The Justinian Plague is considered the most terrible epidemic in history in terms of the number of deaths. In 540 it originated in Egypt and Ethiopia, soon reaching Constantinople and spreading throughout Europe. Outbreaks were recorded until 750. 110 million people became its victims. Below are the most terrible pandemics that humanity has faced throughout the history of its existence.

Black Death

The Great Pestilence or Black Death is the name given to the plague pandemic that swept through North Africa, Asia and Europe in 1346-1353. It spread from the Gobi Desert as a result of global cooling. Covered China, India, then penetrated into Europe.

More than 62 million people died from the Black Death. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Paleopathology states that the pandemic claimed the lives of 25% of the world's population, including a third of Europe, 75% of the population of Venice and Paris, up to 50% of the inhabitants of England, 2/3 of the population of Iceland and Norway. The plague did not leave Europe for several centuries. The most famous outbreaks were recorded in Lyon, London, Vienna, Marseille, and Moscow.

The spread of the epidemic was preceded by numerous disasters: a disastrous drought, an invasion of locusts, hurricanes, and heavy rains. This led to a large-scale migration of rodents to places where people live.

The socio-economic situation in Europe was complicated by civil wars, which led to poverty, vagrancy, and an influx of large numbers of refugees. In the monastic environment, many followed the practice of alousia, which was the renunciation of pleasure by depriving the sinful body of the most necessary things, including washing. In practice, this meant a temporary or lifelong refusal water procedures. The sanitary condition of the cities was also appalling. All this led to the rapid spread of the pandemic.

There are several clinical forms of the disease:

• bubonic;
• cutaneous;
• primary septic;
• blister;
• secondary septic;
• intestinal;
• primary pulmonary.

Duration incubation period- 9 days. Infection occurs by airborne droplets, through mucous membranes or through the bite of an infected animal. Main symptoms: severe headache, darkened face, black circles under the eyes, high temperature, enlarged lymph nodes, the occurrence of bleeding ulcers on the skin and mucous membranes.

During the Middle Ages, plague doctors fought the disease. For protection, they wore beaked masks, thick black suits and gloves. The doctors had canes in their hands, which they used to avoid touching the sick with their hands. Such uniforms did not save everyone. Many plague doctors died trying to save patients.

The Black Plague claimed the lives of King Alfonso XI the Just, Joan of Burgundy, Queen of Aragon Eleanor of Portugal, heir to the Byzantine throne Andronikos Cantacuzenus, Dauphine of France Bonne of Luxembourg, Princess Joanna of England, Prince Simeon the Proud and his two sons.

The Black Death affected the genetic makeup of the European population, changing the blood type ratios in the affected populations. It led to political instability, cultural and technological regression. Its consequences were felt for four centuries.

Spanish flu

The Spanish Flu is considered the largest influenza pandemic in history. Over 18 months (1918-1919), the Spanish flu infected 555 million people and killed about 100 million. The epidemic broke out in May 1918 in Spain. At that time, 8 million people became infected with the virus, which accounted for 39% of the country’s total population. The disease spread with tremendous speed. The process was accelerated by the massive movement of troops who participated in the First World War.

Some countries introduced military regime. Many public places were closed. Some stores served customers on the street. Some US cities have banned handshakes. In Barcelona, ​​1,250 people were buried every day. Villages died out and small towns. In the first 24 weeks of the pandemic, the flu killed 24 million people.

Symptoms of the disease: bloody cough, cyanosis, pneumonia, blue face. In the later stages, intrapulmonary bleeding occurred, and the patient choked on blood. In many cases, the disease passed without symptoms. Some patients died a day after infection.

Smallpox

Regular smallpox pandemics ravaged the planet until 1796. It is believed that smallpox caused the extinction of the Aztec and Inca civilizations. In the Middle Ages, smallpox was a constant companion of man. It could be contracted through clothing, dishes, linens, by airborne droplets.

Smallpox is characterized by intoxication, headaches, strong thirst, ulcerative rashes on the skin and mucous membranes, fever. No traces of smallpox in medieval Europe When searching for a suspect, the police indicated it as a special sign. Every seventh person infected died from the disease. Among children, the mortality rate was 30%. Every year, smallpox took the lives of one and a half million people.

During the French and Indian War, England used the virus as a biological weapon. Today, smallpox officially exists in two laboratories: the CDC in the USA and the State Scientific Center for Virology and Biochemistry “Vector” in Russia. In 2014, the virus was discovered at the Maryland Health Institute. In 2015, the tubes were destroyed. It is accepted that this may not be an isolated case.

AIDS

As of 2012, more than 60 million people in the world were infected with HIV, 25 million of them died from AIDS. The sexual revolution of the 1980s led to the spread of the epidemic. Its development was facilitated by promiscuity, drug use, and prostitution. There are five stages of the infectious process:

• window period (from two weeks to a year);
• acute phase (up to 1 month);
• latent period (up to 8-10 years);
• pre-AIDS (1-2 years);
• AIDS (if untreated, lasts 1-2 years).

