Ahliyah Williams 

Dr. Hinks

07/24/19

Help Received: None Ahliyah Williams

Final Reflective Essay

Going into Epidemics of Society class, I prepared myself to sit and learn about the biological story behind diseases. I truly expected to be sitting in class looking at slides of different viruses and how they attack the body. Never had I imagined that I would be doing so many essays and watching so many films in class. I have to say it wasn’t at all what I expected, it was much better than what I expected. Epidemics of Society class allowed me to see real-life situations. It also showed me the reality of ethics when it comes to the spread of diseases. This class has allowed me to use essays, something that I’m not usually fond of, to learn so much about the impact of diseases in the world. Some artifacts were especially beneficial because while doing essays. I was able to reflect so much about the relationship between epidemics and diseases. The artifacts expanded my knowledge about so many diseases. These artifacts have given me experiences by making me feel like I am in certain positions that I am grateful to not be in a certain society affected by epidemics of diseases. This is something that has helped me to prepare for possible diseases and even evolutionary medicines that could affect me and reflect on the way other people in society cope with these outbreaks of diseases. Ultimately, this class has helped me to become more aware and understanding to people that I once may have judged tremendously because of a disease that I was ignorant about. Also, I was able to learn about the relationship between epidemics of diseases and society. 

When beginning Epidemics of Society class, I noticed the improvement of my artifacts every time. The reason they improved was because of the better understanding I began to have on what I should be provided in the essays. Diseases were the least of my worries before the Epidemics of Society class. Going into the end of this class, I now feel confident enough to teach others about many infectious diseases. With me being able to not only learn, but teach others, I feel as though I have met the goal of what every class should meet. Rewinding to before I even attended this class, I had no idea of all of the infectious diseases that have come to play such large roles in history. Not only did I learn so much history behind epidemics and diseases, but I was able to learn the relationship between society and epidemics. Since epidemics can happen anywhere, societies are at huge risks to diseases. Socially, diseases are super easy to spread due to them affecting numerous people at once. Visually seeing so many diseases in class 

There were nine artifacts that we completed in this class. It’s a few articles that in my opinion had the most detail and credibility about the effects epidemics of diseases on society. Those artifacts are 1-3. The first artifact was based on the history behind plagues. My main conclusion of this essay was that society has affected the spread of infectious disease. In artifact 1, The History of Plagues, I made points that throughout the history of plagues there has been a pattern of social and cultural factors. Artifact 1 was so significant because it was all about the history behind plagues. The fact that history was the main subject of this artifact just played more into how epidemics have a role in society. This artifact played a role in how society affects epidemics because it was an artifact that included many plagues that changed technology and even climate change. Now that we are more knowledgeable than plagues are not able to survive in colder seasons, we can see that if warmer temperatures result from climate change, we might be more susceptible to possibly go through another pandemic. With this information from the history of plagues, we can be more prepared as a society for those types of dangers to society. To be able to change climate and technology for how it is now is probably the biggest things epidemic of diseases can have on society. Artifact 2, The Infectous Disease That Has Everyone Talking: Zoonotic, was based on the spread of zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic diseases are diseases that are spread by an animal to human contact. This artifact revolved so much around society because daily, society is coming into contact with different animals even if not on purpose. From birds flying around to even simply consuming meat, zoonotic diseases can easily affect society by mass. Societies have changed a lot from epidemics of zoonotic diseases. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is one of many organizations that administer closely how to keep people safe from contaminated food. Lastly, another very influential artifact of the impacts of epidemics on society was the third artifact. Artifact 3, Plagues Kill, Alot, was based on the Black Death plague. Similar to artifact 1, but very much more specific. The Black Death, also known as the Great Plague had a huge impact on society. Society was especially significant to this artifact because so many things were changed and introduced to society to cope with the plague. London was a horrible place to live during that time. After the plague, London made a complete 360 degree turn around. for 200 years after the Black Death struck in the 14th century, living conditions in London improved and life spans lengthened” (Whitte. PLOS). This shows the huge impact of how a disease that is killing millions of people, can turn around unexpectedly and be the hope because of a society’s efforts to make change. 

In conclusion, Epidemics of Society class has been one class that is able to show the true significance that diseases has had on society all throughout the world. The artifacts used in this class has led to the discovery of how far societies have gone to cope with epidemics of diseases. Not only that, but how much diseases have had an impact on society. Artifacts 1-3 were just three, of the nine artifacts, that I have reflected on which have proved the significant correlation between diseases and how they shaped society. From plagues changing living conditions and even lifestyles to zoonotic infectious diseases changing the interactions we have between animals, in return, lifestyles and our social ways have been ultimately changed to decrease the risk of falling into new epidemics of diseases. Despite the horrible effects that diseases have had on society, ultimately society has had its way always to get back on its feet. From the CDC to better living conditions, society is still on top, for now. 

References: 

Ahliyah Williams. Artifact 1: History of Plagues.

Ahliyah Williams. Artifact 2: The Infectious Disease That Has Everyone Talking: Zoonotic. 

Ahliyah Williams. Artifact 3: The Black Death 

2014. Griggs. The Black Death Actually Improved Public Health. Smithsonian. 

Snowden. Epidemics and Society. Yale University Press.

