Epidemics and Pandemics
During the twentieth century, new diseases began to emerge across Britain and wider Europe. The worst of these diseases became epidemics and pandemics. But what’s the difference?
- An epidemic occurs when a disease affects lots of people in a single area, like a region or a country. Something can start as an epidemic, and later become a pandemic.
- A pandemic occurs when a disease affects people globally across different areas.
You might remember the Covid-19 pandemic, which began in 2020. The Black Death is another example of a historical pandemic
Spanish Flu
In 1918, a fatal flu struck the planet and went on to kill over 50 million people worldwide. This deadly pandemic became known as the Spanish flu, named after where it was believed to have originated at the time. Meanwhile, World War One was ongoing and the flu spread through the trenches like wildfire. It wasn’t long until it arrived in Britain with soldiers travelling home on leave. Because it broke out during wartime, many people thought flu symptoms were just from the impact of fighting in the war or being exposed to mustard gas. Some even thought it was biological warfare from Germany.
The British government tried to keep the population calm and censored messaging about the spread of the flu in Britain. However, the newspapers could report on the death toll in Spain – which had reached over 7 million at that time. This is why we know it as Spanish flu, or a visit from “The Spanish Lady”.
When the Spanish flu set in, it would start with the classic symptoms you’d get with a common cold, like a sore throat and a headache. It could quickly turn nasty, with victims developing pneumonia and dark patches on their skin due to a lack of oxygen. Some people experienced bleeding from their ears, nose and even stomach! All of this could happen to a healthy person in a single day – it was impossible to know who would be struck next. People turned to herbal remedies, and with increased knowledge about germs some people wore face masks, but none of this was effective enough to stop the worldwide spread. As you can imagine, the pressure on hospitals in Britain was overwhelming.
At the time, nobody had any idea how the flu pandemic started. Now, we know it was originally a bird virus that began infecting humans. It’s more likely that it started to spread in the Far East rather than Spain, and travelled through China to Europe during the war. Influenza doesn’t have a cure even to this day, but we have vaccines that can help prevent some strains. In Britain, hospitals are often under extra pressure in the winter because of different kinds of flu.
HIV/AIDS
Throughout the 1970s, an unusual illness was noticed across America, Europe and North Africa. It would cause skin sores, significant weight loss, pneumonia, and eventually lead to death. It wasn’t until 1981 that in the USA, doctors realised this illness was especially affecting gay men and seemed to be caused by an immune system issue. In 1982, it was finally named AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).
However, it wasn’t until years later that it was discovered it was a virus that caused it. In 1986, this virus was named HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). HIV is spread through bodily fluids and blood, rather than through air or skin-to-skin contact, through things like unprotected sexual contact, blood transfusions, or sharing hypodermic needles. It can also be passed on during pregnancy from a mother to a child.
HIV and AIDS have since spread globally. Now there are millions of people who live with HIV, and some people don’t even know they have it. People don’t die of AIDS itself, but because they have a weaker immune system they will become ill with something simple like a cold and aren’t able to fight it off. This is why people don’t know they have it unless they get tested, so testing became freely available at hospitals and blood donations for blood transfusions began being screened before they were accepted. In 1996, a treatment was discovered that would slow down the development of AIDS in somebody who is infected with HIV. However, this means people are more complacent about HIV and AIDS could be spreading it without knowing.
Unfortunately, many people faced discrimination because of HIV and AIDS. Some religious people suggested that God was punishing gay people for their sins by giving them AIDS, even in the 20th century. However, there were lots of efforts made to change people’s perspective and encourage them to support people with HIV and AIDS, from fundraising concerts to awareness campaigns. There were even plots in popular TV soaps about people living with HIV to try and get the message across! One famous example was when Princess Diana visited a clinic in 1987 and was deliberately photographed shaking hands with somebody who had AIDS, which then appeared on the news. This showed the general public that it couldn’t spread by skin-to-skin contact and encouraged people to be more respectful towards people with HIV and AIDS.
Did You Know?
The lead singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury, died of AIDS in 1991 at the age of 45.
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