A Medical Revolution

1563 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Influenza pandemic 1918-19 essay

In the spring of 1918, the first wave of one of the deadliest influenza pandemics began plaguing its victims (Peters, ix). Over the span of three lethal waves, the pandemic claimed approximately forty million victims, eradicating nearly twenty percent of the entire world’s population, or about one out of five individuals (Peters, ix). To make matters more dire, the ill-suited medical community was exceptionally unprepared for such a wide-scale pandemic: Doctors had very basic tools, knew little about diseases, and had no experience with vaccinations or prevention (Peters, 1-5; “The 1920s: Medicine and Health: Overview”, n.p.). People blindly faced the epidemic, relying on folk remedies such as consuming wine, drinking antiseptic, and adapting nudist lifestyles to face the sickness that could kill within hours (Peters, 47; “Medicine ads of the 1910s”, n.p.). Therefore, the accountability of the 1918 Great Pandemic was placed heavily on the medical community’s shoulders (Peters, 43). After the Great Pandemic, the public and the medical community realized the fact that changes needed to happen in order to prevent such a catastrophic pandemic in the future (Peters, 44). Despite the obstacles the pandemic caused and the fact that it left the medical community debilitated, the medical community miraculously started flourishing by inventing new technologies, diagnostic processes, remedies, and preventative methods in the 1920s (Scott, n.p.; “The 1920s: Medicine and Health: Overview”, n.p.). The 1920s marked the turning point of modern-day medicine as it transformed art into a science that renovated and saved society.

The 1918 Great Influenza Pandemic came as a painful slap in the face to the medical community; a slap that tol...

... middle of paper ...

...rse: Birth Control Advertising in the 1920s and 1930s.” 1 Jan. 1994. ProQuest. Web. 1 Feb. 2012.

Scott, Robert. "1920's Medicine." The Roaring Twenties. 2005. N.p. Web. 16 Jan. 2012. .

Peters, Stephanie True. Epidemic! The 1918 Influenza Pandemic. Tarrytown: Benchmark Books, 2005. Print.

"The 1920s: Medicine and Health: Overview." American Decades. 2001.Encyclopedia.com. 16 Jan. 2012 .

“Why is Medicine Important?” Adorable Science. 2011. N.p. Web. 8 Feb. 2012.

Wong, George J. “Penicillin.” University of Hawaii at Manoa Botany. N.d. University of Hawaii at Manoa. Web. 8 Jan 2012.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of The Article: The Shifting Engines Of Medicalization

    194 Words  | 1 Pages

    The concepts discussed within the article regarding medicalization and changes within the field of medicine served to be new knowledge for me as the article addressed multiple different aspects regarding the growth of medicalization from a sociological standpoint. Furthermore, the article “The Shifting Engines of Medicalization” discussed the significant changes regarding medicalization that have evolved and are evidently practiced within the contemporary society today. For instance, changes have occurred within health policies, corporatized medicine, clinical freedom, authority and sovereignty exercised by physicians has reduced as other factors began to grow that gained importance within medical care (Conrad 4). Moreover, the article emphasized

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Panic Virus

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    After reading The Panic Virus, it became evident that this book can in fact be extremely useful. Perhaps people prefer not to educate themselves about vaccination on the grounds that medical language can be dry, confusing, and uninteresting. Perhaps they don’t wish to listen to medical professionals due to the fact that they feel that they have an agenda to protect themselves. Whatever the reason, the need for Mnookin’s The Panic Virus is to provide a strong argument for pro-vaccination that is given by a member of the reader’s peers. Mnookin is not a medical professional, and has no personal gain from defending the medical field; therefore, his argument is ‘by the people, for the people’. Mnookin’s tone throughout the novel also makes The Panic Virus a page-turner. Mnookin uses a tone that is at times formal and factual and at other times snide and informal, engaging the reader with every

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography Of The Pill

    1605 Words  | 4 Pages

    This lecture on the Pill will focus on the introduction, controversies, and outcome of women’s control of contraception during the mid 20th century. It will also discuss how the Pill became an influential stepping-stone for women activists. I chose to focus this discussion on three questions. First, what did the Pill teach us about the role of women in the middle 20th century? Second, what were the arguments for and against the Pill? Lastly, how safe was the Pill and what effects did women experience from taking it? By centering in on these questions, I hope to provide insight on the struggles women faced before and after this birth control technology became readily available to women in the United States.

    Read More

  • The 1918-1919 Influenza Epidemic

    2713 Words  | 6 Pages

    The 1918-1919 influenza pandemic stretched its lethal tentacles all over the globe, even to the most remote areas of the planet, killing fifty million people or possibly even more. Influenza killed more people in a year than the Black Death of the Middle Ages killed in a century, and it killed more people in twenty-four weeks than AIDS has killed in twenty-four years.3 Influenza normally kills the elderly and infants, but this deadly and abnormal strand claimed young people, those in their twenties or thirties as its target victims. Such was the case for Jules Bergeret. Jules was a “big, strapping man” who owned a tavern during the epidemic, and on December 11 he celebrated his 32 birthday. Within two weeks Jules, his mother, his sister, and his 25 year old wife all fell victim to the flu, and on December 22 he was dead.4 The virus left victims bleeding out of their nose ears and mouth; some coughing so hard that autopsies would later show that abdominal muscles and rib cartilage had been torn. Victims ...