CDC 

2015. GraceThe consequences of human actions on risks for infectious diseases: a review. NCBI. 

Ahliyah Williams

Dr. Hinks 

07/22/19

Help Received: None Ahliyah Williams

Breaking News! The Cure To HIV… Has NOT Been Found

Many factors led to the epidemic of HIV in the US. Some of those factors being the rapid spread of premiscous homosexuality in the US. Homosexuals were blamed for the spread of HIV in the US. Not only were they blamed, but many other groups of people were blamed. Hemophiliacs, people who cannot clot blood normally, were also tremendously slandered in many ways. Politics begin to play a role with the spread of HIV within homosexual communties. Society was completely against a certain group of people, showing complete discrimination against a certain type of people. All of these events were not only ethically wrong, but completely ignorant. Although there is still no known cure to HIV, there has been a “powerful tool to end HIV”, called PreP. Still, there is of course challenges with finding a true cure of hiv, but advanced management for the virus has helped to control it within people are affected with HIV. During the 80s people were completely clueless and struggled to find the true cause of the HIV disease and to identify how it spreads. 

Homosexuality has always been hidden and ignored for many years in the US. Even though homosexuality has been known to be prevelant even in ancient history with Alexander The Great who had a male lover. Due to California seen as one of the most liberal states in the US, homosexuality was very prominent in especially Los Angelas, CA. From gay bars and clubs to ‘bathhouses’, homosexuality peaked in the 80’s. The first case of HIV was from a homosexual man named Ken Horne in San Francisco, CA. Shortly after that, many more cases of HIV begin to flow in the hospitals. All of these HIV cases at first were seen upon homosexual men. Of course with that, people begin to gain more hatred for the homosexual community. It became a question when HIV was mostly seen in the homosexual community. People began to ask “how”? Bathhouses in the gay community was one factor to the increase of the spread of HIV. Bathhouses were saunas, specifically for gay people to go and have premiscous sex with many partners. These were super popular during the 80’s. So, when one infected person had multiple partners at once, those partners spread it to other multiple people just making HIV spread like rapid wildfire. Homosexuals were also not the most admired group, still in this time of day. What group of people are better to blame about a virus that is killing people than gays? Hemophiliacs are people who cannot clot their blood by themselves. Blood Plasma banks made it possible for people to donate their blood for some quick cash. What happens when a majority of those people who are donating blood are homeless and/or infected with HIV? Hundreds or even thousands of hemophiliacs are now infected simply from blood. Hemophiliacs were now a point of interest for HIV. Hemophiliac children were even kept from school because it was thought that HIV was spread simply from regular daily contact with other people. Politics came in the story when the president during that time, Ronald Regan began to speak on the issue. The president who was the very person who was supposed to calm down the public and protect all citizens only did worse by publicly saying that until he knows what the true problem of the spread of HIV was, he will keep the people who are believed to be the source of it from being around others. Instead he could’ve been spreading education and keeping children in school. This was all just a whole turmoil of events and HIV was so disturbingly misunderstood. 

Why is HIV still not cured after all these years? The HIV virus is such a complicated and sneaky virus that because of the structure of it, locating and getting rid of it is a very difficult thing to do. Life is very hard for people living with HIV, if untreated it can turn into AIDS, where your immune system is severely damaged. Lives of people with HIV or AIDS will forever be a hardship, built with the invention of some modern technologies, life is somewhat better for those people. People living with HIV are normal people and can have normal lives, they can even have a partner. Pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, is used strategy is used by HIV-negative people who are in contact with those who are infected. According to Livia Ripka, Australia are on their way to fully eradicate HIV by using PrEP. PrEP is helping to prevent new infections from happening.  It reduces the risk of becoming infected with HIV, but it is still not a complete cure for HIV. Another strategy is Antiretroviral Therapy or ART. It is used to treat HIV- infected people. Both ART and PrEP are two strategies so far that have been helping the lives of many HIV- infected people and getting a step closer to a cure. 

In conclusion, HIV has been a long misunderstood virus that only recently has been understood better. From discriminating against homosexuals to even taking hemophiliac children out of school HIV has been a long troublemaker in society. Political figures such as president Ronald Regean caused much controversy and the misleading of how necessary education is for progressing.  The world still does not have a cure because of the complexity of the HIV virus, but it has been managed through systems that could control the spread of the infection and make many people’s lives better. With these systems of prevention, we are getting one step closer to the cure to HIV. 

References

Ronald Regean

2019. Ripka. How Aulstralia Could Almost Eradicate HIV Transmissions. The New York Times

What is PrEP? PrEPFacts.org

HIV Treatment. AidsInfo.nih.gov

HIV and The Blood Supply. NCBI.

History of Homosexuality. Wikipedia.

1987. President Ronald Regean Speech. ABC News.

Searching For a Cure For HIV and AIDS. Avert.org

Why is it so Hard To Cure HIV/AIDS. Science of HIV.

Ahliyah Williams 

07/22/19

Dr. Hinks 

Help Received: None Ahliyah Williams 

Cholera is the Shit, Literally!

