Medicine- Causes of illness and disease Flashcards
When was the black death?
1348-49
What % of the population that died from the black death?
50%
What was the main thing that spread the black death?
rats carrying fleas containing bacteria
What are some examples of lack of hygiene in the middle ages (medieval)?
- drinking water contaminated
- overcrowded houses
- not many attempts to pass laws to clean up streets
What are some examples of lack of hygiene in the Early Modern (and Renaissance)?
- animals living in towns
- doctors having little knowledge
- people believed god was responsible for illness
When was the great plague?
1665
What was the % of population that died to the great plague?
25%
100,00 people
What did people at the time believe caused the great plague?
miasma
What are some of the effect of industrialisation?
- people moved to work in factories
- Overcrowding forced families to share a room hundreds of people shared a toilet.
- Contagious diseases spread fast, including smallpox, tuberculosis, and measles
- Poor children had malnutrition
What was Cholera? 19th century
the most feared infectious disease. Cholera epidemics killed thousands (1831-32 50,000 dead, 1848 60,000 dead, 1854 20,000 dead)
What was typhoid? 19th century
an endemic disease in industrial cities
What was the Spanish flu? 20th century
Soldiers returning home around the world after WW1 led to 20-40 million deaths
What was Tuberculosis? 20th century
a bacterial infection that killed 50% of victims
Why did bacteria become less dangerous after WW2?
antibiotics were invented
What is HIV? 20th century
1980s, spread by unprotected sex, by sharing a needle, or by a blood transfusion from someone with the virus
