A Catastrophe of Pandemic Proportions
A Catastrophe of Pandemic Proportions
It is the year 2018. The future that once looked bright is now filled with devastation. Two years ago a small pox epidemic swept through the United States in the worst act of terrorism we have ever seen. Due to the belief small pox was gone for good, children were no longer vaccinated. If only we knew the enemy was manufacturing this virus as a lethal weapon to be unleashed in the United States. I do not think even the enemy had any idea of the magnitude of death and destruction such a simple virus could cause. The first wave killed 40% of the eastern coast. As it swept across our nation, the main toll was children’s lives. Many who survived were left blind and scarred forever. The infrastructure of the United States has been crumbling under our feet. If only this is where the war ended; with this brutal act of bioterrorism that left hundreds of thousands of lives lost. The enemy saw this as the perfect time to bomb our land. Those who survived had to fend for their lives as war was brought on our soil for the first time in a century. Of course, this scenario is fiction. This has never happened but the possibility is looming over our country. Due to the lack of public health preparedness education in the United States, this country is extremely vulnerable to mass casualty event from a pandemic event.
Many people in modern society do not realize something as simple as small pox virus could cripple our nation rather swiftly. Small pox is only one of the many viruses that could sweep through this nation like wildfire. Why is small pox so deadly? It is a virus thought to be extinct. This type of assumption is deadly. We no longer look for...
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It was spread very slowly and less broadly than other viral illnesses which took a long time to identify the infection in the first two weeks. Infection of smallpox started to grow between 7 to 10 days when the scabs formed into bruises. The signs and symptoms of this disease include high fever, widespread rashes, redness, muscle pain, headache, common cold, vomiting, nausea and many more. Consequently, the virus was found in the bone marrow along with bloodstream in huge numbers. There are different types of the smallpox disease with other classifications.
Quarantining became a relevant method used to keep a contagious disease in a confined area, rather than allowing it to rapidly spread across a country. Also, vaccines became a popular interest of scientists and doctors looking for cures to various illnesses. But, quarantines and vaccines were not the only prevention methods used to try and eradicate the flu; Canadians also used home remedies, public-humiliation, mask-warnings and public-building closures as a weapon against the pandemic. Learning from the past is the best way to improve in the future. Canadians proved this with an incredible advancement in disease prevention techniques while combating the deadly Spanish Influenza of
The Center of Disease Control and Prevention has an emergency awareness and response page based off of a zombie apocalypse to help inform people on how they should be ready if a major emergency were to occur. The CDC has a range of research and information from heart disease to the worst, infectious, disease-causing agents. The CDC also shares information about how to prepare and what to do if a bioterrorism attack or pandemic were to occur. The Center of Disease and Control is a diversified government organization that has the main purpose of protecting the public against the serious threats of bioterrorism and dangerous pandemics.
...influenza pandemic in one way or another; the use of quarantines were extremely prevalent among them. Also, the pandemic is directly responsible for the creation of many health organizations across the globe. The organizations help track and research illnesses across the globe. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) for example, strive to prevent epidemics and pandemics. They also provide a governing body with directives to follow in case an outbreak does occur, and if one shall occur the efforts of organizations across the globe will be crucial for its containment. It is amazing that with modern medicine and proper organization that influenza still manages to make its appearance across the globe annually.
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In the 1960s, doctors in the United States predicted that infectious diseases were in decline. US surgeon Dr. William H. Stewart told the nation that it had already seen most of the frontiers in the field of contagious disease. Epidemiology seemed destined to become a scientific backwater (Karlen 1995, 3). Although people thought that this particular field was gradually dying, it wasn’t. A lot more of it was destined to come. By the late 1980s, it became clear that people’s initial belief of infectious diseases declining needed to be qualified, as a host of new diseases emerged to infect human beings (Smallman & Brown, 2011).With the current trends, the epidemics and pandemics we have faced have created a very chaotic and unreliable future for mankind. As of today, it has really been difficult to prevent global epidemics and pandemics. Although the cases may be different from one state to another, the challenges we all face are all interconnected in this globalized world.
When looking back on history, it is evident to see that humans by nature are warriors. Humans often find themselves fighting mysterious battles against disguised enemies. Throughout history the earth has been afflicted with mysterious diseases, which tend to invisibly cause the preponderance of civilizations to perish. The evolution of infectious diseases has and always will provide challenges for humankind (Hoff, Smith, and Calisher 6-7). Over the course of time, humans gradually developed a preference to live in large urban settings. Urbanization and the cross-cultural interaction of civilizations have both strongly provoked widespread illness, which is known as an epidemic or pandemic based upon size. An epidemic is when a common disease affects a large number of people within a particular region (Lamb). A pandemic is similar to an epidemic but is even more widespread than an epidemic, and spreads throughout entire continents or even the world. Despite the slight variation in meaning, most pandemics are interchangeably denoted as epidemics (Friendlander 13-14). Epidemics and pandemics have formed the course of human history by inflicting lifestyle alterations and abruptly killing large masses of people. When one thinks of widespread disease it is easy to think that pandemics and epidemics are things of the past. Unfortunately, epidemics are commonly found today in poorer countries and major pandemics are still on the rise, such as the modern disease AIDS (Lampton 12-15). Nonetheless, epidemics and pandemics affect large portions of the world’s population; thus, these ongoing diseases will always influence the history of mankind because they force transformation amongst even the strongest civilizations.
Throughout human history disease has been linked to many facets of life and even the rise and fall of entire civilizations. Biological, social, political and economic forces have all influenced how the outbreak of disease is handled. Epidemics have altered history in how they have developed and the impact that they have had. In turn, epidemic management has been influenced by history and governments as humans have learned to cope with outbreaks and the social and political implications that result from them. Today, biomedical engineers, politicians, historians and social scientists are leading the battle in an attempt to understand and combat infectious diseases. This report will explore epidemic management and its historical relationship with the international political system. Issues will be investigated that range from the societal effects of epidemics, to observing today’s public policy debates regarding outbreaks to the possible reduction or even dissolution of conflict in exchange for food and medical technology between nations. Research has made it abundantly clear that humans must be vigilant in combating epidemics. By drawing on multiple disciplines, it is possible to implement a sound disease management plan that will control and reduce the spreading and mortality of infectious agents across the globe, as well as reduce tension and conflict between the developed and developing worlds.