Societal/ cultural factors have managed to enhance the ability for cholera to spread. Societal factors such as gender dicrimination and the lack of investment for basic sanitation systems has been leading causes throughout the years to how cholera became a pandemic. Cultural effects such as religious public festivals and religion have led to the ability of cholera to spread as a pandemic. Cholera was once a pandemic that spread throughout different countries for years until just recently when cholera became an epidemic resulting from 

Socially, gender roles come into play when speaking on the spread of Cholera. In countries such as India, women are subject to rape and assault when they are in need to release themselves. The reason they are so easily targeted is because these women are not in the safety of their own homes, they are literally forced to use the bathroom outside because there are no toilets in the homes of many women in rural India. In an Ad called, #EveryWomansRights, woman are shown verbally attacking a few men that are about to release themselves outside. The indian women in this video are basically trying to get a point across that no man should be able to comfortably use the bathroom outside if a woman is getting assaulted or raped when they have no choice. Something as simple as using the bathroom outside can spread cholera. According to UNICEF, “India has nearly 200,000 diarreheal deaths a year”. Public defecation is a factor to many of those deaths. This becomes a pandemic issue because people across the world are experiencing the same problems. In Africa, most people do not have access to basic sanitation necessities such as toilets. It’s not even a thing that is specific to gender, its among everyone, including men. An article by Lonely Planet says there are two types of toilets in Africa, “The Western style, with a bowl and seat (common in most midrange or top-end hotels and restaurants); and the African style, a hole in the floor that you squat over. You might even find a combination of the two, with a Western-style toilet bowl propped over a hole in the floor.” Cholera among these rural and poor countries are spread so easily by lack of care or investment into basic sanitation systems, such as toilets. Culturally, public events in places like India have led to the spread of cholera. There is a “Festival of Color” in India that is held to gather many people together for the most part bathe in one whole body of water, the Ganges River.. When people are swimming, bathing, etc,  in this water they are also peeing or even may defecate. These people believe that they are ‘purifying’ themselves due to their Hinduism beliefs that the water of the Ganges can ban off any bad spirits especially health risks. This makes it extremely harder to help these people. John Snow, a British physician, also known as the “Father of Modern Epidemiology”, was able to find the source of the outbreak of cholera by following cases in London. He was able to get rid of the causes of cholera spread, contaminated water well pumps. That information led him to discover that cholera isn’t just contagious from persons to persons, but by water which gave him the name, “Father of Modern Epidemiology.”  

Cholera has managed to become a pandemic. In total there has been seven global pandemics of cholera. It made its way from India to much of Southeast Asia and East Asia. It even spread further than Asia making its way to the Middle-East. A pandemic means that a disease is spread worldwide or over a whole country. still something and even though not a pandemic worldwide its still showing up in africa as an epidemic. Cholera is now an epidemic in Haiti, and endemic in many countries. Hati is a perfect home for Cholera. With Hati being “the most poorest country in the Western Hemisphere”(CNN), it’s no shock to hear that Cholera is attacking it the most. Being the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere means that poor to no sanitation is prevalent, meaning that cholera is bound to spread and stay as an epidemic. Especially when you add that much of haitians food come from water or are cleansed by water that is contaminated. The most updated case of cholera in Haiti is explained by Rebecca Hersher. She says that Haiti’s capital doesn’t even have  a sewer system. The fact that sewer systems being contaminated and that Haiti doesn’t even have a sewer system at all just makes it an even better homes for cholera. 

In conclusion, the cultural effects such as religious factors and public events has contributed to the pandemic spread of cholera. Also, social factors like gender discrimimnation and implementing basic sanitary systems in the household are both contributions to the spread of cholera worldwide. These are all caused by a multitude of things including high poverty rates especially. Physicians such as John Snow is just one of many people who continuously searched to find  The epidemic of cholera in Haiti is still a problem due to Haiti’s very high poverty rate. Sanitation nor clean water is accessible in Haiti making it such a hotspot for cholera to continue to be an epidemic in that country. 

References

Cholera in Hati. (CDC).

Toilets. Lonely Planet.

Cleaning up a public health threat- the River Ganges. BMC.

(2017) Cholera. History.com

Facts about Haiti. CNN

EveryWomansRights. Astral Pipes.

Ahliyah Williams

Dr. Hinks 

Help Received: None Ahliyah Williams

07/17/19

Tuberculosis

In the book, The Power of Plagues, the author, Irwin W. Sherman makes it a point to say that Tuberculosis is not just an infectious disease, but it is a societal disease that in order to be fully gotten rid of, the first step needs to be the people in society to fix it. In the 1800’s TB was seen as intimate. Society turned the second leading cause of death by an infectious disease into a fantasy for society in the 1800’s. Now in modern society, the disease once being thought of as a “disease of the past”( Frontline. TB Silent Killer. PBS) has made its way back into society more cruel than ever. History of immigrants living in packed tenement housing made people more susceptible to spreading TB. People that experienced malnutrition, HIV, and poverty were all ways that TB was able to affect these people most efficiently. 

