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The Plague Cycle

Page 31

by Charles Kenny


  medical revolutions, 7–8, 151, 157, 216

  medical supplies, US trade in, 159

  meningitis, 205, 221

  meningococcus vaccine, 134–35

  Menzel, Peter, 24

  Merck, 134

  mercurous chloride, 131

  Mexico, Mexicans, 59, 92, 129–30, 143, 146, 176, 182, 200, 201

  miasma, 103, 109, 151

  miasma theory, 81, 132

  Michalopoulos, Stelios, 65

  microcephaly, 189

  Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak (MERS; 2015), 221, 223

  migrations, 5, 17

  military, 152, 228 disease weaponized by, 207–11

  effect of sanitation on, 112–13

  impact of disease on, 67–74, 81

  syphilis in, 89–90

  Miller, Judith, 208

  miscarriages, 36

  Mitochondrial Eve, 13, 242

  molecular biology manipulation, 210

  Mongol Empire, 42–44, 50, 56

  monkeypox, 175

  monopoly (patent) rights, 216

  Montagu, Mary Wortley, xii–xiii, 126–27

  Montezuma, Aztec emperor, 58, 236

  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 172

  mosquitoes, 14–15, 18, 78, 101, 114, 132, 151–52, 189–90, 199–201, 221

  mumps, 134–35, 144

  Murray, Damien, 95–96

  “Muslim quarantine,” 40

  Mussi, Gabriele de, 44, 123

  Myhrvold, Nathan, 210

  Napoleon Bonaparte Visiting the Plague-Stricken at Jaffa (Gros), 53

  Napoleon I, Emperor of France, 53, 70–74, 136, 151

  National Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League, 192

  Nazi Party, 87

  Nelson, Deborah, 205

  newborns, measles in, 21

  New World, spread of disease in, 6, 53–64, 208

  New York, N.Y.: Covid-19 outbreak in, 183, 213

  population of, 1, 112, 171

  sanitation measures in, 111–12

  Nightingale, Florence, 91

  Nipah virus, 175, 177, 221

  noninfectious diseases, mortality rates from, 8, 144–46

  nuclear weapons, 210–11, 227, 235

  Nunn, Nathan, 65

  nutrition, 24–25, 114 in control of disease, 27, 143, 146

  Obama, Barack, 149

  obesity, 146, 199

  Offit, Paul, 134–35

  Ó Gráda, Cormac, 27

  Olympic Games (2016), 189

  O’Neill, Jim, 206–7

  Ordinance of Labourers, British (1349), 47–48

  Orellana, Francisco de, 59–60

  Oster, Emily, 164, 173

  Ottoman Empire, 56, 70, 126–27

  outsiders, exclusion of, 75, 75, 88–95

  over-population, 235

  oxytetracycline, 203

  Pakistan, 100, 139, 196 anti-vaccination movement in, 197–98

  Panama Canal, 153

  pandemics, xi, 23, 27, 33 control measures for, 221

  early records of, 31–32, 66

  in fall of Roman Empire, 37–40

  see also plagues; specific diseases

  Papaioannou, Elias, 65

  Park, Mungo, 69

  parasites, 13–17, 24–25, 154, 200

  parasite stress theory, 95–96, 254

  Parker, Janet, 124, 138

  Pasteur, Louis, 91, 132–34

  pasteurization, 133

  pathogen diversity, 16

  pathogen stress, 96, 165

  Peace Corps, US, 157

  Pediculus humanus corporis, 68–69

  penicillin, 7, 135, 187, 206

  Peoples of the West, The, 35

  personal belief exemption forms, 194

  personal protective equipment, 159, 226

  pertussis, 144

  pest houses, 87

  pesticides, 153, 199–200

  pestilence, 4–5, 17–18, 53–74 in Apocalypse, 231, 233

  Petrarch, 42–43, 45–46, 122, 236

  Pfizer, 221

  Philosophical Transactions (Royal Society), 126

  Phipps, James, 128, 134

  pigs: antibiotic misuse in, 204–5, 220

  in spread of disease, 19–20, 175–77

  Pinker, Steven, 15–16

  plagues, 23, 36, 38, 59, 68, 70, 75, 86, 89, 93, 122, 132, 135, 177, 207, 211, 233, 236 bad air as source of, 102–3

