9.2

Question 1

Give some specific examples of diseases associated with poverty post-1900.

Answer 1

*poor communities usually have poor, cramped housing conditions and often lack access to clean water sources and healthcare

• malaria: spread by mosquitos, prevalent in tropical environments
  *common in Africa, without cure or vaccine. Mosquito nests are poisoned, and quinine can be used to treat it.
• tuberculosis: airborne (sneezing, coughing, etc.)
  *close quarters in poor communities means easier transmission
• cholera: bacterial, transmitted through water
  *symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, severe dehydration
  *causes about 95,000 deaths per year

Question 2

Give specific examples of epidemics caused by globalization post-1900.

Answer 2

Spanish Flu in 1918: the deadliest pandemic of the 20th century
- soldiers in WWI who were infected and fighting would return home all across the globe, infecting communities
- about 1/5 of the world’s population was infected, and an estimated 20-50 million people died of it
- disproportionately affected those of older and working ages

HIV/AIDS: spread through the exchange of bodily fluids; HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. AIDS suppresses and attacks the immune system, leaving people vulnerable to otherwise unconcerning viruses and infections.
- major outbreak in the 1980s: about 25 million deaths between the late 20th and early 21st century
- originally associated with gay men, led to trouble accumulating funding for research for treatments until around the 1990s
- recent medical treatment (antiretroviral therapy) was developed that prevents the degradation of the immune system due to AIDS
- AIDS is currently still deadly for poor communities, especially in sub-Saharan Africa

Ebola:
- huge mortality rate (about 1/2 of infected people die)
- Major outbreak in the Congo in 1976
- Major outbreak in West Africa in 2014, killed about 11,000 Africans

Covid-19:
- spread on travel/trade routes quickly due to globalization
- closure of schools, businesses, economies deeply affected
- vaccine rapidly developed and distributed

Question 3

What is the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic?

Answer 3

Epidemic = a disease outbreak within a region
Pandemic = a disease outbreak in multiple geographical regions or across the globe

Question 4

Give specific examples of diseases associated with longer lives post-1900.

Answer 4

Alzheimer’s disease: a form of dementia
- memory loss that progressively gets worse, until eventually the victim is unable to perform basic bodily functions and dies

Heart disease:
- caused primarily by bad diet and the consequential buildup of plaque in the heart valves and arteries
- especially prevalent in developed countries
- the #1 cause of death globally; about 18 million people die of it annually

Question 5

What are two consequences of the spread of disease?

Answer 5

1) the development of new medical technologies
2) large-scale social disruption due to death and resulting problems