Epidemics And Pandemics: From Ancient Plagues To Modern-Day Threats

Description

Beyond their impact on public health, epidemics shape and are shaped by political, economic, and social forces. This book examines these connections, exploring key topics in the study of disease outbreaks and delving deep into specific historical and contemporary examples. From the Black Death that ravaged Europe in the 14th century to the influenza pandemic following World War I and the novel strain of coronavirus that made "social distancing" the new normal, wide-scale disease outbreaks have played an important role throughout human history. In addition to the toll they take on human lives, epidemics have spurred medical innovations, toppled governments, crippled economies, and led to cultural revolutions. Epidemics and Pandemics: From Ancient Plagues to Modern-Day Threats provides readers with a holistic view of the terrifying—and fascinating—topic of epidemics and pandemics. In Volume 1, readers will discover what an epidemic is, how it emerges and spreads, what diseases are most likely to become epidemics, and how disease outbreaks are tracked, prevented, and combated. They will learn about the impacts of such modern factors as global air travel and antibiotic resistance, as well as the roles played by public health agencies and the media. Volume 2 offers detailed case studies that explore the course and lasting significance of individual epidemics and pandemics throughout history. Features: • Examines the topic from a number of angles, offering readers a holistic view of how epidemics and pandemics have affected and continue to affect the world • Explains the science behind the emergence and spread of disease in easy-to-understand, jargon-free language • Considers issues relevant to today's readers, including the impact of the anti-vaccination movement, climate change, global travel, and antibiotic resistance • Offers a detailed look at the most famous examples of epidemics and pandemics throughout history, using a standardized format that makes finding information quick and easy Cover......Page 1 Title Page......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Volume 1......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 14 Introduction......Page 16 Part 1: The Fundamentals......Page 20 Chapter 1: A Look Inside: Pathogens and the Human Body......Page 22 The Types of Pathogens That Cause Infectious Disease......Page 23 The Human Body Fights Back: The Immune System, Resistance, and Immunity......Page 30 The Damage That Pathogens Can Cause Inside the Human Body......Page 34 Various Symptoms: The Signs on the Outside......Page 38 Sources and Further Reading......Page 41 Chapter 2: Gateways for Pathogens: Sources, Hosts, Vectors, and Contracting Disease......Page 44 Infectious Diseases: Reservoirs, Hosts, and Pathogen Sources......Page 45 “Catching Diseases”: How Microscopic Pathogens Enter the Human Body......Page 52 Parasitic Worms and Disease......Page 60 Sources and Further Reading......Page 62 Chapter 3. Outbreaks, Epidemics, and Pandemics......Page 64 Outbreak: Disease Occurring within Limited Populations......Page 67 Epidemic: When Disease Spreads beyond Limited Populations......Page 72 Pandemic: Beyond an Epidemic in Space, Severity, and Duration......Page 74 Sources and Further Reading......Page 77 Chapter 4: Confronting Infectious Disease: Before Germ Theory......Page 80 Theories of Health and Disease before the Discovery of Germs......Page 81 Campaigns against Plague before the Discovery of Germs......Page 90 Nineteenth-century Medical Achievements before the Discovery of Germs......Page 95 Sources and Further Reading......Page 101 Chapter 5: Battles against Infectious Disease: Triumph of Germ Theory......Page 104 Discovering and Subduing the Germ: Major Medical Advances from Louis Pasteur to Unravelling the Genome......Page 105 Major Public Health Advances of the Twentieth Century......Page 113 A World War against Disease: International Organization and Efforts......Page 120 Sources and Further Reading......Page 126 Chapter 6: Epidemic Disease in the Twenty-First Century......Page 128 Perfect Storms: Social, Economic, and Political Conditions Conducive to Disease......Page 129 Continuing Diseases......Page 134 New and Emerging Diseases......Page 139 Reemerging Diseases......Page 146 Frontiers of Medicine: Trends in Prevention and Treatment......Page 149 Some Contemporary Global Public Health Initiatives......Page 151 Sources and Further Reading......Page 154 Part 2: Epidemics and Human Society......Page 158 Chapter 7: Economics and Epidemic Disease......Page 160 Economics and the Spread of Pathogens......Page 161 Wealth, Poverty, and Disease......Page 168 Economic Effects of Epidemics......Page 174 State Economic Intervention in Disease Prevention and Control......Page 178 Sources and Further Reading......Page 180 Chapter 8: Governments, Politics, and Plagues......Page 184 Plagues and Governments in the Premodern World......Page 185 The Age of Cholera and Nineteenth-Century International Cooperation......Page 192 AIDS and the Modern State in the 1980s......Page 198 Epilogue: COVID-19......Page 202 Sources and Further Reading......Page 203 Chapter 