During discussions and analyses of infectious diseases, the impact of infectious diseases on society, and concurrently, the effect of society on infectious diseases, offers a glimpse of the overall impact of emerging and re-emerging diseases. When an infectious disease arises in a society, government officials, leaders, scientists, and citizens must work together to accomplish […]
Investigators and scientists in the 1982 Kaposi’s Sarcoma (KS) case study never knew how instrumental their study would be to the rest of the world regarding AIDS and HIV. This first reported case of AIDS resulted in a thorough understanding of the AIDS organism, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, including symptoms and patient history. This extensive […]
For years, cholera has been feared by many due to its potency and symptoms. Cholera is one of the most severe diseases and its symptoms can kill a person in just one day. Muscle cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, and shock can lead to death within 24 hours. Le cholera has caused seven pandemics, killed millions, […]
Tuberculosis, and the microbial pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis that causes it, is one of the deadliest diseases. The pathogen has killed more people than any other microbial pathogen. Tubercolosis can be found in Egyptian mummies from 5000 years ago, in classical Greece almost 2000 years ago, and in Europe in the early 13th century. Tuberculosis struck […]
The importance of the potato dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries, where a dramatic rise in population and the resulting fall in housing and living conditions resulted in the dependence of a cheap, healthy, and high-yield potato crop. This not only fed the Irish people, but also allowed them to export the crop […]
With the study of syphilis and other infectious diseases also comes the rise of studying ethical issues that may occur when studying infectious diseases. Ethical issues such as the disclosure of information and privacy issues, the protection and study of humans and animals with the infectious disease, and the administration of cures and vaccines when […]
Smallpox was a disease that devasted cultures for years before scientists eventually announced it eliminated in 1980. The first traces of smallpox date back to the Plague of Athens, and it caused its first epidemic at the end of the 12th century. The DNA virus was likely carried from domesticated animals in early agricultural settlements […]
The Black Death was a historic disease that killed somewhere between 30% and 60% of Europe’s population in the 1300s. The plague spread through vermin- marmots and rats- and travelled between countries through trade and human contact. The plague spread so quickly due to many of the same problems that poorer nations still confront today. […]
The rising emergence of diseases and the rising re-emergence of diseases represents a thorough threat to many countries, lifestyles, and the delicate balance of society. While technology constantly evolves and leads science in new areas of growth, the emergence of diseases, as well as the re-emergence of past diseases, poses a threat to science and […]
As the population continues to rise, so too does the war on disease. For the last few thousand years, humans have fought a multitude of diseases- zoonotic, organic, and man-produced. Over the course of history, these diseases have changed in their nature to match the societal and cultural changes taking place in the world- including […]