Bacterial and Viral Disease - 20th Century

'The Spanish Lady' 1918-1919

• 
• 1918 - a flu pandemic spread around the world with an estimated 20-40 million dying worldwide
• It was a devastating strain, evolved from bird flu and believed to have originated in China
• Estimated to have infected 20% of the world, and was most deadly for 20-40 year olds
• Mass movement of troops at the end of the First World War helped to rapidly transmit the disease globally
• Troops arriving home spread the disease to the civilian population
• UK government censored the issue to avoid panic; newspapers were allowed to report that seven million died in Spain as a result of 'The Spanish Lady' disease
• Symptoms were general at first: headaches, sore throat and loss of appetite
• Hospitals could not cope; around 280,000 died in a few months, mainly young women and men
• Up to 20% of those infected died

The Fight Against AIDS

• 
• 
• AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) was first recognised in 1981 in the US, when doctors found that large numbers of homosexuals were dying from causes that were almost unidentifiable. It was in 1983 scientists discovered a viral infection was attacking the immune system which guards the body against disease.
• AIDS became a pandemic. In 2014, it was estimated 40 million people around the world had died as a result of AIDS. In the UK, there is an estimated 100,000 living with the disease. Experts think it originated among primates in central Africa and spread to humans at the turn of the twentieth century. People do not die from AIDS, rather from simple infections that their weakened immune system cannot fight off. AIDS is usually caused by the following:
• Unprotected sex with someone who has AIDS
• Sharing hypodermic needles
• Contaminated blood transfusions
• From a mother to a child during pregnancy or breast-feeding

Reactions to AIDS

• Reactions include: it is a punishment for sins, you can catch AIDS from touching others and those suffering from AIDS should be isolated from the community
• However, there has been compassionate reactions in dealing with the AIDS pandemic
• There have been charities established to treat victims and attempt to find a cure
• Governments and international organisations, such as the World Health Organisation, have spent millions of pounds on awareness campaigns
• These campaigns hope to slow the spread of the disease by informing people