when plague strikes :: essays research papers

Overview of When Plague Strikes by James GiblinThis hold is separated into three main parts the Black Death, variola major, and aids. This book gives facts of occurring diseases and the diseases from the past. This books content mainly took place in Europe and Asia when it gave facts dates and examples. It explains the nature and symptoms of diseases from long ago.The bubonic Plague mainly affects rodents, but fleas can transmit the disease to great deal. erstwhile people are infected, they infect others very rapidly the disease struck and killed people with terrible speed. They called it "The Black Death" because of the black spots it produced on the skin. A terrible killer was loose across Europe, and medieval medicine had nothing to go against it. In five years twenty five million people were dead because of the Black Death. So many people had died that there were serious labor shortages all over Europe. The Black Death came in three forms, the bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemia. apiece different form of execration killed people in a nasty way. All forms were caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis. The symptoms were enlarged and inflamed lymph nodes (around arm pits, distinguish and groin). The term bubonic refers to the characteristic bubo or enlarged lymphatic gland. Victims were subject to headaches, nausea, aching joints, fever of 101-105 degrees, vomiting, and a general feeling of illness. Symptoms took from 1-7 days to appear. Bubonic plague is just the medical term for the Black Death (Giblin 11). Smallpox is a serious, contagious, and sometimes fatal infectious disease. There is no specific treatment for smallpox disease, and the only prevention is vaccination. The name smallpox is derived from the Latin word for spotted and refers to the raised bumps that appear on the face and body of an infected person. Smallpox outbreaks reserve occurred from time to time for thousands of years, but the disease is now eradicated after a suc cessful worldwide vaccination program. The last case of smallpox in the get together States was in 1949. The last naturally occurring case in the world was in Somalia in 1977. Generally, direct and fairly prolonged face-to-face contact is required to sprinkle smallpox from one person to another. Smallpox also can be spread through direct contact with infected bodily fluids or polluted objects such as bedding or clothing. The first symptoms of smallpox include fever, malaise, head and body aches, and sometimes vomiting.