Tuberculosis is a tremendously infectious disease. TB is spread similar to how a cold is, as easy as a cough or even someone singing. Society once saw the deadly disease,TB, as passionate. In the book,  Illness as a Metaphor (1978), Susan Sontag said “TB was, is still thought to produce spells of euphoria… and sexual desire.” The Lady of Camille was a very popular movie that influenced two operas. Showing a lady coughing blood on a white handkerchief, it was symbolizing the red/white colors of a camellia flower. This shows just how much TB was looked at as delicate and beautiful just as a flower. The dying poet Keats painting shows John Keats, a romantic poet beautifully dying from tuberculosis. Although shown as beautiful in the films and paintings, TB was far from beautiful. When TB is in the lungs, it eats it from the inside out. The lungs fill up with blood. Even before death TB makes a person weak and hardly able to do anything. Why is society so important when playing a role in TB? First off italian immigrants in the 19th century came to the US for new opportunities. They lived in tenements that were specifically made to fit many people at once. It was overly-crowded and disgusting to live in. Those horrid conditions gave it more rise for tuberculosis to spread from one person to another and a perfect home for diseases such as TB. 

Tuberculosis is a disease that takes advantage of its hosts at their worst times and when something such as HIV is already breaking down a person immune system at rapid rates, TB works with it coherently kill a person. HIV makes a person’s immune system very weak, thats why its name stands for immunodeficiency virus. It literally destroys the very thing that is there to fight off infections, white blood cells. So, when an infectious disease such as tuberculosis comes to an HIV infected person, it is welcomed in by the body. TB is an opportunistic infectious disease meaning that it takes the opportunity of the body whenever the body is weakened, in this case from HIV. Infection with both HIV and TB is called, HIV/TB coinfection because both work together in the body.

In The Power of Plagues, Sherman says that TB is societal, that cannot be fixed, and will surely return if not fixed as being an acceptable thing in society. In the film, Silent Killer, tuberculosis has returned in modern day Africa. A young African girl is diagnosed with a strain of resistant TB called Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis that is caused by bacteria that has developed to be resistant to treatment with even the most powerful medications. She went from a free-spirited, dancing and energetic girl to a lonely and sad young girl because the long therapy that she had to go through. TB stopped her childhood from progressing and had an even worse impact on her because of it being multi-resistant. The MDR-TB does not respond to two powerful drugs: isoniazid and rifampin. Being that MDR-TB is harder to treat, the young girl missed out on her graduation. This shows just how serious TB can be with holding one’s life back with being multi-drug resistant and denying treatment. 

All in all, tuberculosis is far from beautiful even though being made to seem romantic. Society turned Tuberculosis into something acceptable and even showed the deadly disease throughout films and books. The “disease of the past” appeared in modern African society affecting everyone even young children. Deaths by tuberculosis were drawn out long,  so bad that it targets people that are already affected by other infections such as HIV. Multidrug resistant TB is a strain of tuberculosis that has developed overtime to be resistant to even the most powerful drugs which makes it a powerful disease. Overall what is needed to conquer the People’s Plague or tuberculosis is by not only protecting yourself, but protecting others around you. Keeping yourself distant from people even at the hardest times when it’s family that is closest to you. Since tuberculosis is spread so easily by simply someone coughing or even speaking shows just how much TB is a “peoples plague”. 

References

 Dying From TB It Can Be an Awful Way To Die. TBFACTS. ORG.

Immigration. Library of Congress. 

HIV and Opportunistic Infections. AIDSinfo. 

TB and HIV Coinfection. CDC. 

Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis. Wikipedia.

Ahliyah Williams

07/16/19

Dr. Hinks

Help Received: NONE Ahliyah Williams

There’s No Pot of Gold at The End of The Rainbow. 

Imagine eating only potatoes every single day. Now imagine that one food that you depend on not being edible enough to eat. The worst thing about it was that the potatoes were still there, but they were edible or safe to eat. In the Irish Potato Blight, about 1 million people died due to a fungus that made all potatoes completely inedible. The blight caused people to become weak, which resulted in other diseases. Immigrating to America was done by many Irish people. The new technologies in the world today have gained awareness and has been able to prevent further blights that may emerge in potatoes. 

Why couldnt they just eat other crops one may ask. Well, in the 1800s people of Ireland were so poor that they only ate one thing, the potato. The potato was the cheapest and healthiest thing that could keep these people surviving. The potato was not only convenient to grow, but the potatoes high fiber and vitamin consistency made it a food that people could depend on during hard times in Ireland. The potato had suddenly went from normal to mush. All throughout Ireland, the only food that they had, was gone. During the potato blight, many political people were curious about this sudden potato famine. British scientists begin to come up with different ways to fix the blight that was attacking the potato crops. Dr. Lyon Playfair thought that a chemical could prevent the potatoes from going bad. Playfair and other scientists even issued pamphlets to Irish Farmers explaining how to fix this blight. Of course, during this time, none of that worked because no one knew the real reason of the blight. The consequences for this disease were huge. Many people couldnt afford to live in their homes anymore and had no place to stay. The worst consequence of them all was a creeping infectious disease that was waiting in the dark to infect the Irish people, the fever. When people were becoming weak from hunger, their immune system was also becoming weak. Diseases, such as the fever, are guests to the weak and sickly hosts body. Because of little opportunities the Irish people subsquantianly immigrated to the U.S. Bloody spews, dead pigs from the potatoes, people left Ireland for a better living. Irish people lived in tenements that could house many people at once. With that came uncomfortability and little air, but it was better than what they were originally living in back in Ireland. 

