History Of Pandemics

Humanity is no stranger to disease. A few diseases throughout history have turned into pandemics. A pandemic is a disease that has spread worldwide. Experts believe that pandemics come from diseases that cross between different species. Swine flu first affected pigs and HIV originated from Chimpanzees. They then mutated and became deadly human diseases.

We are the most prepared for a pandemic today than we have been at any point in our history because of the advancement in medical science. However, a pandemic at any time will have a major impact on our daily lives as we are seeing with Coronavirus (Covid-19). This article will look at the history of pandemics.

The Antonine Plague: Was one of the first pandemics to affect humanity and it was a form of smallpox or measles. It caused internal bleeding as well as nasty outward physical symptoms. This disease was so dangerous that it was a huge factor in the collapse of the Roman Empire.

The Black Death: Was so deadly that it killed about half the population of Europe during the fourteenth century. It is believed that it was brought to Europe by Genoese traders who carried the infection from a siege in Asia after a Mongol general was using infected corpses as a weapon. Scientists believe that rats helped spread the disease so quickly across Europe. Many Europeans believed that the disease was sent by God to punish sinners.

The influenza pandemic of 1580: Wasn’t as deadly as the Black Death but over 500 million people were infected with the disease, which was one third of the world’s population at the time, and it is estimated that it killed 50 million. During this outbreak Europe instigated quarantine measures and border checkpoints. What is unique about this disease is that it had a high mortality rate in apparent healthy people between the ages of 20-40.

Cholera pandemics of the 1800s: During the nineteenth century there were at least six outbreaks, which started in India and spread to Britain by 1831. Many at the time mistrusted the authorities and some held the belief that this was being spread intentionally to target the poor. There were several cholera riots across the UK, which shows that people were scared and angry at the authorities because they coordinated poorly to fight the disease. A doctor from London traced the source of the pandemic to a water pump in Broad Street in the Golden Square area.

Spanish flu of 1918: Infected one third of the population globally and it killed up to 50 million. Cities in the USA that enacted social distancing and quarantines measures had far fewer cases than cities that didn’t. Philadelphia had a parade for the soldiers returning from World War I whereby 200,000 people attended. By the end of the week 4,500 people had died from the flu. This is evidence that self-isolation does work.

Mid-century flu pandemics of 1957 and 1968: Spread quicker because of new technology such as air travel. Flu vaccines had been developed earlier in the 20th century and these pandemics weren’t as deadly as previous ones.

HIV/AIDS, 1970s onwards: Have infected roughly 75 million people and about 32million have died from it. One notable figure to die from this illness was Freddy Mercury the lead singer for the band Queen. It’s an illness that damages your immune system whereby you can die from a simple common cold by the end of the illness. This illness cannot be cured but they have created medicine so that it became a more manageable condition that’s not fatal.