    Read More

  • Spanish Flu Pandemic In 1918

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    The influenza or flu pandemic of 1918 to 1919, the deadliest in modern history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide–about one-third of the planet’s population at the time–and estimates place the number of victims anywhere from 25 to 100 million. More than 25 percent of the U.S. population became sick, and some 675,000 Americans died during the pandemic. The 1918 flu was first observed in Europe, the U.S. and parts of Asia before swiftly spreading around the world. Surprisingly, many flu victims were young, otherwise healthy adults. At the time, there were no effective drugs or vaccines to treat this killer flu strain or prevent its spread. In the U.S., citizens were ordered to wear masks, and schools, theaters and other public

    Read More

  • The Flu Shot Should Not Be Mandatory

    1095 Words  | 3 Pages

    --------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Essen, G. A., "The Socio-Economic Impact of Influenza". http://www.eswi.org/Bulletin_October_1997.cfm [2] Frayha, Husn. " Influenza Vaccination: A Call for Action" http://www.kfshrc.edu.sa/annals/176/97-248R.html [3] "Influenza". http://www.caw.ca/whatwedo/health&safety/factsheet/hsfssubstanceno37.asp

    Read More

  • WWI Sources

    1627 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ssor Heather MacDougall, “July – 11 November 1918: Pandemic Influenza on the Battlefield and Homefront,” Lecture delivered 9 November, 2011, HIST 191, University of Waterloo

    Read More

  • Essay On Birth Control Pills

    1264 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the 1950’s, the search was on for a reliable oral contraceptive. Research began based

    Read More

  • The 1918 Flu Pandemic

    1940 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the most virulent strains of influenza in history ravaged the world and decimated the populations around the world. Present during World War I, the 1918 strain of pandemic influenza found many opportunities to spread through the war. At the time, science wasn’t advanced enough to study the virus, much less find a cure; medical personnel were helpless when it came to fighting the disease, and so the flu went on to infect millions and kill at a rate 25 times higher than the standard.

    Read More

  • Blood Transfusion Essay

    1870 Words  | 4 Pages

    Before WWI, the practice of medicine was far from how it has developed into today. The practice was not advanced, and therefore, had few concrete methods. However, with the beginning of the First World War, there was a great push to improve these methods. Although the war caused much illness and death, it also catalyzed many improvements such as blood transfusions, x-rays, vaccines, and sanitation.

    Read More

  • War and Influenza Epidemic

    842 Words  | 2 Pages

    From the Chelsea Naval Hospital, overlooking the Boston Bay, I sip on a cup of Joe and browse over the Sports Section of the Los Angeles Times. Earlier this month, three Bostonians dropped dead from influenza. In examining the extent of the epidemic, Surgeon-General Blue commented to the Times , "People are stricken on the streets, while at work in factories, shipyards, offices or elsewhere. First there is a chill, then fever with temperature from 101 to 103, headache, backache, reddening and running of the eyes, pains and aches all over the body, and general prostration." I gaze out my window, the sun seems brighter than usual and the town more radiant. It must be the victory, for the threat of death due to influenza is pervasive. Outside, children jump rope. With every skip of the jump rope they chant. "I had a little bird." Skip. "Its name was Enza." Skip. "I opened up the window." Skip. "And in-flu-enza."

    Read More

  • Government Responses and Expectations During the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kent, Susan Kingsley. The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.

    Read More

  • The Importance of the Influenza Vaccine

    1503 Words  | 4 Pages

    At no time was a search for the cure for influenza more frantic than after the devastating effects of the pandemic of 1918. The pandemic killed somewhere between twenty and a hundred million people, making it twenty five times more deadly than the ordinary cough and sneeze flu. The symptoms of this flu were like something straight out of a horror movie: the victim’s facial complexion changed to a dark, brownish purple, the feet turned black, and they began to cough up blood. Eventually, death was caused, literally by drowning, when the victim’s lungs filled with their own blood. The first scientist to claim to solve the enigma of influenza was Dr. Friedrich Johann Pfeiffer. He isolated a bacterium he named Hemophilus influenzae from the respiratory tract of those who had the flu in the pandemic of 1890. He was believed to be correct in his discovery until the pandemic of 1918, when scientists searched the respiratory tracts of influenza victims and only sometimes found his bacterium. Robert E. Shope and his mentor Paul Lewis were the next to attempt to crack the code of influenza. They chose to study the disease in pigs, a controversial choice because many people believed that the swine influenza pigs were contracting was not the same as the human flu. The first experiment they ran was ba...

    Read More

  • The Spanish Flu - Response to the Influenza of 1918

    1998 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Influenza of 1918. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1989. Print Use: I will use this as an extra source to supplement The Great Influenza and get more detailed information about Philadelphia, as well as Sans Francisco if I feel it would be useful. Secondary Furman, Bess. A Profile of the United States Public Health Service 1798-1948.

    Read More

  • The Hippie Movement

    1545 Words  | 4 Pages

    "People and Events: The Pill and the Sexual Revolution." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.

    Read More

More about A Medical Revolution

Open Document