  in germ warfare, 208

  historical, 10

  as judgment, 29, 87

  of Justinian, 37–39, 48–49

  mortality rates of, 88–89, 144

  resurgence of, 175

  see also Black Death; specific diseases

  Plagues and Peoples (McNeill), 43

  Plato, 32

  Pliny the Elder, 34

  Plutarch, 207

  pneumococcus vaccine, 134–35

  pneumocystis, 172

  pneumonia, 21, 78, 134–35, 183, 203, 205, 220–21, 257 mortality rates from, 144

  polio, xii–xiii, 89, 211, 218, 219

  polio vaccine, 134, 139–40, 192, 198 opposition to, 196–97

  oral, 119

  Polo, Marco, 42–43, 56, 100–101

  poorhouses, 106–7

  Poor Law, British, 106

  population: aging of, 8

  decline in, 161

  disease in control of, 26–28, 63, 105–6, 234

  present-day, 178

  population density, 18, 257–58 urbanization and, 155–57

  population geneticists, 13

  population growth, 1, 15, 17–18, 55, 235, 244, 245, 250 cycles of, see Malthusian theory

  settlement in, 18–28

  pork tapeworms, 19

  Porter, Dorothy, 87, 215–16

  postoperative infections, 206

  potassium, bromide of, 113

  poverty, 92, 146, 155, 181, 236 cleanliness and, 110

  declining global rates of, 166

  diet and, 24–25

  in disease mortality rates, 191, 216–17

  progress against disease in, 143

  in spread of disease, 9, 104, 106–7, 132, 165, 185, 216–17, 222, 226, 229

  pregnancy, risks of, 163, 189

  prehistoric diseases, 13–14, 37, 55

  premature birth, 36

  prescriptions, mail-order, 202

  Procopius, 29, 37–39, 44, 122

  promiscuity, 163

  prostitution, 4, 87, 89–92

  protective gear, 115–16

  protozoa, 78–79, 154

  public baths, 100, 101, 110

  public health: budgeting and costs in, 216–17

  early advancements in, 103

  Public Health Commission (Venice), 103

  pustules, 124, 128

  putrefaction, 112, 133

  quackery, 122

  quarantine, 22, 81–84, 88–93, 105, 149, 158, 180–81, 185, 222–26

  quinine, 144, 151–53, 199

  quinine-related drugs, 144

  rabies vaccine, 134

  racism, 83, 92–93

  rats, 1, 37–38, 43, 44, 45, 49, 50, 88, 99, 101, 115, 132, 186, 208–9

  Reed, Walter, 152

  refugee camps, 140–41

  regressive behavioral disorder (RBD), 187

  rehydration, 140–43

  religious customs, 83–84

  Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain (Chadwick), 107

  respirators, 159

  restaurant inspections, 111

  rheumatoid arthritis, 206

  Richards, Frank, xii

  Riley, James, 140

  rinderpest, eradication of, xii

  ring vaccination, 139

  Rising Life Expectancy (Riley), 140

  Robinson, James, 65, 166

  Roman Empire, 6, 40, 43, 81, 90, 125 diet and life expectancy in, 27–28

  extent of, 34–36

  mortality rate in, 35–36

  sanitation in, 101
/>   spread of infectious disease in, 33–39

  Romer, Paul, 160

  rotavirus, 20

  Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 11, 119

  Royal Society, 126, 128

  rubella, 134–35, 144, 187

  Russia, 33, 129, 146 cholera pandemic in, 105

  Napoleon’s invasion of, 70–74

  typhus deaths in, 112–13

  Sachs, Jeffrey, 165

  Salamon, Michiel Angelo, 207–8

  Salk, Jonas, 134

  salmonella (Salmonella typhi), 201–2, 204, 211

  Salvany, Josep de, 129–30

  sanitation, 7–8, 10, 18–19, 28, 51, 96, 132, 144, 151, 157, 186, 190 advancements in, 97–116, 121

