Is the United States prepared to handle a major epidemic/pandemic outbreak? My husband and I were watching a movie on HBO called Contagion and we started to debate on whether this incident could happen and how bad would the outcome be. I started to look into major epidemic/pandemics in US history and found a few (The Great Influenza of 1919‚ Smallpox against Native Americans‚ Polio in 1916‚ and the most recent Swine Flu outbreak of 2009). The question is what have we learned from these outbreaks
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that causes pain‚ dysfunction‚ distress‚ social problem‚ or death to person afflicted‚ or similar problems for those in contact with the person. A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that has spread though human populations across a large region. In Europe history‚ epidemical viruses caused thousands of death. There have been many pandemic disaster in Europe history. Most of them are believed came with domestication of animals. As a result of this there have been significant epidemics
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13 Influenza 101- ENGLISH JACKY POH YEE LONG What is Influenza Influenza commonly referred to “flu‚ is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviride (the influenza viruses)‚ that affects bird‚ humans‚ and other mammals. The common symptoms of the disease are chills‚ fever‚ sore throat‚ muscle pains‚ severe headache‚ coughing‚ weakness/fatigue and general discomfort. The most frequent symptoms are sore throat‚ fever and coughs. In more serious symptoms‚ influenza
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Introduction Influenza‚ commonly known as the "flu"‚ is an acute viral infection of the respiratory tract caused by influenza viruses. Although it is often confused with other influenza-like illnesses‚ especially the common cold‚ influenza is a more severe disease caused by a different type of virus. A virus is a cluster of genes wrapped in a protein membrane‚ which is coated with a fatty substance that contains molecules called glycoproteins. Strains of the flu are identified according to the
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BACKGROUND: A pandemic;(of a disease) prevalent throughout an entire country‚ continent or is universal. (dictionary.com) The Spanish Influenza is a flu; which is a respiratory infection and attacks the body without warning. It has no place of origin and became a global pandemic in a span of a couple of months in North America‚ Brazil‚ Asia‚ Europe‚ India‚ Africa‚ and Taubenberger in the South Pacific. The 1918-1919 Spanish influenza name was established consequently because of the massive deaths
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Garcia 1 Pandemics All Around the World: Emergence and Devastation Many people today wonder when‚ where‚ why‚ and how pandemics occur. Some people do not have any knowledge about pandemics. “According to the World Health Organization (WHO‚ several factors must be present to be considered a pandemic. First‚ the disease must have never appeared before within a population; second‚ the agent that carries the disease—like a fly‚ bacteria‚ air‚ or water—infects one person‚ causing serious illness;
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Scared to Death During the latter part of the year in Massachusetts‚ 1918‚ all hell broke loose. Jane Brox‚ the author of the devastating essay “Influenza 1918‚” describes the influenza that happened in her hometown before she was born as she states “the flu cut right through‚ spreading ahead of its own rumors‚ passing on a handshake and on the wind and with the lightest kiss.” (Brox 80). The flu was airborne and unstoppable. Deadly‚ the small hospitals began to fill up with patients sickened and
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world experienced its most deadly modern pandemic‚ the H1N1 influenza virus named the Spanish Flu. Killing between 20 and 40 million people worldwide‚ the pandemic has not since been repeated on such a large scale. This paper provides a background of the 1918 virus and its effects followed by an examination of the danger represented by the H5N1 Avian Flu virus of 1997. Finally‚ it discusses the potential international economic impact of a modern pandemic like the Spanish Flu‚ should such a virus
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Influenza Influenza‚ commonly known as "the flu"‚ is an infectious disease of birds and mammals caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae‚ the influenza viruses. The most common symptoms are chills‚ fever‚ sore throat‚ muscle pains‚ headache (often severe)‚ coughing‚ weakness/fatigue and general discomfort. Although it is often confused with other influenza-like illnesses‚ especially the common cold‚ influenza is a more severe disease caused by a different type of virus. Influenza may
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Desiree Iwinski P-5 Global Studies Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918 During the 1918 year period in America ‚ a majority of people were financially well off and spent most of their time going to the movies‚ roller skating‚ dancing‚ and playing pool. Theater was starting to lose popularity was it was still a good competitor for Hollywood. The celebrities from the black and white silent films were just as popular as current actors and actresses. Having large amounts of people gather together for these
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