Reflective Essay
I learned so much in Epidemics and Society and it was the most interesting class I ever took because we learned all about the diseases that have changed our world and society. One of the deadliest diseases was the Black Death or Bubonic Plague. It ravaged Europe and in the end an estimated 75 million people died from their symptoms. It took several centuries for the world’s population to recover from the devastation of the plague, but some social changes were permanent. The disease existed in two varieties, one contracted by insect bite and another airborne. In both cases, victims rarely lasted more than three to four days between initial infection and death, a period of intense fever and vomiting during which their lymph nodes swelled uncontrollably up to the size of an orange or tennis ball and eventually burst. The plague bacteria had been started for hundreds of years before incubating again in the 1320s in the Gobi Desert of Asia, from which it spread quickly in the blood of fleas. It followed in the medieval trade routes from China, through Central Asia and Turkey. The plague reached Italy in 1347 aboard a merchant ship whose crew had already died or been infected by the time it reached port. The Black Death ravaged the continent for three years before it continued on into Russia, killing one-third to one-half of the entire population.
The origin of smallpox is unknown. Smallpox is thought to be around the 3rd century BCE based on a rash found on three mummies. It first appeared in China in the 4th Century CE and early written descriptions also appeared in India in the 7th century and in Asia Minor in the 10th century. Smallpox was a devastating disease. On average, 3 out of every 10 people who got it died. Those who survived were usually left with scars and they were sometimes severe. One of the first methods for controlling the spread of smallpox was the use of variolation. Variolation is the process by which material from smallpox sores was given to people who never had smallpox. This was done either by scratching the material into the arm or inhaling it through the nose. With both types of variolation, people usually went on to develop the symptoms associated with smallpox, such as fever and a rash. However, fewer people died from variolation than if they had acquired smallpox naturally. The basis for vaccination began in 1796 and doctors conducted experiments on cows with milkmaids. After that, vaccination became widely accepted and gradually replaced the practice of variolation. At some point in the 1800s, the virus used to make the smallpox vaccine changed from cowpox to vaccinia virus. Those who received this treatment contracted a mild form of the disease, developing a lifelong immunity.
Today, we have vaccines that help us prevent these deadly diseases that can make us really sick. Without these vaccines we would be getting them and making us sick. The infectious diseases have changed our world and society so much that we have invented vaccines and all kinds of medicine to prevent them. However, we still have the influenza virus that goes around in our country today. People can still get the disease even though they get the shot or spray up in their nose. I’mglad that I was not born at the time when these diseases were going on and if I was born at the time I would have been miserable. I”m blessed to be living in the US and not Europe or Africa because that’s where most of the diseases come from. Examples would be Ebola and the Bubonic Plague.