Infectious Diseases in History Flashcards
give 3 large examples of how infectious disease has shaped history
- more lives were lost in the Civil War from dysentery than fighting
- more dies from the Spanish flu in 1918 than all WWI casualties
- greek and roman civilizations declined in part due to waves of infectious disease
what type of infection is pneumonia?
bacterial AND viral
what organism causes pneumonia?
streptococcus pneumonia
how does pneumonia often strike?
the immune suppressed as a secondary infection
what is the cuasative agent of antonine plague?
unknown
what is the historical significance of the antonine plague?
made people question the government and religious institutions in the Roman empire
what kind if infectious agent is malaria?
protozoan
give 2 examples of global implications of malaria
WWII and vietnam but this is still ongoing today
describe the historical importance of HIV
rewrote history by affecting homoesexuals and hemophiliacs, a virus
what kind of agent causes syphilis?
a spirochete bacteria
what is the interesting thing about syphilis?
it seems to have spread from North America to Europe (usually the other way around)
give a sad historical connection to syphilis
the Tuskeegee experiments
describe the historical significance of measles
hella infectious, wiped out a lot of North and Latin America
what organism causes leprosy?
mycobacterium leperae
what is the only known reservoir of leprosy?
armadillos
what is the historical significance of leprosy?
in the Bible
what is the historical significance of bubonic plague?
changed the relationship between nobility and peasants and broke down the feudal system as well as a religious shift due to scared clergymen running away from disease leading to the reformation
what is the causative agent of bubonic plague?
Yersinia pestis
what is the original reservoir of yersinia pestis?
marmots, then to fleas and rats
what is the historical significance of tetanus?
found in many wars due to shrapnel
describe the historical significance of bordatella pertussis
the iditarod was originally a rescue and supply mission to isolated people sick in Alaska
what is the historical significance of diarrhea?
kills mroe children than all other diseases combined
what is the king cause of diarrhea?
cholera, or other digestive tract viruses and bacteria like salmonella
where did the Spanish Flu of 1918 start?
in military bases in Kansas due to all the pigs slaughtered to feed the soldiers
what is the historical significance of Spanish Flu (other than all the death)?
one of the reasons for the establishment of the Public Health Services, which runs the CDC
what is the cause of tuberculosis?
mycobacterium encyst in tissue
what is tubuerculosis?
a chronic disease that erodes lung tissue
what is the treatment for tuberculosis?
6 month antibiotic treatment
what is the issue with treating tuberculosis?
we’ve been treating it for so long that we now have drug resistance
where is tuberculosis bad?
where people are stressed and crowded and damp
where does yellow fever show up
near water
how is yellow fever spread?
mosquitos
what is the historical significance of yellow fever?
the French were too sick with yellow fever to finish building the panama canal and the US owned it for a minute