  basic level services in, 143

  in biblical world, 67–68

  in control of disease, 77, 106–7, 218–29

  disgust as aid to, 80–81

  in hospitals, 205–6

  hygiene in, 142

  lack of, 45, 67, 72, 90, 140–41, 191–92

  mortality rates and, 107, 113–14

  overuse and misuse of, 198–99

  in present day, 110–11

  urbanization and, 74

  sanitation gap, 115

  sanitation revolution, 104, 110, 112–14, 157, 216

  Schaller, Mark, 95–96

  Scheidel, Walter, 27

  school shutdowns, 223

  Scott, James, 28, 31

  screenings, 186

  Sears, Bob, 195

  Second Crusade, 68

  selective isolation, 181

  self-immolation, 86–87

  sepsis, 221, 268

  severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), 82, 175, 178–79, 185

  sewage, 113, 197, 257–58 advancements in disposal of, 107–11

  sewers, sewer systems, 97, 100–101, 114, 116, 132, 143 London development of, 107–10

  sexual contact, 81, 163–64, 264

  sexually transmitted disease, 4, 66, 89–90, 129, 163, 184, 189 see also specific diseases

  sexual restraint, 4–5

  sexual revolution (1960s), 136, 163

  Shapin, Steven, xiii

  Sherman, Paul, 99

  shigella, drug-resistant, 207

  Short Account of the Destruction of the Indes (Las Casas), 59

  sickle cell trait, 62, 79

  silk trade, 35, 50

  Simon, John, 215

  skin infections, 135

  slaves, slavery, 31, 66, 153–54, 250 agriculture and, 48–49

  in early civilization, 18

  immunity in, 62

  mistreatment and atrocities of, 57–62

  in population replenishment, 27–28

  reduction of, 40

  in spread of disease, 6, 61–62

  slave trade, 34, 50, 58, 61, 63–65, 69, 235

  sleeping sickness, 136, 153–54

  smallpox, 10, 13, 21, 22–23, 27, 35, 47, 57, 59, 60, 64, 92, 106, 114, 125, 179, 192, 218–19, 236 eradication of, xii–xiii, 124, 137–39, 144, 173, 229

