Discuss the Possibility of Global Pandemic in Modern Times
Discuss the Possibility of Global Pandemic in Modern Times
When we are talking of the possibility of a global pandemic it is not so hard to imagine as it is a current reality, the risk and rate of infection seems to be steadily on the increase. A pandemic is a worldwide epidemic that, according to the World Health Organisation, (WHO) has to meet three conditions; the infectious microbe infects and causes serious illness to humans and humans don’t have immunity against the Virus. This virus can also be spread from person to person and survives within humans[1].
Pandemics are not new, the world has been suffering the nasty bugs for almost as long as people have been walking the earth. Influenza for example was recorded as far back as 412 B.C., when a man named Hippocrates wrote of an uncontrollable outbreak of disease that had very similar symptoms as influenza .[2] This pandemic devastated an entire Athenian army, and has occurred every hundred years since. Influenza has been responsible for many deaths over the years. In the 1300s we discovered the Black Death, this disease, (believed to originate in China) was responsible for killing a quarter of Europe’s population[3]. Perhaps the worst of all influenza outbreaks was the 1918-1919 ‘Spanish flu’ pandemic. “The ‘Spanish flu’ killed more people in a single year than the Black Death caused in Europe over 4 years” [4] Early in 1957 an Asian influenza virus was discovered, science and technological advances meant that the world was quickly able to respond to this threat, thus making the impact less severe than it might have been otherwise. Hong Kong was the next region to be attacked with a pandemic. In 1968-1972 the ‘Hong Kong flu’ was responsible for a significant number of deaths. Luckily the flu was often treatable and controlled with antibiotics. In 2003 Hong Kong came under siege yet again and had to fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome, (SARS) Yet another flu scare rocked the world in 1997
When we are talking of the possibility of a global pandemic it is not so hard to imagine as it is a current reality, the risk and rate of infection seems to be steadily on the increase. A pandemic is a worldwide epidemic that, according to the World Health Organisation, (WHO) has to meet three conditions; the infectious microbe infects and causes serious illness to humans and humans don’t have immunity against the Virus. This virus can also be spread from person to person and survives within humans[1].
Pandemics are not new, the world has been suffering the nasty bugs for almost as long as people have been walking the earth. Influenza for example was recorded as far back as 412 B.C., when a man named Hippocrates wrote of an uncontrollable outbreak of disease that had very similar symptoms as influenza .[2] This pandemic devastated an entire Athenian army, and has occurred every hundred years since. Influenza has been responsible for many deaths over the years. In the 1300s we discovered the Black Death, this disease, (believed to originate in China) was responsible for killing a quarter of Europe’s population[3]. Perhaps the worst of all influenza outbreaks was the 1918-1919 ‘Spanish flu’ pandemic. “The ‘Spanish flu’ killed more people in a single year than the Black Death caused in Europe over 4 years” [4] Early in 1957 an Asian influenza virus was discovered, science and technological advances meant that the world was quickly able to respond to this threat, thus making the impact less severe than it might have been otherwise. Hong Kong was the next region to be attacked with a pandemic. In 1968-1972 the ‘Hong Kong flu’ was responsible for a significant number of deaths. Luckily the flu was often treatable and controlled with antibiotics. In 2003 Hong Kong came under siege yet again and had to fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome, (SARS) Yet another flu scare rocked the world in 1997