What is a pandemic and how does it differ from an epidemic? Why and when do they occur? What can cause them in the modern world? And what does this say in the film “Pandemic Lies”?
Distinction
Let's get everything in order.In essence, a pandemic is a massive human disease. Just like the epidemic. However, they differ in their scale. If it is accepted to call an epidemic an outbreak of a disease when its prevalence is above a certain level for a given region, then it becomes a pandemic when it crosses the borders of the state in which it originated and when the number of infected is comparable to the population.
As we can see, this definition is prettyvague. And Ebola fever, for example, spreading to several states, causes concern to the entire world community, but cannot be called a pandemic in the full sense of the word. While the seasonal epidemic of ordinary flu, "walking", for example, in Europe, is well suited for its definition.
From the history
Where would modern medicine be withoutmicrobiology and virology? These related sciences have greatly helped humanity. Apparently, since the appearance of a reasonable person, our race has suffered from viruses and microorganisms. Evidence of this is the ancient chronicles and excavations of burials (in the latter, for example, typhoid bacteria are still found). But what to say, if only in the last two thousand years from pandemics caused by the terrible diseases of the past, died more than as a result of world wars! According to some reports, only five hundred million people became victims of black smallpox. Let us tell briefly about the most famous pandemics in the history of mankind.
Smallpox
Pandemic (it was she who was) was rampanteverywhere. She was also called smallpox. The disease, from which millions have died in dark times, is caused by a virus. On average, mortality from it worldwide reached forty percent. It was widespread everywhere. Often infected with it from domestic animals. Moreover, people endured the animal disease, and subsequently it helped many to avoid human smallpox. This was the cause of the first vaccinations (or rather, variolations - they vaccinated smallpox pus), although the effects of the latter have weakened with the passage of life.
There have been cases of intentional infection of Indians.North American continent. For the latter, the disease was fatal in 90% of cases. A pandemic is one of those tools that helped displaced people to occupy foreign territory. The British specifically gave and sold blankets and clothes to the Indians in order to have the terrible virus clean the New World for them.
Due to the widespread vaccination diseasecompletely managed to win in the Soviet era. And the variola virus is stored only in a few laboratories in the world. In the event of an outbreak, it will be possible to manufacture a vaccine.
Plague
Acute disease with extremely high mortality.It occurs with a lesion of the internal organs and lymph nodes, sepsis develops. Known bubonic and pulmonary plague. It occurs in natural foci, its carriers are rodents. Called the plague wand. With modern methods of treatment, mortality can be reduced to five percent. In ancient times, however, the pandemics of this disease are known, having killed millions of people. Thus, Justinian's plague, which appeared in 541–700. in Egypt, killed up to 100 million people around the world. Only in Byzantium, half of the entire population died of it. Another famous pandemic was the Black Death. Then (1347–1351) the plague came to Europe from China. Thirty-four million people died from it.
But the story of the plague does not end there.During the so-called Third Pandemic, six million people died in India alone. But, unlike the first two cases, the disease “traveled” around the world for more than fifty years. It was able to spread across the continents thanks to developed trade relations.
Cholera pandemics
There were several of them.The first pandemic arose in 1816 in Bengal. Such countries as India, China and Indonesia have suffered greatly from it. The number of victims is estimated in tens of millions. Then cholera reached Russia. Here more than two million people died from it. In total, seven cholera pandemics are known. They all appeared in the new time. Until the nineteenth century, cholera was a disease of local character. Apparently, the development of trade relations between countries can also be considered as one of the reasons for its pandemics.
Typhoid: abdominal, sypny and returnable
The disease is characterized by high fever,intoxication and mental disorders. The first known pandemic (this is 430-427 BC) occurred during the Peloponnesian War. Then the fourth part of the Athenian army died from it, which undermined the domination of this state in the region. It was only now possible to find out the cause of this disease due to the excavation of mass graves. On the remains of ancient warriors were found typhoid bacteria.
There were epidemics in later times. For example, during World War I in Russia and Poland, up to three and a half million people died from typhus.
Thunderstorm of modernity
The most famous pandemic to dateInfluenza, the so-called "Spanish flu", according to some sources, in the early twentieth century claimed the lives of up to one hundred million people. The peculiarity of the disease is the rapid distribution and low mortality. And only when a person becomes infected with a virus from animals or birds, does he become deadly to him. So, apparently, it was the case with the "Spanish". The peculiarity of this pandemic was that it circled the globe three times, each time fading out and flashing again with a new force. Moreover, he also sharply increased her mortality. Interesting facts about this are also given in the documentary film “Pandemic Lies”.
According to the World Health Organization,Up to five hundred thousand people a year die from seasonal flu epidemics worldwide. And this is despite the fact that regular vaccinations of the population occur. And yet it does not have the character of a pandemic. However, scientists do not exclude the occurrence of such, if the virus of a normal seasonal disease mutates and acquires deadly properties for humans. So, as it was in cases of epidemics of swine and bird flu. Vaccines from these strains have not yet proven their effectiveness.
Finally
Influenza is, of course, a threat to humanity.But medicine, in principle, is always ready for it. However, a flu pandemic occurs, as usual, suddenly. Such terrible diseases of antiquity, like the plague, cholera, typhoid and smallpox, fortunately, are practically not threatened by us anymore. But do not forget about the hidden pandemics. They are characterized by a long course of the disease. These are HIV, tuberculosis and, to a lesser extent, malaria. Millions of people die from each of these diseases each year. An effective cure for them has not yet been found. Many now say that Ebola is a pandemic.
So, let us make a conclusion from allthe foregoing. A pandemic is a disease, the number of cases of which is comparable with the population of a region, while it goes beyond the borders of several states, and the death rate from it is high. And, despite all the achievements of modern medicine, the threats of antiquity are being replaced by new ones, viruses and bacteria are adapting to drugs, and the old vaccines are becoming ineffective. Perhaps in this way nature wants to say something to man? ..