The largest number of infected people live in India (6.6 million people), South Africa (5.8 million), Ethiopia (4.3 million), Nigeria (3.8 million), Mozambique (2 million), Kenya (1.8 million) ), Zimbabwe (1.95 million), USA (1.45 million), Russia (1.5 million), China (1.2 million).

On a planetary scale, the epidemiological situation has begun to stabilize. In 1997, 3.5 million new cases were recorded, in 2007 – 2.7 million. As of 2016, 1.5 million people in Russia are carriers of the virus, 240,000 have died from AIDS.

Immunoprophylaxis for infection has not been developed. Modern therapies may slow the progression of HIV. It is currently impossible to eliminate the virus from the human body.

Having observed a bewildering variety of deadly fevers over the centuries, medical scientists have tried to link typical patterns of infectious diseases to specific reasons, in order to identify and classify diseases on this basis, and then develop specific methods to counter them. Considering the evolution of our knowledge about some of the main epidemic diseases, we can trace the formation modern presentation about the epidemic.

Plague. In the Middle Ages, plague epidemics were so devastating that the name of this particular disease figuratively became synonymous with all sorts of misfortunes. The successive plague pandemics of the 14th century. killed a quarter of the then population of Europe. The quarantine isolation of travelers and arriving ships was futile.

It is now known that plague is a disease of wild rodents, particularly rats, which is transmitted by Xenopsyllacheopis fleas. These fleas infect people living in close proximity to infected rats, the reservoir of infection. With bubonic plague, transmission of infection from person to person begins only with the development of the highly contagious pulmonary form of the disease in the patient.

At the end of the 17th century. the plague disappeared from Europe. The reasons for this are still unknown. It is assumed that with the change living conditions in Europe, the population began to live further from reservoirs of infection. Due to the lack of wood, houses began to be built from brick and stone, which are less suitable for rats than older wooden buildings.

Cholera. In the 19th century cholera pandemics occurred in most countries of the world. In the classic study of the London physician J. Snow, the water route of transmission of infection during the cholera epidemic of 1853–1854 was correctly identified. He compared the number of cholera cases in two neighboring areas of the city that had different water supplies, one of which was contaminated with sewage. Thirty years later, the German microbiologist R. Koch, using microscopy and bacterial cultivation methods to identify the causative agent of cholera in Egypt and India, discovered the “cholera comma,” later called Vibrio cholerae (Vibriocholerae).

Typhus. The disease is associated with unsanitary living conditions, usually during war. It is also known as camp, prison or ship fever. When in 1909 the French microbiologist C. Nicole showed that typhus is transmitted from person to person body lice, its connection with overcrowding and poverty became clear. Knowing how the infection is transmitted allows health workers to stop the spread of epidemic (louse) typhus by spraying insecticidal powder on the clothing and body of those at risk of infection.

Smallpox. Modern vaccination as a method of preventing infectious diseases was developed based on the early successes achieved by medicine in the fight against smallpox by immunizing (vaccinating) susceptible individuals. To administer the vaccine, fluid from a smallpox blister of a patient with an active infection was transferred to a scratch on the skin of the immunized person's shoulder or hand. If lucky, a mild illness occurred, leaving lifelong immunity after recovery. Sometimes immunization caused the development typical disease, but the number of such cases was so small that the risk of vaccination complications remained quite acceptable.

Immunization began to be used in Europe in 1721, but long before that it was used in China and Persia. It was thanks to her that by 1770 smallpox ceased to occur in the wealthy sections of the population.

The credit for further improvement of smallpox immunization belongs to a rural doctor from Gloucestershire (England) E. Jenner, who drew attention to the fact that people who had mild cowpox do not get smallpox, and suggested that cowpox creates immunity to human smallpox.

At the beginning of the 20th century. smallpox vaccine became readily available throughout the world due to its mass production and cold storage. The last chapter in the story smallpox was marked by a mass vaccination campaign carried out in all countries World organization healthcare.

Yellow fever. In the 18th–19th centuries. Among the epidemic diseases of the Western Hemisphere, yellow fever occupied a prominent place in the United States, as well as in the countries of Central America and the Caribbean. Doctors, who assumed that the disease was transmitted from person to person, demanded the isolation of the sick to combat the epidemic. Those who linked the origin of the disease with atmospheric pollution insisted on sanitary measures.

In the last quarter of the 19th century. yellow fever began to be associated with mosquito bites. In 1881, the Cuban doctor K. Finlay suggested that the disease was transmitted by Aëdesaegypti mosquitoes. Evidence of this was presented in 1900 by the yellow fever commission working in Havana, headed by W. Reed (USA).

The implementation of the mosquito control program over the coming years contributed not only to a significant reduction in the incidence of disease in Havana, but also to the completion of construction of the Panama Canal, which was almost stopped due to yellow fever and malaria. In 1937, a doctor from the Republic of South Africa, M. Theiler, developed an effective vaccine against yellow fever, more than 28 million doses of which were produced by the Rockefeller Foundation from 1940 to 1947 for tropical countries.

