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tary armies fighting in World War I
to the civilian population across the
globe. It was commonly referred to as
“the Spanish Flu” although the name
is technically incorrect. The disease
did not originate in Spain, and Spain
was no more affected than any other
European country. This particular flu
outbreak orphaned children, closed
schools and businesses, and left
countries without important services.
Within a matter of months, some
675,000 Americans died; some 20
million would die worldwide before
the pandemic subsided.
The early 1940s found the beginning of a polio epidemic, which was a
viral disease that affects the nervous
system. The first major polio epidemic in the United States occurred in
1916 and reached its height in 1952.
The Salk vaccine provided a way to
address this debilitating disease after
close to 60,000 cases were reported
including 3,145 deaths due to polio.
During the last quarter of the 20th
century, there has been the Asian
Flu Pandemic which was a subtype
of type influenza virus A—the same
type of virus that causes bird flu and
swine flu. An outbreak originated in
China in early 1956. It reached the
United States by June of the following
year. The Asian flu caused the death
of nearly 70,000 Americans before it
was completely eradicated.
It is not only viruses that can cause
epidemics. Botulism is a serious illness caused by the toxin produced
by a certain bacteria, most often in
improperly canned foods. In 1977,
59 cases of botulism were linked to
hot sauce from a Mexican restaurant
that used improperly canned jalapeño
peppers. While the number of cases
was small in that instance, it served
as a warning sign: botulism is a preventable disease, caused for the most
part by improperly handled food.
For 30 years, there were no canned
food-induced cases of botulism. Then
in 2007, eight people contracted the
disease after consuming Castleberry’s
Food Company brand canned foods.
The 1990s realized an epidemic, one
of Milwaukee’s two water treatment
plants which became contaminated
with cryptosporidium, a parasitic
disease that causes dehydration, fever,
stomach cramps, and diarrhea. About
403,000 became ill, and more than
100 people died, making it the largest
waterborne outbreak in U.S. history.
The cause of the contamination was
never found.
The decade of the 1980s witnessed
the AIDS epidemic. AIDS (acquired
immune deficiency syndrome) is the
final stage of HIV and is the sixth
leading cause of death in the United
States among people age 25 to 44
today. The virus that causes AIDS is
passed through blood transfusions
or use of needles, sexual contact, or
from a pregnant woman to her child.
Also, within the last decade, there has
been an outbreak of Pertussis, known
as “whooping cough” in California.
Whooping cough is a highly contagious disease mostly isolated on the
west coast. Characterized by violent
coughing, whooping cough is one of
the most commonly occurring diseases in the United States. The Mayo
Clinic reports that in the first half of
the 20th century, whooping cough
was a leading cause of childhood illness and death in the U.S. So epidemics are not just a part of the past, they
are about of our lives even in the 21st
century.
Downtown Dentistry is the place to get an
Anna E Newman DMD
Saturday & Evening hours available
Emergencies & Walk-ins Welcome
Childcare
&
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About the Author
Thomas W. Miller, Ph.D. ABPP is
a Professor Emeritus and Senior
Research Scientist, Center for Health,
Intervention and Prevention, University
of Connecticut and retired service
chief from the VA Medical Center and
tenured Professor in the Department
of Psychiatry, College of Medicine,
University of Kentucky
The U.S. has experienced
several epidemics over the
past few centuries.
Amazing Smile
859.987.5550
436 Main Street Paris, KY 40361
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