9: Religion, Magic, and Epidemic Disease......Page 206 Religious Causal Explanations: From Apollo to Ebola......Page 207 Religious Responses to Disease......Page 210 Religious Factors in Spreading Disease......Page 217 Effects of Epidemic Disease on Religion......Page 222 Magic as Cause and Cure......Page 226 Sources and Further Reading......Page 227 Chapter 10: War and Epidemics......Page 230 The Gathering: Mobilization, Training, Disease, and Infection Prevention......Page 231 Before the Shooting Starts: Camp and Garrison Life and Disease......Page 232 When the Marching Starts......Page 234 War, Disease, and the Noncombatant......Page 242 Biological Warfare......Page 246 When the Shooting Stops......Page 248 Sources and Further Reading......Page 251 Contact: Initial Shocks......Page 252 Slave Life in the Americas......Page 265 Race, Ethnicity, and Disease......Page 268 Sources and Further Reading......Page 274 Chapter 12: Sex and Epidemic Disease......Page 278 Pathogens and STDs......Page 279 Historical Perspectives on Venereal Diseases......Page 285 The Sexual Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s......Page 291 From Transmission to Epidemic......Page 293 Sources and Further Reading......Page 295 Chapter 13: Media and Epidemics from Gutenberg to AIDS......Page 298 Early Popular Press and Epidemic Disease......Page 300 Emerging Telecommunication and Mass Media......Page 306 Mass Media and AIDS in the 1980s......Page 313 Sources and Further Reading......Page 317 Chapter 14: Disease in the Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts......Page 320 The Arts and the Second Plague Pandemic......Page 321 Tuberculosis, Romanticism, and Realism......Page 326 AIDS and the Arts......Page 333 Fictional Diseases in Contemporary Films and Novels......Page 340 Sources and Further Reading......Page 343 Volume 2......Page 352 Chapter 1: Malaria in Ancient Rome......Page 358 Chapter 2: First Plague Pandemic, 541–747......Page 364 Chapter 3: Smallpox Epidemic in Japan, 735–737......Page 372 Chapter 4: Leprosy in Medieval Europe......Page 376 Chapter 5: The Black Death Begins: The Second Plague Pandemic, 1346–1352......Page 382 Chapter 6: Epidemics in Sixteenth-Century America......Page 402 Chapter 7: “French Disease” in Sixteenth-Century Europe......Page 416 Chapter 8: Epidemics and the Thirty Years’ War, 1618–1648......Page 424 Chapter 9: Plague in Italian Cities, 1630s......Page 430 Chapter 10: Epidemics in China, 1635–1644......Page 438 Chapter 11: Plague in London, 1665......Page 444 Chapter 12: Plague in Marseille, 1720–1722......Page 454 Chapter 13: Smallpox in Boston, 1721......Page 460 Chapter 14: Smallpox in Eighteenth-Century Europe......Page 466 Chapter 15: Plague in Moscow, 1771......Page 474 Chapter 16: Yellow Fever in Hispaniola, 1793–1804......Page 482 Chapter 17: Yellow Fever in Philadelphia, 1793......Page 490 Chapter 18: Epidemics in the Napoleonic Wars, 1797–1815......Page 496 Chapter 19: Consumption in the Nineteenth Century......Page 500 Chapter 20: First Cholera Pandemic, 1817–1824......Page 508 Chapter 21: Second Cholera Pandemic, 1827–1835......Page 514 Chapter 22: Third Cholera Pandemic, 1839–1856......Page 526 Chapter 23: Typhoid Fever in Cities, 1850–1920......Page 536 Chapter 24: Yellow Fever in New Orleans, 1853......Page 544 Chapter 25: Fourth Cholera Pandemic, 1863–1875......Page 550 Chapter 26: Smallpox in Europe, 1870–1875......Page 558 Chapter 27: Measles in Fiji, 1875......Page 566 Chapter 28: Fifth Cholera Pandemic, 1881–1896......Page 570 Chapter 29: Influenza Pandemic, 1889–1893......Page 580 Chapter 30: Cholera Epidemic in Hamburg, 1892......Page 584 Chapter 31: Third Plague Pandemic, 1894–?......Page 592 Chapter 32: Sixth Cholera Pandemic, 1899–1923......Page 604 Chapter 33: Sleeping Sickness in East Central Africa, 1900–1905......Page 612 Chapter 34: Typhoid Mary’s “Epidemics,” 1906–1915......Page 618 Chapter 35: Pneumonic Plague Epidemic in Manchuria, 1910–1911......Page 624 Chapter 36: Cholera Epidemic in Naples, 1910–1911......Page 630 Chapter 37: Poliomyelitis in the United States, 1916......Page 636 Chapter 38: Influenza Pandemic, 1918–1919......Page 642 Chapter 39: Poliomyelitis in the United States, 1945–1955......Page 654 Chapter 40: Seventh Cholera Pandemic, 1961–......Page 664 Chapter 41: Contemporary HIV/AIDS Pandemic, 1980–......Page 670 Chapter 42: The Mad Cow Crisis and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies, 1985–......Page 684 Chapter 43: Contemporary Malaria......Page 692 Chapter 44: Contemporary Tuberculosis......Page 700 Chapter 45: SARS Epidemic, East Asia, 2002–2003......Page 706 Chapter 46: “Asian Flu” (H1N1) Epidemic, Asia, 2009–2010......Page 712 Chapter 47: MERS Epidemic, Middle East, 2012–?......Page 716 Chapter 48: Ebola Virus Epidemic, West Africa, 2013–2016......Page 720 Chapter 49: Pneumonic Plague Epidemic, Madagascar, 2014–2017......Page 726 Chapter 50: Zika Virus Epidemic, Latin America and the Caribbean, 2015–2017......Page 730 Chapter 51: Cholera Epidemic, Yemen, 2017–?......Page 734 Chapter 52: Contemporary Measles Outbreaks, United States......Page 738 Glossary......Page 742 Bibliography......Page 748 Index......Page 752 About the Authors......Page 774