Polio. Paralytic poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis) appeared as an epidemic disease at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. It is amazing that in underdeveloped countries with poor, unsanitary living conditions, the incidence of polio has remained low. At the same time, in highly developed countries, on the contrary, epidemics of this disease began to occur with increasing frequency and severity.

The key to understanding the epidemic process in polio was the concept of asymptomatic carriage of the pathogen. This type hidden infection occurs when a person, having become infected with a virus, acquires immunity in the absence of any symptoms of the disease. Carriers, while remaining healthy themselves, can shed the virus, infecting others. It has been found that in conditions of poverty and crowded living conditions, the likelihood of contact with the virus increases sharply, as a result of which children become infected with polio very early, but the disease manifests itself quite rarely. Epidemic process occurs as an endemic, secretly immunizing the population, so that only isolated cases occur infantile paralysis. In countries with high level life, for example in North America and Northern Europe, from the 1900s to the 1950s there was a marked increase in the incidence of paralytic polio.

The polio virus was isolated by K. Landsteiner and G. Popper already in 1909, but methods for preventing the disease were found only much later. Three serotypes (i.e., types present in the blood serum) of polioviruses have been identified, and strains of each of them were found in 1951 to be able to reproduce in tissue culture. Two years later, J. Salk reported his method of inactivating the virus, allowing the preparation of immunogenic and safe vaccine. Long-awaited inactivated vaccine Solka became available for mass use in 1955.

The polio epidemic in the United States has stopped. Since 1961, a live attenuated vaccine developed by A. Seibin began to be used for mass immunization against polio.

AIDS. In 1981, when acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first described as a clinical form, its causative agent was not yet known. The new disease was initially recognized only as a syndrome, i.e. combination of characteristic pathological symptoms. Two years later, it was reported that the basis of the disease was the suppression of the body's immune system by a retrovirus, which was called the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Patients develop increased susceptibility to a variety of infectious pathogens, which manifests itself clinically only in the later stages of HIV infection, but initially the disease can remain in the incubation period for a very long time, up to 10 years.

The first cases were homosexual men, then there were reports of transmission of the infection through transfusion of blood and its components. Subsequently, the spread of HIV infection was identified among injecting drug users and their sexual partners. In Africa and Asia, AIDS is transmitted primarily through sexual contact. Currently, the disease is spreading throughout the world, becoming an epidemic.

Ebola fever. Ebola virus as the causative agent of African hemorrhagic fever was first identified in 1976 during an epidemic in southern Sudan and the north of the Republic of Zaire. The disease is accompanied by high fever and heavy bleeding, mortality in Africa exceeds 50%. The virus is transmitted from person to person through direct contact with infected blood or other body secretions. Medical personnel often become infected; to a lesser extent, they contribute to the spread of infection household contacts. The reservoir of infection is still unknown, but it may be monkeys, which is why strict quarantine measures have been introduced to prevent the import of infected animals.

Despite the development of healthcare in the USSR, our country was periodically affected by epidemic outbreaks. The authorities tried to keep silent about cases of mass diseases, which is why we still do not have accurate statistics of epidemic victims.

Flu

For the first time, Soviet Russia faced an influenza epidemic in 1918-1919, when the Spanish flu was raging across the planet. It is considered the most widespread influenza pandemic in human history. By May 1918 alone, about 8 million people (39% of the population) were infected with this virus in Spain.

According to some data, during the period 1918-1919, more than 400 million people were infected with the influenza virus throughout the planet, and about 100 million became victims of the epidemic. IN Soviet Russia 3 million people (3.4% of the population) died from the Spanish flu. Among the most famous victims are revolutionary Yakov Sverdlov and military engineer Pyotr Kapitsa.

In 1957 and 1959, the Soviet Union was overwhelmed by two waves of the Asian flu pandemic; the rise in incidence occurred in May 1957, and by the end of the year at least 21 million people were sick with the flu in our country.

The next time the influenza virus hit the Soviet Union was in 1977-78. The pandemic began in our country, which is why it received the name “Russian flu”. The worst thing is that this virus mainly affected young people under the age of 20. In the USSR, statistics on morbidity and mortality from this pandemic were hidden; at least 300 thousand people worldwide became victims of the “Russian flu”.

Meningitis

In our country, meningitis is rightly considered a disease of overcrowding and poor living conditions. The disease, the mortality rate of which is considered one of the highest in the world, always came unexpectedly and disappeared just as suddenly.

Meningitis is still a mystery to epidemiologists. It is known that the pathogen constantly lives “among us.” Every year, from 1 to 10% of Russians are its carriers, but more often than not, without showing itself in any way, it dies under the influence of the body’s immune forces.

The first epidemic of meningitis was recorded in the USSR in the 1930s and 40s. “The incidence of meningitis in those years was colossal,” notes microbiologist Tatyana Chernyshova. “If today doctors are seriously concerned about the number of cases equal to 2.9 people per 100 thousand population, then then this figure was higher - 50 per 100 thousand.”

