The 10 most dangerous epidemics in human history

The 10 most dangerous epidemics in human history

     At this point, the Ebola virus has already become a global topic, as well as a crisis. Fortunately, appropriate measures are already being taken to avoid a possible epidemic across the world. Because it is not the first time it has happened, far from it. Today, we will take the opportunity to review the ten worst epidemics in history.

First of all, what is an epidemic ?

    The epidemic is nothing more than a pandemic on a larger scale, and much more widespread. The epidemic is nothing more than a disease that reaches a higher level of infection than was usually expected.Therefore, a disease that extends more than expected and much more extensively than expected is considered a pandemic. And unfortunately, pandemics often associate a large number of deaths due to the lack of preparation that the term itself suggests. Luckily, we will tell you no, Ebola is not a pandemic. And it is quite difficult that at this point it is, although it is never known, as Dr. Manuel Patarroyo, one of the researchers behind the malaria vaccine recently indicated.

The ten largest pandemics in history and the death toll :

      -  Smallpox - more than 300 million :

 Smallpox is a much more serious infectious disease than people appreciate. It is caused by Variola virus, from the Poxvirus family, and not only has it been the pandemic that has caused the most deaths in the history of mankind but has also left millions of people disfigured throughout the world. Basically, as many of you will know, smallpox causes numerous pustules to leave an indelible mark on the skin with almost total security. Smallpox is considered one of the two diseases that is completely eradicated where it is known, is a virus that only affects humans (in its infectious variant), and its transmission is very similar to that of Ebola: through body fluids and contact direct.

    This pandemic has been known for a long time, and is believed to have appeared in 10,000 BC. It became so deadly that only 30% of those affected managed to survive, dying from high fevers, dehydration and resulting complications.
Especially terrible was the eighteenth century, where smallpox literally decimated the affected populations. But in addition to its lethality, smallpox has also been a protagonist in history since the first vaccine, designed by E. Jenner in 1796 was precisely to treat smallpox. The disease, it is estimated, has killed more than 300 million people throughout its history, but, fortunately, it is currently considered as one of the two diseases, together with rinderpest, "eradicated."

      -  Measles - more than 200 million :

  Another of the great acquaintances of history. Measles, such as rubella or chicken pox, is a characteristic disease due to its reddish marks on the skin, high fevers and serious discomfort. In addition, it is also the cause of the second largest pandemic in history. Death in measles is usually due to pulmonary or meninge inflammation, which leaves serious sequelae in most of Today, almost all of us are vaccinated thanks to "triple viral" survivors. Measles is a paramyxovirus and is spread by direct contact and by air through the vapor droplets we exhale.
    But precisely, to combat this disease we usually vaccinate our children with the triple viral vaccine, also called SPR. Because measles does not have a specific cure, as with Ebola, all we can do is prevent infection. The disease has been known for more than 3000 years and its main problem is the high rate of infection. So far and although we have effectively controlled the disease, it has killed more than 200 million people and we have not yet eradicated it despite the efforts of WHO.

      -  The Spanish Flu - between 50 and 100 million :

    This bombastic pandemic was one of the most serious in modern history. Unlike the previous two pandemics, which are understood to have caused the deaths of hundreds of millions of people over the centuries, the Spanish flu killed 3% to 6% of the world's population. It ended in two years with almost 6% of the world's population as estimated, in just a couple of years. That is, between 1918 and 1920 it is estimated that between 50 and 100 million people died along the globe.
    As you suspect, the Spanish Flu was closely related to the First World War, a conflict that did not help mitigate the ravages of the disease, but rather the opposite. But why Spanish Flu? The term is not due to the first cases in Spain, as many will think, but this country was the first to inform the population of its existence and consequences, since other countries such as France, where the first could have occurred cases, censored the information to avoid demoralizing the population.

      -  The black death: about 75 million :

     One of the best known pandemics, due to its unpleasant historical association with the Middle Ages and later centuries, is the Plague. This disease is caused by Yersinia pestis, which is a bacterium, not a virus and an agent still active in small towns and rural areas. Its main and showy symptoms are the buboes or huge blisters caused by the bacteria, very unpleasant. Yersinia pestis is transmitted through vectors such as fleas. The plague needs rats as a reservoir and fleas as a vector, although at the time it was believed that the "humors" and vaporous fluids were the transmitters. But the secret was in the rats, which plagued the medieval cities and are the perfect reservoir of this strain.
    The Black or Bubonic Plague was the most deadly plague pandemic in history, although as you can see, I need several tens of years to wreak havoc with the Spanish Flu. Its popularity, essentially, comes from the social and historical implications. The Spanish Flu was one more drop in a world that was convulsing before the war. It almost went unnoticed because it was a calamity to add to the day. But the Black Death was the provocation that society needed to evolve in a time of change. The social and historical implications are as extremely important as the 75 million people who succumbed during the mid-fourteenth century.

