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Invisible Enemies: Stories of Infectious Diseases By Jeanette Farrell

Invisible Enemies

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Page 1: Invisible Enemies

Invisible Enemies: Stories of Infectious Diseases

By Jeanette Farrell

Page 2: Invisible Enemies

Seven Infectious Diseases

• Smallpox• Leprosy• Plague• Tuberculosis• Malaria• Cholera• AIDS

Page 3: Invisible Enemies

Smallpox

• No effective defense against disease until 1800s• Traveled easily• Many people died; those who survived had scars on

their faces– No eyelashes– Face covered with shallow dishes

Page 4: Invisible Enemies

Smallpox (Continued)

• Asia, Africa, and India practiced inoculation– Gave minor case of smallpox to patient, leaving victim

alive with scars, but immune

• Inoculation was brought back to Europe and allowed Edward Jenner to develop a vaccination to defeat smallpox (cowpox)

• Smallpox was eliminated from world by late 1970s• People worry that smallpox can still be created as a

weapon

Page 5: Invisible Enemies

Leprosy

• One of least contagious of all infectious diseases

• People who had leprosy were considered outcasts (“untouchables”)

• Carville was a place for people who had leprosy (treated as a disease rather than a curse)

Page 6: Invisible Enemies

Leprosy (Continued)

• Slow-growing disease in body– Patches develop– Can distort face– Causes lost of eyelashes and eyebrows– Nose could cave in– No sensation

• Leprosy bacteria develops in cool places (armadillo)

Page 7: Invisible Enemies

Leprosy (Continued)

• Found ways to replace hands, fingers, feet, etc.

• Doctors are pushing to eliminate leprosy as a health problem– Sick people won’t step forward and drugs are

still being developed to stop leprosy (Promin)

Page 8: Invisible Enemies

Plague

• Plague spread throughout world by use of animals– Black Death (fleas - rats)

• Nobody suspected that plague was spread by animals

• By 1894, scientists had found out what germ caused the disease, but still did not know how it spread– People finally discovered that it was rats (India and

China)

Page 9: Invisible Enemies

Plague (Continued)

Page 10: Invisible Enemies

Plague (Continued)

• In 1907, people went after rats when plague struck San Francisco for the second time

• People now know that plague hides in rodents, thus they are better prepared

• Plague will probably never be rid of (drug-resistant)

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Tuberculosis

• Germ reproduces slowly (lungs)

• Kills more people than any other germ besides HIV (Symptoms: coughing up blood, paleness, and thinness)

• Traveled around world before Columbus

• Disease of the city (close contact)

• Laennec’s invention of the stethoscope helped learn more about tuberculosis

Page 12: Invisible Enemies

Tuberculosis (Continued)

• Strange methods were used to treat TB before it was really known how to stop it (bleeding)

• Koch isolated germ that causes TB• Years later, drugs were found that could

stop TB• However, it became drug-resistant• Scientists are still working on ways to stop

TB

Page 13: Invisible Enemies

Malaria

• People thought it came from swamps• Actually came from parasite in stomach of Anopheles mosquito

• Many people die from disease every year (more than one million) (Symptoms: chills and fever)

• One solution was fever-tree bark• Sickle-cell trait can resist malaria

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Malaria (Continued)

• Malaria was driven from North America and Europe (farming)

• Ronald Ross discovered malaria parasite (1897)

• People are trying to get rid of malaria with use of pesticides and bug-proofing homes (screens)

• Still exists mostly near equator

Page 15: Invisible Enemies

Cholera

• Cholera led to many deaths, some within three hours after being struck with disease (1830s) (Symptoms: blue face, vomit, diarrhea)

• Thought it came from the dirtiness of the cities

• Could have been hiding in India for thousands of years before spreading through trade

Page 16: Invisible Enemies

Cholera (Continued)

• Snow discovered that it spread through contaminated water (water pumps, etc.)

• Cleaning up is the only way to fully eliminate disease (there are ways to treat it)

Page 17: Invisible Enemies

AIDS

• First showed up in gay people in 1970s and 1980s (led to prejudice)

• Eventually, doctors discovered that it traveled through bodily fluids and blood

• Also discovered that HIV caused AIDS (worldwide = #1 killer…disease-wise)

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AIDS (Continued)

• Using condoms, fresh needles for injections, and restricting sexual activity will reduce risk of HIV and AIDS

• Treatments are available, but there is no vaccine to fully cure it

• Future is bright for the discoveries of cures for AIDS and other diseases

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AIDS (Continued)