The epidemic was associated with large migration flows of the country's population, which poured into socialist construction sites, later illness actively spread in the barracks of the Great Patriotic War and in the barracks of post-war construction sites. However, after the war there was no one particularly sick, and the epidemic subsided.

However, in the 60s, meningitis returned; many doctors who first encountered the disease did not even know its symptoms. Epidemiologists were able to determine the cause of the outbreak only in 1997, when scientists were already seriously studying all varieties of meningococci. It turned out that the cause of the disease was a virus that first appeared in China in the mid-1960s and was accidentally introduced into the USSR.

Plague

In the Soviet Union, the plague was considered a relic of the past, although all the plague epidemics in the USSR were known to a narrow circle of specialists. The natural focus of the plague was often the regions of Central Asia, Kazakhstan and Transcaucasia.

The first plague epidemic in the USSR is considered to be an outbreak of its pneumonic form in the Primorsky Territory in 1921, which came from China. And then she appeared with alarming regularity:

1939 - Moscow; 1945 – south of the Volga-Ural region, Central Asia; 1946 – Caspian zone, Turkmenistan; 1947–1948 – Astrakhan region, Kazakhstan; 1949 – Turkmenistan; 1970 – Elbrus region; 1972 – Kalmykia; 1975 – Dagestan; 1980 – Caspian zone; 1981 – Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan. And this is not a complete list of plague epidemics in the USSR.

Only after the breakup Soviet Union statistics were revealed. From 1920 to 1989, 3,639 people fell ill with the plague, and 2,060 became victims. But if before the war, each plague outbreak claimed hundreds of lives, then from the mid-40s, when sulfidine and blue bluing began to be used, the number of victims decreased to several dozen. Since the late 50s, streptomycin began to be used, which reduced the number of deaths to just a few.

If it were not for the dedicated work of epidemiologists, there could have been significantly more victims. The activities of doctors were strictly classified. Employees of the anti-plague service did not have the right to talk about their work even to their loved ones, otherwise they would be fired under the article. Specialists often learned about the purpose of a business trip only at the airport.

Over time, a powerful network of anti-plague institutions was created in the country, which operates successfully to this day. Epidemiologists conducted annual observations of natural plague foci, and special laboratories examined strains isolated from ship rats that had sailed on ships from potentially plague-prone countries.

Cholera

Civil war, social upheaval, devastation and famine contributed to the spread of cholera pathogens in the young Soviet state. Nevertheless, Russian doctors managed to extinguish the most serious outbreaks of this disease. Very soon the country's leadership reported that cholera was over in the USSR.

But in the mid-1960s the disease returned again. This was already the seventh cholera pandemic for the planet. Starting in 1961 in Indonesia, the infection quickly spread throughout the world. In the USSR, the first case of El Tor cholera, which came with drug dealers from Afghanistan, was recorded in 1965 in the Uzbek SSR. The authorities sent 9,000 thousand soldiers to guard the quarantine zone. The outbreak seemed to be isolated.

However, in 1970, cholera made itself felt again. On July 11, two students from Central Asia fell ill with cholera in Batumi, and from them it began to spread to the local population. Doctors believed that the source of infection was located near the seashore, where wastewater was discharged.

On July 27, 1970, the first cases of cholera were recorded in Astrakhan, and on July 29 there were already the first victims of the disease. The situation in Astrakhan began to develop so rapidly that the country's chief sanitary doctor, Pyotr Burgasov, was forced to fly there.

In the Astrakhan region that year, a large harvest of melons and tomatoes ripened, however, the movement of barges loaded with products was blocked to prevent the spread of the disease to other regions. Astrakhan bore the brunt of the cholera epidemic. In total, by the end of the year, 1,120 vibrio cholera carriers and 1,270 patients were identified in the Astrakhan region, of which 35 people died.

Large outbreaks of cholera emerged in Nakhichevan, Kherson, and Odessa. By decision of the USSR Council of Ministers, all persons caught in outbreaks of infection were given paid sick leave. Before leaving the infection zone, they all had to undergo observation and bacteriological examination. For these purposes, 19 sea vessels were used, including the flagships - the motor ships Shota Rustaveli and Taras Shevchenko.

7093 liters of cholera vaccine, 2250 kilograms of dry culture media, 52428 liters of liquid culture media, millions of packages of tetracycline and a huge amount of bleach were shipped to cholera outbreaks. Through joint efforts, the epidemic was stopped. The Soviet authorities hid the exact number of sick and dead people, but it is known that the number of victims was less than 1% per 100 cases.

AIDS

Until the mid-1980s, the disease of prostitutes, drug addicts and homosexuals was something ephemeral for the USSR. In 1986, the Minister of Health of the RSFSR reported in the Vremya program: “AIDS has been raging in America since 1981, it is a Western disease. We do not have a base for the spread of this infection, since there is no drug addiction and prostitution in Russia.”

Still as they were. For example, the Medical Newspaper of November 4, 1988 spoke about the presence of several brothels almost in the very center of Ashgabat. And this is only official information. The spread of AIDS in the USSR did not take long to occur. By 1988, more than 30 infected people had been identified in the USSR.