After the destructive potato blight that had caused millions of deaths in Ireland and millions of people to immigrate to America, there are benefits. With the event such as the potato blight, scientists are able to make a fungicide that has to be sprayed on potatoes to prevent the blight from forming in them. Genetically modified potatoes are now here. They are resistant to the blight. The benefits of the GMO potato is that it will be able to keep potatoes free from blight and available for people to eat. There are risks to GMOs like certain speculate health concerns like, infertility problems or immune problems.

All in all, the potato blight was an event not only in Irish history, but U.S history that caused many people of Ireland to die or emigrate from their homes. The blight was such a cruel monster that completely demolished and wiped out, unapologetically, the only thing that the people survived on to survive. Due to the lack of knowledge that people had during the potato blight, there was nothing no one could do to stop it. Now, with the many advanced technologies that have been introduced it is possible to stop the blight from affecting potatoes now by using GMOs. GMOS can have it consequences and benefits, but for the most part I bet that the people of Ireland would do anything to stop their family members from dying by just using GMOs. GMOs certainly has its consequences such as immune problems, but it has done so much more good in this case.  

References: 

(2019). Joel Mokyr. Great Famine. Britannica.

(2010). Jacob Riis. Tenements. History.

(2018). Michael Edwards. GMO Potatoes Are Here. Organic Consumers Association. 

Health Risks. Institute for Responsible Technology. 

Ahliyah Williams

Dr. Hinks 

Sun July 14

Artifact 5:  Ethics and Infectious Disease 

Help Received: NONE Ahliyah Williams

1,2,3 Syphilis Is Coming For You

When talking about being ethical your talking about humanity, compassion, and leadership. When something or someone is unethical they lose all of those characteristics. They don’t care about what’s right or wrong. Syphilis has made itself in some of the most unethical situations. From congenital syphilis to biases among certain types of people, especially immigrants, syphilis has been experimented among people to help find more information on the disease. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment shows the unethical degree that the government will go. Syphilis being passed to babies is a topic that is discussed as a possible unethical situation. ‘The Great Pox’ aka, syphilis was nicknamed that because the fear it caused people in the 15th to 17th century, but it was also a fear of people even now that makes Blacks feel fear towards a certain race of doctors and is cruelly passed to babies. 

In the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, 600 poor Black men were experimented on to gain more information about the disease syphilis, in return they received free medical treatments, burial insurance, and free meals. They were used as test dummies basically to help the government figure out more about the disease. Instead of helping the 399 African- American men infected with the disease The Tuskegee Experiment became unethical when penicillin was offered as a treatment, but not given to the subjects of the Tuskegee Experiment. The worst thing about syphilis is that it is a venereal disease which means it is transmitted through sexual intercourse or contact. People in Macon County were seen as a “natural laboratory” in Telford Clark, head of the VD Division. African- Americans were seen as unintelligent, so they were easy to get over on them and proposed to use them as “less expensive research”. Of course syphilis was used attempted to be rationalized by researchers. Some saying that if the men did not participate in the experiment, than they wouldn’t have received all the other free treatment that they have. 

Congenital syphilis is when syphilis is passed down to a fetus from the parent. Some years it may even take years to appear in a person. Children with congenital syphilis shows signs of syphilis with the appearance of teeth that have ridges in it (Hutchinson Disease), disfigured noses (Saddle Nose), nasal infections (Snuffles), and sharp shins (saber shins). The reason why syphilis seems so unethical is because it can appear in these affected children months, even years later when they have already had children. Congenital syphilis was actually a problem in the Tuskegee Experiment. 19 of the 399 men were born with congenital syphilis. Syphilis has been prevalent in women, men, and children according to Medical News and Perspectives. Treponema  Pallidum, is a bacteria that causes syphilis. It can be reasonable to see why having a child with being infected with syphilis could be unethical. It is seen that “40% of newborns born by untreated women with syphilis are stillborn or die shortly after”(Rubin. Why Are Mothers Still Passing Syphilis to Their Babies?. American Medical Association) But, it is not all the females fault, people with syphilis could show no signs of it. That’s why screening while pregnant is essential. Something that is unethical in this situation is that even with the knowledge that screening is so important, some doctors do not do it in the third trimester because they assume that if the first screening comes back negative, they are syphilis free. Which is very ignorant of them.

In conclusion, in the end, The Tuskegee Experiment was a blatantly racist and unethical event in history that used syphilis to undermine the fact that the government used a race looked at as unintelligent and easy to get over to gain more information about a disease. Made to seem reasonable by including the fact that they received free medical treatment. Congenital syphilis in mothers passed to their babies has been increasing at an alarming rate. It has been seen as unethical because not only are babies getting this disease and cruel symptoms such as saddle noses, but mothers are not being screened correctly by the doctors who are supposed to be educated enough about this subject. All-in-all syphilis, also known as the ‘Great Pox’ should be feared by many as it is silent, but deadly. 

References

The Deadly Deception. Youtube.

Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. Wikipedia.

What Does It Mean To Be Ethical. BizFluent. 