      -  Human Immunodeficiency Virus - more than 25 million :

    Or HIV, also known as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS. This virus is the fifth most important global pandemic, and also an important part of our modern history. He is also a great (and sad) protagonist in our pop culture. But before all that, it is a disease caused by a retrovirus, and also one of the most studied today. It was discovered by Luc Mantagnier in France and what it causes is basically that our immune system does not work properly. Therefore, it is not the virus itself that causes the Today there are those who deny the existence of HIV despite how well we know it deadly consequences but destroys our ability to defend ourselves before other common and current diseases, so that the most Minimal infection can kill us.
    HIV has killed more than 25 million people in the world and is still a danger today. Luckily it can only be transmitted through direct contact with mucous membranes or blood, so its transmission is more difficult than it seems. In addition there are certain treatments and some very promising discoveries to improve the quality of life or even treat the infection, although there is currently no definitive or known cure. Another very curious detail is that the virus could have an artificial, laboratory origin. Another even more striking is that there is a whole movement, very dangerous, of HIV deniers who claim that this virus does not exist and is an invention of the pharmaceutical industry.

      -  The Plague of Justinian - about 25 million :

    This pandemic, as the name suggests, began there in the 6th century, in the Byzantine Empire. Although there is no absolute certainty, the plague was probably caused by a strain of Yersinia pestis, the same bacteria that caused the Bubonic or Black Plague. The latest research, in fact, openly relates both organisms, and may even be the same, of the same genetic line. Hypothesis aside, the truth is that this pandemic spread throughout the empire and beyond. Although it is quite difficult to estimate, the Justinian Plague would probably kill almost 25 million people in the Mediterranean until it was finally mitigated in the eighth century, and destroyed up to a quarter of its entire population.

      -  The Third Pandemic - about 12 million :

 
 This is commonly called the third bubonic plague pandemic that began in Yunnan province in China in the 19th century. This pandemic was active until 1959 and caused in just a dozen years the death of more than 12 million people. As we see, Yersinia pestis remains the main protagonist of pandemics, having been present on numerous occasions and throughout the world. This time it was the turn of Asia, where Manchuria and Mongolia were the areas most affected by the pandemic.

      -  Typhus - about 4 million :

    Typhus, not typhoid fevers, are caused by the Rickettsia genus and is one of the current pandemics. Transmitted by vectors such as insects and other arthropods (all insects are arthropods, not all arthropods are insects), typhus causes high fevers, rash and another series of unpleasant consequences. It usually affects rural or very isolated populations due to the main vectors and their animal reservoirs. Although typhus has killed more than 4 million people throughout its history, it does not pose a danger that is too present in the modern world.

      -  Cholera - about 3 million :

    That not human cholera, which is also a widespread disease, its a current pandemic caused by Vibrio cholerae, a bacterium. In addition to fevers and abdominal pain, cholera usually kills those affected due essentially to dehydration that in many cases is virtually impossible to stop due to the speed at which water is lost due to diarrhea. You will certainly remember the outbreak of Haiti or other more modern ones. To stop Cholera, food and water, the main sources of infection, are often treated with special care. The Cholera has three large pandemics, occurred in the nineteenth century and very large epidemics in the twentieth century whose total soma exceeds three million dead.

      -  The Hong Kong flu - almost a million :

    This is another pandemic of influenza, most likely caused by a variation of the H3N2 Flu. This variant, which appeared during the summer, could be a mutant strain that spread in a very short time all over the world following the same lines of diffusion as the so-called 1957 Asian fever. This flu pandemic was carried forward almost to a million people in a very short time, and it is one of the reasons why alarms go off every time people talk about the flu, or the bird flu.

      -  Other diseases :

    Of course not only pandemics have taken thousands of people ahead. In fact, this epidemic outbreak of Ebola has already accounted for more than 3,900 deaths and more than 8,000 affected. But we also have to remember the epidemic, that not Everything indicates that we will never have to add Ebola to this happy list of bird flu, which caused a stir a few years ago, the problem of poisoning supposedly due to Spanish cucumbers contaminated by Escherichia coli ( which was not such) or swine flu, caused by influenza virus of subtype H1N1, which is currently considered a pandemic.
    The same typhoid fever (that caused by Salmonella typhi also wreaked havoc in Athens a couple of millennia ago. The fact is that unlike these ten pandemics that we have reviewed, it must be very clear that Ebola, so fashionable in At the moment, it does not constitute a pandemic and probably never does. As with bird flu, WHO and the relevant agencies already have a virus in the spotlight that can be lethal, but will not be thanks to the control and the knowledge that arise every day, although sporadic outbreaks cannot be avoided, it is not the first time that we face Ebola and luckily everything indicates that we will never have to add this disease to this happy list.