According to the Moscow Scientific and Practical Center for Narcology, the first cases of HIV infection among Soviet citizens could have occurred as a result of unprotected sex with African students back in the late 70s.

In 1988, the first AIDS victim was recorded, however, earlier accurate diagnoses was impossible, since the first HIV screening in the USSR was carried out only in 1987. The first Soviet citizen to become infected with HIV is considered to be a Zaporozhye engineer named Krasichkov.

Blogger Anton Nosik, who personally knew the victim, said that Krasichkov was sent to Tanzania in 1984 for industrial construction, where he, being a passive homosexual, became infected through sexual contact. Arriving in Moscow in 1985, he “bestowed” another 30 people with this infection.

By the time of the collapse of the USSR, no more than 1000 cases of AIDS were recorded. But later, despite preventive measures and increasing sexual literacy of the population, the number of HIV cases in the CIS countries began to grow steadily.

Incredible facts

Few words in any language can cause as much horror, suffering and death as the word "plague." Indeed, infectious diseases have caused enormous harm to people for centuries. They destroyed entire nations, took more lives than even wars sometimes took, and also played decisive role in the course of history.

Ancient people were no strangers to diseases. They encountered microbes that caused disease in drinking water, food and the environment. Sometimes an outbreak of a disease could wipe out a small group of people, but this continued until people began to unite in populations, thereby allowing the infectious disease to become an epidemic. An epidemic occurs when a disease affects a disproportionate number of people within a particular population group, such as a city or geographic region. If the disease affects even more people, then these outbreaks become a pandemic.

People have also exposed themselves to new deadly diseases as a result of domesticating animals that carry equally dangerous bacteria. By coming into regular, close contact with previously wild animals, early farmers gave these microbes a chance to adapt to the human body.

In the process of man's exploration of more and more new lands, he came into close contact with microbes that he might never have encountered. By storing food, people attracted rats and mice into their homes, which brought even more germs. Human expansion led to the construction of wells and canals, which created the phenomenon of stagnant water, which was actively favored by mosquitoes and mosquitoes that carry various diseases. As technology developed, a particular type of microbe could easily be transported many kilometers from its original place of residence.

Epidemic 10: Smallpox

Before the influx begins New World European explorers, conquerors and colonists in the early 1500s, the American continent was home to 100 million indigenous people. In subsequent centuries, epidemic diseases reduced their number to 5-10 million. While these people, such as the Incas and Aztecs, built cities, they did not live in them long enough to catch as many diseases as the Europeans “owned,” nor did they domesticate as many animals. When Europeans arrived in America, they brought with them many diseases for which the indigenous people had no immunity or protection.

Chief among these diseases was smallpox, caused by the variola virus. These microbes began attacking humans thousands of years ago, with the most common form of the disease boasting a mortality rate of 30 percent. Symptoms of smallpox include high fever, body aches and a rash that appears as small, fluid-filled boils. The disease is primarily spread through direct contact with the skin of an infected person or through biological fluids, but can also be transmitted through airborne droplets in confined spaces.

Despite the development of a vaccine in 1796, the smallpox epidemic continued to spread. Even as recently as 1967, the virus has killed more than two million people, and millions of people around the world have been severely affected by the disease. That same year, the World Health Organization launched aggressive efforts to eradicate the virus through mass vaccination. As a result, the last case of smallpox infection was recorded in 1977. Now, effectively excluded from natural world the disease exists only in laboratories.

Epidemic 9: 1918 Influenza

The year was 1918. The world watched as the First world war was coming to an end. By the end of the year, the death toll is estimated to reach 37 million worldwide. It was then that a new disease appeared. Some call it the Spanish Flu, others the Great Flu or the 1918 Flu. Whatever it is called, this disease destroyed 20 million lives within a few months. A year later, the flu would moderate its ardor, but irreparable damage had nevertheless been done. According to various estimates, the number of victims was 50-100 million people. This flu is considered by many to be the worst epidemic and pandemic ever recorded in history.

In fact, the 1918 flu was not the typical virus we encounter every year. It was a new strain of the influenza virus, a virus bird fluАH1N1. Scientists suspect the disease jumped from birds to humans in the American West shortly before the outbreak. Later, because the flu killed more than 8 million people in Spain, the disease was called the Spanish flu. Around the world, people's immune systems were not prepared for the attack of a new virus, just as the Aztecs were not prepared for the "arrival" of smallpox in the 1500s. Massive transportation of soldiers and food towards the end of the First World War allowed the virus to quickly “organize” a pandemic and reach other countries and continents.

The 1918 flu was accompanied by symptoms regular flu, including fever, nausea, pain and diarrhea. In addition, patients often developed black spots on their cheeks. Because their lungs were filled with fluid, they risked dying from lack of oxygen, and many did.

The epidemic subsided within a year as the virus mutated into other, safer forms. Most people today have developed some immunity to this family of viruses, inherited from those who survived the pandemic.