Rare Disease Database. NORD.

Syphilis at Tuskegee. CDC.

The Tuskegee Timeline. CDC.

You’ve Heard of Smallpox, But What Was the Great Pox? How Stuff Works.

2015. The Rationalization of Unethical Research: Revisionist Accounts of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the New Zealand “Unfortunate Experiment” PMC. 

Rubin. Why Are Mothers Still Passing Syphilis to Their Babies?. American Medical Association.

Women and Heterosexual Men With Primary and Secondary Syphilis. CDC

Ahliyah Williams

Dr. Hinks 

Help Received: None Ahliyah Williams

Sat July 13

Prompt 1

Artifact 4: The Deadliest Weapon: Smallpox

Many things have changed the history of the world. The atomic bomb in Hiroshima and the 9/11 terrorist attack are just two events in history that have dramatically changed the history of the world. No one would think that a disease could compare or even amount to any three of those major events in history, but a disease called ‘Smallpox’ has done that exact thing. Smallpox killed more people than the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and the 9/11 attack combined. While the atomic bomb in Hiroshima had shown the world the power that superweapons owned by the U.S have, smallpox showed the world the power that a disease can have on people. Smallpox is indiscriminate, with no preference or target to ethnicities, culture, or religion. That made it even more deadly and difficult to get rid of. Therefore when a disease is totally rare and unknown to a culture, it has even worse effects on them because of non-existent immunity that they have to this foreign disease. The vulnerability to native-tribes such as the in the tribes of Amerindians. The Aztecs and Incas were both affected significantly in the cruelest ways possible. 

The impact of smallpox on society throughout history is various and continuous. Cases of smallpox go as far back as ancient Egypt in 1898. A mummy was found to have rashes similar to smallpox. This was the first concrete evidence of smallpox. Having this knowledge of smallpox helped people to gain more knowledge about the fact that smallpox is not only very old but has no preference in people, even with mummies. With having no preference of types of people, smallpox definitely did not care about the ranking or royalty that one was held at. The Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth was even diagnosed with smallpox. This was such an important time in history because if Queen Elizabeth died her sister who was hated by many in England because they were scared she would bring Catholicism back, Mary would have held the role of Queen. Also known as Bloody Mary, she burned in hundreds, protestants who disagreed with her position of Catholicism. This was a huge turnover in history that Queen Elizabeth did not die because she was the most dynamic queen, lasting for 44 years, changing the history of England.

Two Amerindian tribes: Inca and Aztecs were effected by the smallpox disease in such brutal ways that you could call it an event in the history of terrorism. The Incas were unlawfully and unethically killed in such violent ways by Europeans. Pizzaro and the Incas was a major event in history. Pizzaro was a Spanish explorer. According to Josh Clark, How Stuff Works, smallpox was used as biological warfare on the Incas. The Europeans having lived alongside smallpox had an immunity to it, but the natives unlike them had none. Pizzaro didn’t have to do much to defeat the Incas, and especially the emperor. Smallpox killed the Incan emperor, Huayna Capac, allowing Pizzaro to conquer the Inca tribe. The second event in history was Smallpox and the Conquest of Mexico. Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes made an arrival in Tenochtitlan. When smallpox had arrived in Tenochtitlan by ships carrying Spanish armies, it did the job in defeating the Aztecs and leaving the Aztec Empire into Hernan Cortes hands and under his control. Smallpox in comparison to the defeat of the Aztecs was so significant because it was the most influential killer to those people, leading to the major event in history called, The Spanish Conquest.

In conclusion, events in history such as 9/11 and the bomb on Hiroshima were both truly historical and changed the world as we know it now. Smallpox, a disease, not physical terrorist or threats, killed more people than both 9/11 and the Hiroshima bombing combined. This makes it such a deadly and scary disease. Smallpox killed a different kind of people varying from royal queens to nomadic Amerindians. Smallpox was so influential that with its conquest of both the Incan and Aztec empire, it was able to contribute to such a major event in history, The Spanish Conquest.

References  

Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Wikipedia. 

September 11 Attacks. Wikipedia.

Josh Clark. How did 168 conquistadors take down the Incan empire? How Stuff Works. 

2019. Science. How smallpox devastated the Aztecs – and helped Spain conquer an American civilization 500 years ago. PBS.

2018. SMALLPOX AND THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO. Past Medical History. 

Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Wikipedia. 

Ahliyah Williams

Dr. Hinks 

Help Received: NONE Ahliyah Williams

History of Plagues

Plagues run down a long lineage of historical events through world history. The Black Death, The Great Plague of London, and The Great Plague of Marseille are just three of many plagues which appeared from societal/ cultural factors that have happened throughout history. Current things such as technological and human interventions have had a huge effect on public health in today’s world and on the spread of infectious diseases and even has had an impact on the appearance of plagues in the modern century. 

