Invisible Enemies: Stories of Infectious Diseases

By Jeanette Farrell

Seven Infectious Diseases

• Smallpox• Leprosy• Plague• Tuberculosis• Malaria• Cholera• AIDS

Smallpox

• No effective defense against disease until 1800s• Traveled easily• Many people died; those who survived had scars on

their faces– No eyelashes– Face covered with shallow dishes

Smallpox (Continued)

• Asia, Africa, and India practiced inoculation– Gave minor case of smallpox to patient, leaving victim

alive with scars, but immune

• Inoculation was brought back to Europe and allowed Edward Jenner to develop a vaccination to defeat smallpox (cowpox)

• Smallpox was eliminated from world by late 1970s• People worry that smallpox can still be created as a

weapon

Leprosy

• One of least contagious of all infectious diseases

• People who had leprosy were considered outcasts (“untouchables”)

• Carville was a place for people who had leprosy (treated as a disease rather than a curse)

Leprosy (Continued)

• Slow-growing disease in body– Patches develop– Can distort face– Causes lost of eyelashes and eyebrows– Nose could cave in– No sensation

• Leprosy bacteria develops in cool places (armadillo)

Leprosy (Continued)

• Found ways to replace hands, fingers, feet, etc.

• Doctors are pushing to eliminate leprosy as a health problem– Sick people won’t step forward and drugs are

still being developed to stop leprosy (Promin)

Plague

• Plague spread throughout world by use of animals– Black Death (fleas - rats)

• Nobody suspected that plague was spread by animals

• By 1894, scientists had found out what germ caused the disease, but still did not know how it spread– People finally discovered that it was rats (India and

China)

Plague (Continued)

Plague (Continued)

• In 1907, people went after rats when plague struck San Francisco for the second time

• People now know that plague hides in rodents, thus they are better prepared

• Plague will probably never be rid of (drug-resistant)

Tuberculosis

• Germ reproduces slowly (lungs)

• Kills more people than any other germ besides HIV (Symptoms: coughing up blood, paleness, and thinness)

• Traveled around world before Columbus

• Disease of the city (close contact)

• Laennec’s invention of the stethoscope helped learn more about tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (Continued)

• Strange methods were used to treat TB before it was really known how to stop it (bleeding)

• Koch isolated germ that causes TB• Years later, drugs were found that could

stop TB• However, it became drug-resistant• Scientists are still working on ways to stop

TB

Malaria

• People thought it came from swamps• Actually came from parasite in stomach of Anopheles mosquito

• Many people die from disease every year (more than one million) (Symptoms: chills and fever)

• One solution was fever-tree bark• Sickle-cell trait can resist malaria

Malaria (Continued)

• Malaria was driven from North America and Europe (farming)

• Ronald Ross discovered malaria parasite (1897)

• People are trying to get rid of malaria with use of pesticides and bug-proofing homes (screens)

• Still exists mostly near equator

Cholera

• Cholera led to many deaths, some within three hours after being struck with disease (1830s) (Symptoms: blue face, vomit, diarrhea)

• Thought it came from the dirtiness of the cities

• Could have been hiding in India for thousands of years before spreading through trade

Cholera (Continued)

• Snow discovered that it spread through contaminated water (water pumps, etc.)

• Cleaning up is the only way to fully eliminate disease (there are ways to treat it)

AIDS

• First showed up in gay people in 1970s and 1980s (led to prejudice)

• Eventually, doctors discovered that it traveled through bodily fluids and blood

• Also discovered that HIV caused AIDS (worldwide = #1 killer…disease-wise)

AIDS (Continued)

• Using condoms, fresh needles for injections, and restricting sexual activity will reduce risk of HIV and AIDS

• Treatments are available, but there is no vaccine to fully cure it

• Future is bright for the discoveries of cures for AIDS and other diseases

AIDS (Continued)