Outbreak 8: Black Death

The Black Death is considered the first plague pandemic, killing half the population of Europe in 1348 and also wiping out parts of China and India. This disease destroyed many cities, constantly changed the structure of classes, and influenced global politics, commerce and society.

Black Death throughout long period time was considered an epidemic of plague that traveled to bubonic form on rat fleas. Recent research has cast doubt on this claim. Some scientists now argue that the Black Death may have been hemorrhagic virus similar to Ebola. This form of the disease leads to enormous blood loss. Experts continue to examine the remains of plague victims in the hope of finding genetic evidence to substantiate their theories.

Still, if it was a plague, then the Black Death is still with us. Caused by the bacterium Yersinia Pestis, the disease can still live in poor regions where rats are heavily populated. Modern medicine makes it easy to cure the disease in the early stages, so the threat of death is much lower. Symptoms include increased lymph nodes, fever, cough, bloody sputum and difficulty breathing.

Epidemic 7: Malaria

Malaria is far from new to the world of epidemics. Its impact on human health dates back more than 4,000 years ago, when Greek writers noted its effects. Mention of the mosquito-borne disease can also be found in ancient Indian and Chinese medical texts. Even then, doctors were able to make a vital connection between the disease and stagnant water in which mosquitoes and mosquitoes breed.

Malaria is caused by four species of the microbe Plasmodium, which is “common” to two species: mosquitoes and humans. When an infected mosquito decides to feast on human blood and succeeds, it transfers the microbe to the human body. Once the virus is in the blood, it begins to multiply inside red blood cells, thereby destroying them. Symptoms range from mild to fatal and typically include fever, chills, sweating, headaches and muscle aches.

Specific figures on the consequences of the first outbreaks of malaria are difficult to find. However, it is possible to trace the impact of malaria on humans by studying the regions affected by the disease. In 1906, the United States employed 26,000 people to build the Panama Canal; after some time, more than 21,000 of them were hospitalized with a diagnosis of malaria.

In the past, during wartime, many troops often experienced severe casualties due to outbreaks of malaria. According to some reports, during the American civil war more than 1,316,000 people suffered from of this disease, and more than 10,000 of them died. During World War II, malaria incapacitated British, French and German soldiers for three years. Nearly 60,000 American soldiers died from the disease in Africa and the South Pacific during World War II.

Towards the end of World War II, the United States attempted to stop the malaria epidemic. The country initially made huge strides in this area through the use of now-banned insecticides, followed by preventative measures to keep the mosquito population low. After the Center for Disease Control in the United States declared that malaria had been eliminated in the country, the World Health Organization actively began to fight the disease throughout the world. The results were mixed, however, the cost of the project, war, the emergence of a new type of drug-resistant malaria and insecticide-resistant mosquitoes ultimately led to the abandonment of the project.

Today, malaria still poses a problem in most countries of the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, as they were excluded from the WHO eradication campaign. Each year, up to 283 million cases of malaria are recorded and more than 500,000 people die.

However, it is important to add that compared to the beginning of the 21st century, the number of cases and deaths today has decreased significantly.

Epidemic 6: Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis has ravaged the human population throughout history. Ancient texts detail how victims of the disease withered away, and DNA testing revealed the presence of tuberculosis even in Egyptian mummies. Caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium, it is transmitted from person to person through airborne transmission. The bacterium usually affects the lungs, resulting in chest pain, weakness, weight loss, fever, excessive sweating and a bloody cough. In some cases, the bacterium also affects the brain, kidneys, or spine.

Beginning in the 1600s, a European tuberculosis epidemic known as the Great White Plague raged for more than 200 years, killing one in seven infected person. Tuberculosis was a persistent problem in Colonial America. Even in the late 19th century, 10 percent of all deaths in the United States were due to tuberculosis.

In 1944, doctors developed the antibiotic streptomycin, which helped fight the disease. IN subsequent years Even more significant breakthroughs were made in this field and, as a result, after 5,000 years of suffering, humanity finally managed to cure what the ancient Greeks called “wasting disease.”

However, despite modern treatments, tuberculosis continues to affect 8 million people every year, with 2 million deaths. The disease returned in a big way in the 1990s, thanks largely to global poverty and the emergence of new antibiotic-resistant strains of tuberculosis. In addition, patients with HIV/AIDS have a weakened immune system, making them more susceptible to tuberculosis infection.

Epidemic 5: Cholera

People in India have lived with the risk of cholera since ancient times, but this danger did not manifest itself until the 19th century when the rest of the world encountered the disease. During this period of time, traders unintentionally exported the deadly virus to cities in China, Japan, North Africa, Middle East and Europe. There have been six recorded cholera pandemics that have killed millions of people.

