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Module 7: Pandemic Essay


Daine Becerra Garcia 
Professor Andrews
World History II 
16 April 2020
Global Pandemics
Today the United States is suffering from a virus named COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus. Some historical context on coronaviruses is that this virus comes from a “large family of zoonotic viruses” (Vince Mcleod). This means that these viruses are able to be transmitted from an animal to humans and can cause severe respiratory problems or just a common cold. The symptoms of the COVID-19 are dry cough, fever, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties, but this virus can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death. As we know most of the people that are affected by COVID-19 are older people with health conditions like diabetes, cancer, asthma, heart disease, and lung disease. The first case of COVID-19 was discovered around December of 2019 when Dr. Zhang Jixian, the head of the respiratory department at Hubei Provincial Hospital, reported a novel coronavirus. There were about 180 cases later that day (Bryner). COVID-19 takes about two weeks to take effect and according to Timothy Sheahan, “In mice, the disease is similar, but the progression is faster, taking about 1 week” (Sheahan). All this information makes people think, how did people survive when there were pandemics back in time? We have a lot of resources today, but what happened when people didn’t have what we have today. 
       What is a pandemic? Well, according to the CDC, “a pandemic is a global outbreak of disease” (CDC). Meaning that since COVID-19 is spreading rapidly and there isn’t any existing immunity to the virus, it spreads worldwide. Long ago, there was a global pandemic that killed about 5 million people. This plague was known as the Antonine Plague, around 165 AD to 180 AD. It is said that this plague emerged during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. This plague affected Asia, Egypt, Greece, and Italy the most. Galen, a Greek physician who lived in the Roman Empire, described the plague and explained the plague with symptoms like, “fevers, skin sores, diarrhea, and sore throats” (McVean). Although these were some of the symptoms, scientists were not sure exactly what this plague was. Many scientists believe that it was smallpox or measles, but these people were never 100% sure. Like most plagues, this plague was a very rapidly spreading disease. The Antonine Plague was brought by Roman soldiers when they returned from Mesopotamia. There are two supposed legends on how the plague was caused. The first is, Lucius Verus, the Roman general, and later co-emperor opened a closed tomb in, “Seleucia during the subsequent sacking of the city thus releasing the disease” (Horgan). People believe that this was a punishment for raiding the city. The second story is, “a Roman soldier opened a golden casket in the temple of Apollo in Babylon allowing the plague to escape” (Horgan). In both stories, the plague is used as punishment for “violating the sanctuary of a god and breaking the oath” (Horgan). Many Romans blamed Christians for getting the gods upset and causing the outbreak. Either way, the Roman army was devastated. Although some blamed Christians, during this time period, there was a spread of religions like Christianity and Mithraism and renewal in spirituality. Christianity, “spread so rapidly throughout the empire at the end of the second century” (Yeomans). The reason being, people tend to be more faithful in moments of fear. After the outbreak, Marcus Aurelius made the requirements for membership into Athens, Greece less harsh because there weren’t many surviving upper-class Athenians.
       Hearing that the United States has been hit with a world pandemic, is very surprising. Especially when you’ve only heard about pandemics from your history book. Being alive during something that might only be heard in a history textbook, is very unusual. When first hearing of this virus, people thought that it was something fake, others went to the extreme and haven’t been out of their houses in months, but there have been different ways of fighting against the virus. One being quarantine and other different resources that come from the government. Being in 165 AD during the time of the Antonine Plague must have been scary because of the insufficient amount of resources used to protect families. Imagining being infected without even knowing what’s going on and without any protection, might be the worst feeling. Today, we know what’s going on because we have a lot of information coming in from all over the place, which can also be the worst thing because there is a lot of fake news trying to alarm people. 
       In conclusion, there have been many more pandemics that we should learn about. The Antonine Plague isn’t the only plague, there are many more, but it’s clear that even though COVID-19 has affected the United States, we can beat it because of the resources that we have. 


Sources Used 
https://www.labmanager.com/lab-health-and-safety/covid-19-a-history-of-coronavirus-22021 
https://www.livescience.com/first-case-coronavirus-found.html 
https://asm.org/Podcasts/MTM/Episodes/Coronavirus-Antiviral-Drug-Discovery-with-Timothy 
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/summary.html#:~:text=A%20pandemic%20is%20a%20global,pandemic%20by%20the%20WHO. 
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know-history/measles-plague-ruined-rome 
https://www.ancient.eu/Antonine_Plague/ 
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/daily-life-and-practice/the-antonine-plague-and-the-spread-of-christianity/ 




Comments

  1. Aya MoussaApril 17, 2020 at 8:35 PM

    There is no specific antiviral treatment recommended for COVID-19 infection. People infected with COVID-19 are treated with supportive care to help relieve symptoms.

    ReplyDelete

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