Different plagues throughout history have been impacted based on societal and cultural impacts. The Black Death, The Great Plague of London, and The Great Plague of Marseille are just three of many plagues that have been highly affected by societal factors. The Black Death plague had an effect on society. One effect that the plague had on society was that Jews were persecuted during the Black Death, believed to be the cause of the plague, being that Jews already were socially hated because Jews gained political and social status. The Great Plague of London forced people to stay in their homes away from other people in hopes to not catch the bubonic plague, not even that, many people were sick by the bed and ill in their own homes. This had a great impact on businesses and the act of one’s daily life because no one wanted to socialize with others. Samuel Pepys wrote, “the plague [is] making us cruel as dogs to one another”. Lastly, The Plague of Marseille being the last of Europe’s bubonic plague outbreaks. In attempts to stop the plague from further spreading, a huge wall was built that stopped any communication between the Province and Marseille. The death penalty was even given to anyone that had communication between the two places. This is a huge impact of the plague on society. 

Technology has had many improvements in the spread of infectious diseases. Technology has been the pro of the factors on the spread of infectious diseases.  Improvements in sanitation have especially been effective in preventing diseases from spreading. One of the technological advances that have been discovered in the making of an antimicrobial paint to kill bacteria, fungi, and viruses that caused diseases. It can disinfect homes, businesses, and health departments that may contain “super-bugs” that have killed around 88,000 deaths a year in the United States. Another beneficial  With that, there have been many negative factors on the spread of infectious diseases. Human interactions such as climate change have had a negative effect on the spread of infectious disease. Particularly warm temperatures have impacted the spread of diseases, says Catherine Griffin from Science World Report. In fact, temperature increases in the water due to climate change have stressed corals allowing them to release infections from fungi and bacteria. Large populations have been on a continuous growth spurt and have been a major leading cause to the spread of infectious diseases. 

In conclusion, plagues have been around for many years. Society and culture have been a result and even has been the reason why these plagues are happening. Plagues throughout history have affected the way that people have communicated, been racially profiled, and even has had an effect on businesses like in The Great Plague of London. Infectious disease has also played a role in many factors such as technology and climate change. Plagues and infectious diseases have been so significant in world history because it not only caused deaths in so many populations but starts of new, potentially deadly factors like climate change and the effects of large populations.   

References

2017. Great Plague of Marseille. The Marseille City of Culture. 

The Great Plague. BBC

2014. Carol. Population Growth and the Spread of Diseases. Population of Education. 
2015. Evan Andrews. 6 Devastating Plagues. HISTORY.

Black Death Jewish Persecutions. Wikipedia. 

Breiman. Impact of Technology on the Emergence of Infectious Diseases. The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health.

2009. Infectious Disease Prevention Technologies Make List of Top Innovations. Informa. 
2010. Griffin. Climate change affects disease spread: The need to forecast. Cary Institute. 

Johnson. The Great Plague 1665 – the Black Death. The historic UK. 

Ahliyah Williams

Dr. Hinks 

Fri July 7

Help Received: Ahliyah Williams References

The Infectious Disease That Has Everyone Talking: Zoonotic. 

Zoonotic. The first thing that may come to mind may be animals simply because of the word “Zoo”. A zoonotic infection actually does have something to do with animals. In fact it’s an infection caused by bacteria and parasites that are spread through contact with animals. Emerging infectious diseases such as Zika, Ebola, and Nipah are three different examples of highly transmissible diseases. All three of them are carried by animals that are highly populated and live very close to humans in different places of the world. Countries such as Africa, Venezuela, and India have experienced tremendous “spillovers”, meaning they have come in contact with animals that are infecting these countries globally, but there is little knowledge about the diseases by the people living there. 

A zoonotic or zoonosis disease originated from greek word “zoon” meaning animal. People coming from many different cultures and places have been in contact with animals for years, but the diseases that are emerging from these animals are very deadly and easily picked up. In South America, Venezuela a small, but deadly insect carries a large infectious disease, the mosquito. The mosquito is only about 1.5 inches in length, but a large, continuously growing population of them can affect thousands of people. According to Nicole Acevedo, there has been 2,057 cases of the Zika virus in Venezuela (Feb. 21, 2019). Picking up the Zika virus could be as easy as taking a walk outside just for a few minutes. The next emerging infectious disease was the Ebola epidemic. An infectious disease that gives a person a high fever was totally unexpected for the people of West Africa, particularly in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. People are eating “bushmeat”. Bushmeat is meat that comes from a variety of different wild animals. Monkey and fruit bats are the chicken of Africa. Being that its so easily accessible because there are wild animals everywhere in Africa, makes it a cheap and easy meal for the people in Africa. The fruit bats are the most recognized hosts for Ebola infection. According to an article called Human-Bat Interactions in Rural West Africa, “In Ghana, bats are carrying many diseases such as lyssa, corona, and filoviruses”. Human-bat interactions in Ghana are at a high rate. According to the article, of people tested for viruses in Ghana “46.6% visited bat caves regularly”. Lastly the Nipah virus, known as being transmitted by fruit-bat sap, people particularly in India are affected by it because of the consumption of a traditional delicacy called, “toddy”. Toddy is collected over time from the sap of palm trees. In that process, scientists have caught bats urinating in the sap when sneaking to eat it. As stated previously, bats hold many viruses that are also able to be transmitted through their urine. 