Cholera is caused by an E. coli bacteria called Vibrio cholerae. The disease itself is usually very mild. Five percent of those who contract the disease experience severe vomiting, diarrhea and cramps, and these symptoms lead to rapid dehydration. As a rule, most people cope with cholera easily, but only when the body is not dehydrated. People can become infected with cholera through close physical contact, but cholera is primarily spread through contaminated water and food. During the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, cholera spread to major cities Europe. Doctors insisted on "clean" living conditions and improved sanitation systems, believing that the epidemic was caused by "bad air." However, this actually helped, as cholera cases dropped significantly after the purified water supply was adjusted.

For decades, cholera seemed to be becoming a thing of the past. However, a new strain of cholera emerged in 1961 in Indonesia and eventually spread to much of the world. In 1991, about 300,000 people were affected by the disease and more than 4,000 died.

Epidemic 4: AIDS

The emergence of AIDS in the 1980s led to a global pandemic, killing more than 25 million people since 1981. According to the latest statistics, there are currently 33.2 million people living on the planet. HIV-infected people. AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The virus spreads through contact with blood, semen and other biological material, causing irreparable damage to the human immune system. A damaged immune system opens the door to infections called opportunistic infections, which to an ordinary person don't cause any problems. HIV becomes AIDS if the immune system is damaged sufficiently.

Scientists believe the virus jumped from monkeys to humans in the mid-20th century. During the 1970s, Africa's population grew significantly, and war, poverty and unemployment plagued many cities. Thanks to prostitution and intravenous drug use, HIV has become very easy to spread through unprotected sex and reuse contaminated needles. Since then, AIDS has traveled south of the Sahara, leaving millions of children orphaned and depleting labor in many of the world's poorest countries.

There is currently no cure for AIDS, however, there are some drugs that can prevent HIV from developing into AIDS, and additional drugs can also help fight opportunistic infections.

Epidemic 3: Yellow fever

When Europeans began “importing” African slaves to America, they also brought with them, in addition to a number of new diseases, yellow fever. This disease destroyed entire cities.

When the French Emperor Napoleon sent an army of 33,000 French soldiers to North America, yellow fever killed 29,000 of them. Napoleon was so shocked by the number of casualties that he decided that this territory was not worth such losses and risks. France sold the land to the United States in 1803, an event that would go down in history as the Louisiana Purchase.

Yellow fever, like malaria, is transmitted from person to person through mosquito bites. Typical symptoms include fever, chills, headache, muscle pain and vomiting. The severity of symptoms ranges from mild to fatal, and severe infection can lead to bleeding, shock, and serious kidney and liver failure. Kidney failure is the cause of the development of jaundice and yellowing of the skin, which gives the disease its name.

Despite vaccinations and improved treatment methods, the epidemic still flares up periodically in South America and Africa.

Epidemic 2: Typhus

The tiny microbe Rickettsia prowazekii is responsible for one of the world's most devastating infectious diseases: typhus.

Humanity has been suffering from the disease for centuries, with thousands of people falling victim to it. Given the fact that the disease often affected military personnel, it was called "camp fever" or "war fever." During the 30 Years' War in Europe (1618-1648), typhoid, plague and famine killed 10 million people. Sometimes outbreaks of typhus dictated the outcome of the entire war. For example, when Spanish troops laid siege to the Moorish fortress of Granada in 1489, a typhoid outbreak immediately killed 17,000 soldiers within a month, leaving a force of 8,000 men. Due to the ravages of typhus, another century passed before the Spaniards were able to drive the Moors out of their kingdom. Also during World War I, the disease claimed several million lives in Russia, Poland and Romania.

Symptoms of a typhoid epidemic usually include headache, loss of appetite, malaise and a rapid rise in temperature. This quickly develops into a fever, accompanied by chills and nausea. If left untreated, the disease affects blood circulation, which can result in gangrene, pneumonia and kidney failure.

Improved treatment methods and sanitation have greatly reduced the likelihood of typhoid epidemics in the modern era. The advent of the typhoid vaccine during World War II helped effectively eradicate the disease in the developed world. However, outbreaks are still occurring in some parts South America, Africa and Asia.

Epidemic 1: Poliomyelitis

Researchers suspect that polio has plagued humanity for thousands of years, paralyzing and killing thousands of children. In 1952, there were an estimated 58,000 cases of polio in the United States, with one third of patients paralyzed and more than 3,000 deaths.

The cause of the disease is poliovirus, which targets nervous system person. The virus is often spread through contaminated water and food. Initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, nausea, with one in 200 cases resulting in paralysis. Although the disease usually affects the legs, sometimes the disease spreads to the respiratory muscles, which is usually fatal.

Polio is common in children, but adults are also susceptible to the disease. It all depends on when a person first encounters the virus. The immune system is better prepared to fight this disease in early age, therefore, than older man who is newly diagnosed with the virus, the higher the risk of paralysis and death.

Poliomyelitis has been known to man since ancient times. Over time, especially in children, the immune system strengthened and began to better respond to the course of the disease. During the 18th century, sanitary conditions improved in many countries. This limited the spread of the disease, while there was a decrease in immune resistance, and the chances of contracting it at a young age gradually disappeared. As a result, more people were exposed to the virus at an older age, and the number of cases of paralysis in developed countries increased sharply.

