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Although medicine and pharmacology are the most developed in the history of mankind today, from time to time a virus appears and they remain helpless. Usually a few days are enough for it to spread around the world thanks to travelers, causing widespread panic. How were the biggest epidemics in recent years dealt with?
2003-2006 bird flu outbreak
Avian influenza has been known since ancient times as a disease of domesticated poultry living in large concentrations and in poor sanitation. This acute infectious disease, caused by the type A virus belonging to the family Orthomyxoviridae. Among the many strains of the virus, most are relatively mild, with the H5 and H7 strains being the most dangerous.
However, for the first time on a mass scale, the world heard about it in 1997, when people caught the flu. The H5N1 strain caused not only the mass extinction of poultry on a Hong Kong farm, but also the deaths of eight people (out of the sixteen who were detected).
However, the epidemic did not break out until 2003 – then the H5N1 virus appeared in China, Japan, Cambodia and other Asian countries, causing death (also from sanitary slaughter) 100 million poultry. The virus hit the second time in 2004, first in Asia and the Middle East, and then also in other European and African countries. In Poland, bird flu was first diagnosed in 2006, luckily, without any deaths.
According to WHO data, between 2003 and 2009, i.e. during the period of increased activity of the virus in the world, it caused 440 people sick and 262 deaths. 861 cases and 455 deaths.
Over time, the epidemic was controlled and limited to local clusters. Experts point out that the virus remains a bird disease, and that domestic and water birds are primarily at risk. To this day, from time to time, small outbreaks of the disease appear around the world, also in Poland. The increased awareness of avian influenza prophylaxis resulted in a significant decrease in mortality caused by this disease among people.
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At the time of the highest incidence, the medical community strongly stigmatized the media, accusing them of escalating the threat too much and sowing panic. It was emphasized that a person can catch avian flu only in contact with a birdand wild birds do not spread disease.
A much larger epidemic could have occurred if a person could infect another person with bird flu. So far, only one such case has been reported when a father contracted a mutant virus from his son in 2006 in Indonesia.
In humans, bird flu is manifested primarily by: fever, muscle and joint pain, cough and shortness of breath, and in extreme conditions difficulty breathing. The easiest way to get it is in contact with sick birds or their raw meat (the virus dies at 50 degrees), it is transmitted through water, feed, fertilizers and air.
Epidemia SARS 2002-2003
The SARS epidemic of 2002 and the current 2019-nCov coronavirus epidemic have a lot in common, prompting comparisons. Both viruses broke out in China, both viruses come from animals (most likely bats), and both – which is extremely dangerous – can spread from person to person.
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SARS stands for “severe acute respiratory syndrome”. The first case of SARS infection was diagnosed in late 2002 in the Guangdong province in the south of China.
However, the Chinese authorities tried for a long time to cover up the disease, and WHO was not informed of the case until February 2003. Before that, however, the disease was sent to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand, and local doctors quickly realized that they were not dealing with ordinary pneumonia.
However, the disease spread like wildfire and the lack of information made it preventive procedures were not implemented. Patients who came to hospitals infected other people and hospital employees who, unaware of the danger, passed the virus to their relatives.
It was not until March 2003 that WHO informed medical services around the world about the risk of an epidemic, and mandatory protective tests for travelers to Asia and quarantine were introduced. More schools and offices were closed. However, all this happened much too late, for which the Chinese authorities were blamed. It quickly became clear that the disease spreads by droplets and that people, traveling and moving around, become infected one by one.
The symptoms of SARS are similar to those of the flu: fever, weakness, muscle pain, cough, severe dyspnoea. Patients often require connection to a ventilator and immediate isolation.
The SARS epidemic mainly affected the countries of Asia. The largest number of cases was recorded in China (5328 by the end of 2013) and Hong Kong (1755). 27 people fell ill in the USA, individual cases occurred in European countries.
In total, in 2002 and 2003, more than 8096 people fell ill with SARS, 774 of them died.
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The 2009-2010 swine flu pandemic
The real pandemic caused by the so-called swine flu rocked the world in 2009 and 2010. The new – at that time – mutation of the A / H1N1 virus first appeared in Mexico at the turn of March and April 2009, causing the death of sick people almost immediately.
Mimo Immediate response from the authorities, the shutdown of public institutions and a massive vaccination campaign, the virus spread rapidly, 159 people died because of it in the first month alone. Swine flu appeared in the USA and Canada, and in flowering it also reached Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas.
Although the swine flu virus was known as early as the 30s, it posed no threat to humans. It was only in 2009 that a mutation of the H1N1 strain, which also includes the traditional flu, in combination with swine flu resulted in the lethal A / H1N1 virus.
WHO’s response was immediate: On June 11, 2009, the sixth degree of disease risk was announced, i.e. a pandemic. It was maintained until August 2010.
On July 6, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the new A / H1N1 flu pandemic is the fastest spreading pandemic ever and it is useless to record every case of illness. Thus, the medical authorities of individual countries have been released from compulsory recording of each case, requiring only reporting of the most severe or extremely atypical. WHO has also ceased to publish lists of cases of morbidity and deaths on an ongoing basis. Today, it is not known exactly how many victims were killed by the pandemic, with estimates ranging from 150 to nearly 600, including both direct casualties and those who died as a result of complications.
Swine flu has a similar manifestation as seasonal flu: chills, sore muscles, fever, cough and sore throat, fainting and general weakness. Prevention is the same as for other traditional flu: washing hands with warm soapy water, especially after visiting public places, avoiding contact with flu patients, and increasing hygiene.
The governments of many countries have decided to mass-buy flu vaccines, often buying them in large surplus, for which they have later faced severe criticism over the waste of public money. After the situation had calmed down, there were many voices that the whole pandemic was too much publicized by the media, and pharmaceutical companies were its greatest beneficiaries. It is worth recalling here that Poland was the only country in Europe that decided not to buy vaccines.
Eboli epidemic 2013-2016
Although Ebola hemorrhagic fever was known in African countries since the 60s, the real epidemic of the disease happened relatively recently.
The first case that started this epidemic was a two-year-old boy from Guinea who, before his death, in December 2013, infected several of his relatives. They infected members of the medical staff, and then their families. The disease spread like wildfire common symptoms: high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, rapid loss of strength and high mortality. On March 23, 2014, the Guinean authorities informed WHO about a country-wide epidemic. The disease quickly spread to other countries: Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Congo and others.
World medical organizations went to help almost immediately, and the European Commission and other authorities donated funds for treatment. In August 2014, WHO announced the so-called PHEIC, i.e. a public health threat of international scope.
In September 2014, Ebola appeared in the US, and in October in Spain, but in total only single infected people went to Europe, one of them died. The epidemic mainly affected the area of West Africa. By the end of 2015, over 28 people fell ill, and over 11 died.
At the beginning of 2016, WHO announced that the Ebola virus epidemic in Guinea had been brought under control, although medical services in African countries are still struggling with this disease, the severity of which is periodically increasing. It is transmitted by animals (mainly bats), the easiest way to get the virus is through contact with their blood or body fluids. An infected person – through blood and other body fluids – is able to easily infect other people.
The Ebola virus has a very high mortality rate and is easy to spread, so it is listed as one of the biological weapons with the greatest terrorist potential. It is still not possible to develop a vaccine against the hemorrhagic fever virus, and it is considered one of the most important challenges of modern medicine.
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