  Jenner’s contribution on, 128–29

  mortality rates from, xii, 129, 131, 144

  progress against, 124–31

  spread to Native Americans, 57–61, 208

  smallpox vaccine, 124–27, 139, 192 global campaign for, 129–31

  smell, 103, 107–9, 132 of disease, 57, 72, 97

  linked to disease, 81, 91, 97, 101, 107, 109

  Smith, Katherine, 174

  sneezing, 191

  Snow, John, 132

  social distancing, 9, 87–88, 96, 116, 180, 222, 223, 224

  Spanish-American War (1898), 113

  Spanish conquest, 57–61, 64

  spices, sanitizing use of, 99–100

  Stanley, Henry Morton, 152, 153–54

  staphylococcus, 135, 207

  Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), 205

  starvation, 27, 71, 73, 87

  stay-at-home orders, 180

  steam baths, 90

  sterilization, 113, 222 vaccine and fear of, 196–97

  street cleaning, 111

  streptomycin, 201, 203

  strokes, xi, 79, 144, 145

  Stuart, House of, smallpox and, 125–27

  Study of History, A (Toynbee), 32–33

  stunting, 191, 219

  subsistence-level populations, 3–6

  suicides, 157

  sulfonamide, 201, 203, 257

  Summers, Lawrence, 165, 217

  surgery: antibiotic resistance and, 206

  antiseptics in, 113

  lack of sanitation in, 72

  Sussman, George, 50

  Suzuki, Akihito, 22

  swamp drainage, 151–53

  swine flu, 19, 75, 95, 176, 180, 182, 225

  syphilis, 55, 66, 89–91, 135–36, 163, 178

  syringes, 136, 173

  Takahashi, Michiaki, 135

  Taliban, xiii, 197–98

  Talty, Stephan, 71–72

  tapeworms, 20–21

  Tarbagan marmot, 43

  tartar emetic, 131

  technology: advances in, 4, 51, 156, 160–61, 218

  agricultural, 26

  in economic inequality, 236

  labor and, 48

  in spread of disease, 37

  Tenochtitlán, 56, 58

  testing, 181, 185, 223, 226

  tetanus, 14, 144

  tetanus vaccine, 134, 140

  tetracycline, 201, 203–4, 207

  Thirty Years’ War, 68–69

  Thucydides, 31–32, 46

  Tognotti, Eugenia, 87

  Total Sanitation Campaign, 219

  tourism, tourists, 158, 169, 178, 181–82

  toxoplasmosis, 14

  Toynbee, Arnold, 32–33

  trade, 64, 227 globalization of, 149, 159–61

  in global spread of disease, 29–51, 56, 173, 185

  historic development of, 31, 40–42

  travel: bans on, 96, 180–84, 227

  in spread of disease, 157–58, 169, 177–78, 227

  trench warfare, 112

  trichinosis, 19

  triclosan, 199

  tropical diseases, 15–17, 62, 69, 151–55, 165–66

  tsetse fly, 154

  tuberculosis, 20, 75, 78, 89, 91–92, 95, 129, 132, 144, 257, 268 drug resistance in, 200–201, 205

  mortality rates from, 104, 255–56

  resurgence of, 175

  tuberculosis vaccine, 139–40

  tularemia, 14

  typhoid fever, 32, 201–2, 257

  typhus, 67–69, 135–36, 208, 236 mortality rates from, 74, 144, 236

  in World War I, 112–13

  unemployment benefits, 224

  United Nations, 156, 162, 228

  United Nations Security Council, 209, 211

  United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, 213

  United States, 63, 105, 224 anti-vaccination movement in, 195

  childhood mortality in, 145, 191

  Covid-19 leadership failures in, 223

  Covid-19 response in, 179, 182–84

  in global trade and travel, 159

  measles outbreak in, 195

  misuse of antibiotics in, 202

  mortality rankings in, 113–14

  plague in, 186

  progress against polio in, 139

  sanitation workers in, 111–12

  urbanization, 8, 33, 49, 51, 96, 179, 185, 241 economic impact of, 156–57

  in Industrial Revolution, 104

  limitations on, 74

  population density in, 28, 155–57

  in progress against disease, 146–47

  progressive ideology in, 157

  public health and sanitation in, 101–4, 111

  slowing of, 40

  in spread of disease, 104–10, 155

  Vaccination Act (UK; 1867), 192

  Vaccination Inquirer, 190

  vaccinations, ix, 7, 10, 74, 92–93, 116–47, 190, 241 compulsory, 129, 192, 196

  diseases without, 139

>   economic inequality in, 220–21

  opposition to, xiii, 9, 23, 187, 192–98, 235

  overuse and misuse of, 198

  in reduction of prejudice, 158

  Taliban jihad against, 197–98

  see also immunization; inoculation

  vaccines: effectiveness of, 191

  increased development and production of, 228–29

  origin of term, 128

  see also specific vaccines

  variolation, xii–xiii, 125–26, 128, 130, 208

  Venice, 36, 42, 49, 88, 103, 225

  ventilators, 159

  Verdú, Miguel, 45

  Vesalius, 123

  Victorian period, public health in, 215–16

  Vilnius, mass grave in, 73–74

  violence, 5, 233 in conquest of New World, 58–59

  life expectancy and, 165

  in population control, 15–16

  in response to disease, 95, 254

  in Taliban jihad, 197–98

  vitamin A deficiency, 24–25

  Voigtländer, Nico, 48, 51

  Voth, Hans-Joachim, 48, 51

  Wakefield, Andrew, 187, 193–94, 195

  Walter, Jakob, 71, 72–74

  war, warfare, 4–5, 233, 264 famine and, 27

  mortality rates from, 16

  in population control, 37

  population migration and, 27–28

  in spread of disease, 34, 37, 50, 67–68

  weaponized disease in, 207–11

  see also specific conflicts

  Washington, George, 131, 208

  water supplies, 100–101, 103–4, 107–8, 110, 113–14, 116, 121, 123, 141–43, 191, 218 tainted, 85–86, 92, 142

  wealth, wealthy, 83, 171 health and, 165–66

  in life expectancy, 27, 114

  sentiment against, 106

  weaponization, of disease, 9, 190, 207–9, 228

 

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