To date, there is no effective medicinal product against polio, but doctors are constantly improving the vaccine, which was released in the early 1950s. Since then, the number of polio cases in the United States and other developed countries has declined sharply, and only a small number of developing countries still suffer from frequent polio epidemics. Since humans are the only carriers of the virus, widespread vaccination guarantees almost complete extinction of the disease.

Throughout their existence, people have been repeatedly subjected to various diseases, which developed into large-scale forms and turned into epidemics. Nothing has ruined people more than harmful to the human body microbes Outbreaks of epidemics have claimed the lives of millions of people, and their threat has not lost its relevance today.

According to WHO statistics, 10 diseases have been defeated throughout history, but some diseases and their outbreaks still exist today. In terms of the number of epidemic victims, Smallpox ranks first, followed by influenza, plague, malaria and tuberculosis. An unlimited number of sick people is considered a sign of an epidemic outbreak if even 5% of people are sick in a limited area. And if the disease has spread beyond its borders, then it is already considered a pandemic.

Smallpox

In first place is the disease Smallpox. Smallpox, early name – Black smallpox – is viral infectious disease. Statistics deaths – 300 million people throughout the history of mankind. Smallpox affects only humans and is highly contagious. This disease does not occur individually, but only in outbreaks of epidemics.

Initial symptoms of smallpox: high fever, cough, pain all over the body, later a rash appears all over the body, pulmonary edema and even death.

A terrible disease has its roots in ancient india, the first outbreak occurred many thousands of years ago. In Russia, the first epidemic was recorded in the 17th century in Siberia. Even Peter II died from this terrible disease.

In Russia, forced vaccination of people began in 1936, thereby marking the beginning of the end of the epidemic. But the outbreak repeated in 1959, the disease was brought with it famous artist Alexey Kakareikin during a trip to India. Then they even forgot about this disease.

The second most common cause of death is influenza. This infectious disease affects respiratory tract. WITH frequent intervals is in the nature of an epidemic. IN modern world There are more than 2,500 strains of the influenza virus.

The most common symptoms of influenza are: elevated temperature, body pain, cough and lethargy. Also, some types of influenza cause complications in the form of pneumonia and even meningitis, even death. The virus is capable of mutating. In general, 3 types of influenza virus have been discovered: A, B and C.

The first outbreak of an influenza epidemic was recorded in 1580. The second, known as the “Spanish Flu,” which happened in 1918, was characterized by lightning speed and high amount fatalities.

For all time, according to statistics, deaths from the influenza virus are about 200 million people.

Plague is one of the most terrible infectious diseases that has claimed lives from 75 to 200 million people throughout the history of mankind. This disease is characterized by its contagiousness and a large number fatalities. During infection, plague bacteria affect the lymph nodes, lungs and other organs until the development of sepsis.

Throughout history there have been 3 main major outbreaks plague Then people could not even imagine that the original carriers of these bacteria were fleas that lived on the bodies of rats, and later the plague virus mutated and spread through the air from person to person. The plague virus was even used as biological weapons, it was first used by Zhdoni Bek, a descendant of Genghis Khan during the capture of Caffa.

The plague vaccine was first invented by the Odessa epidemiologist Vladimir Khavkin, which was tested by the Soviet bacteriologist Magdalina Petrovna Pokrovskaya. The beginning of the end of the plague occurred in 1947 after Soviet doctors used a vaccine called Streptomycin, developed at the Research Institute of Epidemiology and Hygiene of the Red Army.

Malaria

Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease. Infection occurs through the bites of malaria mosquitoes. General symptoms, characteristic of this disease: fever, enlarged spleen and liver, chills and anemia.

Every year people die from outbreaks of this disease. about 2 million people. The first appearances were recorded several centuries ago, and the first medicine was created in China in 340. However, a very large percentage of deaths occur due to this terrible disease.

In the twentieth century, epidemics of syphilis were overcome by infecting a patient with malaria; the high temperature during infection with this disease completely killed the syphilis bacteria.

There are several types of malaria: tropical, four-day and three-day (ovale malaria). Currently, trials are underway to develop a vaccine against malaria. Last year, in the United States, scientists finally created a drug against malaria and tested it on mice; now the drug is being prepared for testing on humans.

A widespread disease, it affects not only people, but also animals. Terrible disease, affecting the lungs and transmitted through the air. The first recorded case was in 1907.

Symptoms characteristic of tuberculosis are cough with sputum, hemoptysis, later weakness of the body, sweating, and fever are noted.

Annually 3 million people dies from complications after tuberculosis. A third of the population globe infected, of which 300 thousand people are in Russia every year and 35 thousand people die.

Over the years, many vaccines have been created and a huge number of diseases have been completely defeated, and this is excellent progress in the history of mankind. There are still many mysteries and secrets for people about diseases for which vaccines have not yet been invented, for example, such as AIDS, cancer and many others. If medicine had not progressed, people would still die from syphilis and plague. Thanks to the intelligence and experience of scientists and doctors, humanity has not ceased to exist.