Illnesses of the 1700s Essay

Illnesses of the 1700’s There were many illnesses in the 1700’s and 1800’s that were life threatening, or even a sure death, that are in current times, not a concern, or highly curable. Examples are smallpox, bubonic plague, typhus, mumps, influenza, yellow fever, and measles. These diseases almost single handedly wiped out several native American tribes, and wreaked havoc on European communities. Small pox, overtook half of Boston in 1763. There was no cure, and to this day there is not one, however, it is now completely preventable by vaccine. This disease killed 1 out of 6 people that it infected, and left the rest with horrible scars for the rest of their lives. Inoculation began with smallpox, and spread very quickly due to this particular disease. Documentation of Native American artifacts show that small pox swept these communities, wiping out many of the skilled artisans, thus resulting in a lack of recorded history for long periods of time for these affected tribes. Bubonic Plague was also rampant in this period of time, wiping out whole communities. This highly contagious disease is now preventable and treatable, however, even with prompt treatment with antibiotics, the mortality rate is 15%. With housing conditions the way that they were during these times, people lived with many extended family members in one house, and in close quarters with those around them. Bubonic Plague spread like wildfire, affecting thousands in a short period of time. Influenza, which in current medicine, also has a vaccine, and treatments available, swept Europe prior to and after the 1700/1800’s. It is recorded that influenza in Europe infected over 500 million people, with a mortality of 12 million. It is hard to imagine someone dying from the flu, however, even now, the influenza virus mutates from year to year. This makes it necessary for a new vaccine to be developed based on the infections from a particular region so that it is effective in preventing that particular strain. Mumps, measles and rubella also had a high mortality rate, and like the majority of the diseases that affected millions in that timeframe, they are highly preventable with today’s medicine in the form of vaccines. There is no treatment once these viruses are contracted, so the symptoms are treated for both. The MMR vaccine was developed to prevent all 3 of these viruses, and are given with the standard vaccines that children get at their newborn check up. Typhus was a disease spread by lice, that caused massive losses of population. Areas that were overcrowded and communities that were undernourished fell victim to this epidemic. The lice spread quickly and thus spread the disease, people often wore the same clothes for long periods of time, allowing the lice to multiply and spread among households. Even once this disease was discovered, and was being investigated for treatment, the Doctor’s researching both became infected and died from it. It is rare to find this virus active today, and it is treatable with antibiotics. The way that the government deals with outbreaks of diseases differs today from what the procedure was in the 1700/1800’s. The standard protocol then was to quarantine entire communities, without proper testing, and unknown incubation periods, it was difficult for containment to take place. In current times, we have the CDC, a government agency dedicated to discovery, treatment, and containment of communicable diseases. They provide information to the public and are responsible for keeping vaccines updated and effective. In this way, our communities are protected from the rapid spread of epidemics. As one can see, the way that diseases are treated and prevented now, varies wildly from the lack of modern medicine that was available to even the most modern societies in the 1700s.