People in foreign countries are more susceptible to this disease because they are more involved with wild animals and farm more. Whereas in the United States of America there are few in the population who are killing their own animals for meat. Food is generally processed through factories and the Food and Drug Administration. When compared there are less cases of these infectious diseases in America generally because of more sanitation rules when it comes to animals as food to be consumed. Also the animals that carrying these diseases are not usually consumed by people in America rather than other foreign countries. But, Americans are not completely protected from zoonotic diseases. Zika from mosquitoes is one of the most prevalent in the states out of the previously three disease stated. According to the CDC, “in 2015 and 2016 the Zika virus made a large outbreak in the Americas”. Even though many foreigners are totally ignorant to these diseases and uneducated about them, many researchers have found out a lot about them and are able to come up with some ways to solve it. Genetically-modified mosquitoes are even being made to slow down and kill off the large population of Zika-carrying mosquitos. 

In conclusion zoonotic infectious disease are located in many places throughout the world. They are more abundant in particular places because of cultures and traditions such as the consumption of certain delicacies and insects that have easy access to their targets. All of the diseases carried by these wild animals are transmissible through human contact such as salvia, blood, urine, feces and many other ways. Wild animals such as bats and monkeys are carrying these viruses, but also house-hold pets like dogs and cats that may carry rabies. Zoonotic infections are transmitted from animals, or even an insect, to humans in places all over the world, including America. Luckily, researchers are becoming more educated about these infectious diseases and coming up with different ways to at least slow down the spread of them.  

References

(2018). Ike Swetliz. For the first time, researchers will release genetically engineered mosquitoes in Africa. STAT.

Zika Virus. CDC.

Zoonotic Diseases. CDC.

Bushmeat. CDC. 

How Big Can Mosquitoes Get? Mosquito Magnet

(2019). Nicole Acevedo. Life-threatening, insect-borne diseases spike in Venezuela, report says. NEWS

(2003). Zdenek Hubalek. Emerging Human Infectious Diseases: Anthroponoses, Zoonoses, and Sapronoses. NCBI

Pricilla Anti. Human- Bat Interactions in Rural West Africa. DISPATCHES. 

Ahliyah Williams

Dr. Hinks 

Fri July 5

Help Received: Ahliyah Williams References

“In The Wake of The Plague”

Plague (/plãg) defined as a contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and delirium. Cases of plagues go as far back as in Egypt in the story of Exodus. The most historical and known plague to the knowledge of humans was the Black Death. Plagues are usually contracted from a rodent or flea. It can be contracted by bites or even feces from the animals. The plague can be both caught very easily and treated if detected early. The Black Death is one of the most known plagues go in the books as the deadliest and most devastating plagues in European history. 

How was life before the Black Death? Life was full of sin and the economics was at an all-time low. No one had no idea that death was literally creeping at everyone’s door. Dr. Ibeji stated, “Life in Britain in the fourteenth century was ‘nasty, brutish and short’, and it had been that way for the peasantry since long before the Black Death”. Before the deadliest plague, life for Europeans in the early 14th century was what I would say was uncivilized. Overpopulated and sickly, the lower class population was most affected by the plague due to unsanitary living conditions and overpopulation in one place. It did not just affect the poor though. The Black Death had no preference and affected even people of royalty. One example was the Queen of England, Joan. 

What caused the Black Death? People had many theories of what caused the Black Death. One of the theories being that people believed God was getting back at the people who acted upon sin, which during that time everyone sinned greatly. Another theory was the case of the Plague at the Siege of Caffa in 1346. The Mongols threw infected dead bodies over large walls to the Europeans which caused the spread of the plague. The real scientific causes of the Black Death was a bacterial disease spread from fleas and transmitted by rats to humans. Ships carrying cargo also carry rats not only infecting people on board, but also the people in the places that the ships stopped at. The Black Death was also known as the Bubonic Plague because it left black bobos on people infected. 

The plague had a huge effect on society and changed even how life is now in some ways. People had to change the way that they considered life. Loved ones affected by the plague were abandoned by their family because of the fear of the healthy family getting the plague. Priests stop seeing and praying for sick people and many people lost their faith. Money became a huge advantage for people because people with money were able to flee from infected places while the poor stayed and died. People were known to try to cover up the smell of death by with anything they could find. Piling bodies on bodies, 60 percent of Europe’s population died from the plague, more than the three world wars combined. New trade routes and an emerging economy are two ways that can influence the spread of another infectious disease.

In conclusion, the black plague was an Ebola- like- virus with because of the speed that it spread. The plague isn’t a newly introduced disease. Being seen in ancient Egypt. Life before the Black Death was full of sins and unsanitary conditions. Sin believed to be one of the causes of the Black Death from Gods raft. Unsanitary conditions were actually the real cause of the spread of the Black Death. Historical events such as the Plague at the Siege of Caffa was another theory to how the Black Death. There have been multiple plagues, but the Black Death was the deadliest plague known to this day. No one is sure if a Black Death type plague will come back in this modern era, but with the more knowledge that we learn about the Black Plague in the early 14th century, the more prepared we can be for a new one following. 

References 

(2014). Historyextra, Your 60 Second Guide To The Black Death. 

(2011). Dr. Ibeji. BBC. Black Death: Political and Social Changes. 

(2005). History Today. Ole Benedictow. The Black Death: The Greatest Catastrophe Ever.