truly fatal and contagious many of these infectious diseases are. For example, after writing artifact #3 (The Black Death: A Plague with No Mercy)concerning the “Black Plague,” I finally realized how extreme the amount of deaths were and how easily this disease was transmitted. In this artifact I wrote, “In 1346, the second known pandemic, The Black Plague, began and by the time it was through in 1353, 80-100 million people had been victim to it.” In addition to those immense numbers, I also learned the effect this plague had on society at the time. Since the culture in the 1300’s revolved around religion, people believed the plague was a result of impurity, so they began to clean their act up, removing all prostitutes and watching their word choice for cuss words. This shows the direct effect the infectious disease had on a society as a whole.
An example of the alternative relationship, a society’s effect on an infectious disease, artifact #6 (The Killing Potatoes & a Current Attempt to Fight it with Technology), demonstrated how a common cultural tendency lead to an infectious outbreak. Due to a large increase in the Irish population in the 1700’s and 1800’s, food supply became a large problem. The Irish began to depend on potatoes as their primary source of food and nutrients. Therefore, when a blight infected a large majority of the potatoes, the disease rapidly infected the Irish population. Due to their cultural dependency on potatoes, this infectious disease was effectively able to spread amongst many people with ease. Furthermore, I learned through this artifact that some infectious diseases can pave way for other diseases to flourish as well. In this artifact I stated, “Another major consequence of the potato blight aside from starvation and malnutrition, were that those that were already malnourished became more vulnerable to other diseases such as Measles, diarrhea, TB, and Cholera.”
Another strong example of society’s direct effect on the spreading of a disease can be found in artifact #8 (Deadly Cholera: Contaminated Water that Results in Rice Water). In this artifact I wrote, “Dating to before the first pandemic, an endemic of the disease is known to have been associated in India and traced to crowds in the river Ganges. The disease spread from India to other countries when British war ships entering and leaving India spread it elsewhere in 1816. This spread of cholera lead to the first pandemic of it. In addition to British troop spreading cholera elsewhere, trade routes allowed cholera to be transmitted to China, Japan, the Philippines, Persian Gulf, Africa, and Central Asia.” There are many examples of societal influence on cholera in this quoted section. For one, crowded rivers in India were due to the fact that populations were heavy and water resources were not. Another societal factor that is often forgotten is the impact of war and trade. Soldiers, as well as traders, traveling from country to country, makes it easy for them to contract a disease that may be centralized in one area and assist the disease in spreading to wherever they travel next. Furthermore, currently cholera is an issue in Africa because of how impoverished and deficient they are in water resources. Since their culture is so poor, they do not have the proper funds for water sanitation and therefore they’re forced to drink horribly infected water. Through this unfortunate cultural deficiency, the infectious disease of cholera is able to disperse throughout the African population.
On a more optimistic note, a way in which society has successfully taken a stand in attempting to fight these infectious diseases can be seen through the abundance of vaccines. For example, in artifact #4 (Smallpox: Quack Treatments as Well as Effective Treatments), a very successful vaccine was developed eventually. Initially, medical professionals, as well as ordinary citizens, turned to any possible method for a cure such as: bloodlettings, leeches, fasting, laxatives, heat therapy, and cold therapy. Although none of these early remedies were ever proven to work, they paved the way for interest and attempt in stopping the spread of smallpox. Eventually, Edward Jenner discovered a vaccine for smallpox in 1796 and began to administer it to whoever was interested. Socially, the vaccine received backlash from people claiming it to interfere with God’s plan as well as uncertainty regarding its safety. However, people eventually started to see the positive effects it had against the disease and vaccinating became more popular.
This is relevant in today’s society with vaccines of this nature because there is still some negative backlash against vaccines and uncertainties concerning them, however, medically we know as majority that they are extremely effective against diseases. After taking this course, I now have much further insight into the true effectiveness of vaccines as well as the fatality and societal effect both towards and from infectious diseases. I was able to learn both: how diseases can affect a culture, such as with the black plague causing fear for a society to purify and change how they act; and, how a culture can affect a disease, such as the Irish contracting the potato blight due to their dependence on potatoes.