What are infectious diseases?
Infectious diseases are illnesses that can be transmitted from person to person or spread through the air or water. They are spread by microbes which cannot be seen by the naked eye. Examples of infectious diseases in the past are the plague, smallpox and cholera. In recent years we have had outbreaks of swine flu, which is another infectious disease. See this youtube video for an overview of the history of infectious diseases.
How do we treat infectious diseases today?
In the western world there are vaccines available for many of the most dangerous infectious diseases. These vaccines mean that the spread of the disease is prevented. However these vaccines are not available in every country – something that the World Health Organisation is trying to rectify. For new variants, like swine flu, it is impossible to vaccinate in advance of the disease spreading. When this form of disease emerges scientists work hard to try and create a vaccine. Whilst they are doing this, people with symptoms are often quarantined, movements are restricted and painkillers and supressants are given to people who are ill.
Who discovered a way of tackling these diseases?
The first vaccinations were carried out by Edward Jenner who created a vaccine for smallpox. However he didn’t understand how the vaccine worked so it wasn’t until work by Louis Pasteur in the 1860′s that the cause of infectious diseases was proven to be germs. After this was established scientists like pasteur and Robert Koch were able to identify the microbes that caused certain diseases and develop vaccines for that disease.
What factors led to this discovery?
Eaxh of the scientists involved in the fight against infectious disease was a determined and highly motivated individual, so the Role of the Individual cannot be underestimated here. However the vaccines themselves were produced in huge quantities with governments funding both the research and the production of the vaccines. Often this has been prompted by involvement in wars. The development of vaccines has therefore been the result of a combination of factors.
How quickly did scientists manage to defeat different diseases?
Esward Jenner’s first experiment with a smallpox vaccine was in 1792. It took years for his ideas to be universaly accepted and smallpox was not eradicated until 1980! (Eradication of smallpox verified by WHO on 8th May 1980). Even after Jenner’s first use of vaccination it was not until the 1860′s that further breakthroughs were made. After Germ Theory (1862) there were a number of vaccines produced. Even these took time to create. A vaccine for Cholera was developed in 1879, followed by Rabies in 1885, Tetanus in 1890 and Typhoid in 1896. In the Twentieth Century vaccines have been developed for numerous other diseases – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_vaccines for a list of these.
How successful have scientists and doctors been in the fight against infectious disease?
In the modern world relatively few people die as a result of catching an infectious disease so it looks like scientists and doctors have been quite successful in the fight against these diseases. However not all infectious diseases have vaccines and they are not available everywhere yet. There are still outbreaks of infectious diseases that cause widespread concern. For example the spread of swine flu in recent years has caused much alarm and Bird Flu several years earlier also caused concern.
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