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THREAD Infectious diseases have long shaped our culture—in ways you can trace through mentions of a disease in our literature. Here we see declining references to the plague in English books since 1500, with a final bump marking one, last epidemic hitting America in 1900
The 19th century faced a slew of infectious diseases caused, like the plague, by intensifying urbanization and mobility. They drove progress in the fields of medicine, statistics, hygiene, and sanitation. None left a more distinct, cultural signature than the waves of cholera
Some infectious diseases become lasting fixtures. References to tuberculosis, a very ancient disease, took off after it was properly described by Robert Koch in 1882. Interest fell as it was contained to poorer societies, where it still causes around 1,5 million deaths annually
However, many infectious diseases cause outbursts of public attention. Influenza is a case in point, soaring with the 1889 and 1918 pandemics (1 million deaths and tens of millions respectively). Society lost interest in subsequent waves, notably the Asian flu of 1968 (4 million)
Paradoxically, improvements in public health created the right conditions for age-old diseases to rebound, as natural immunity faded. Polio illustrates this phenomenon. Its rise in developed countries peaked in the mid-20th century, and is the origin of intensive care units
The age of vaccines and abundance made infectious diseases recede in our conscience, leaving the scene to other diseases such as cardiovascular conditions, which kill 17 million annually. The space that cancer (also an ancient ailment) now takes in literature epitomizes the shift
As we “tamed” infectious diseases, we became more sensitive to unfamiliar outbreaks. The irruption of AIDS is a spectacular cultural phenomenon in the Western sphere, although the disease ultimately peaked there at around 30,000 casualties per year, against 1,5 million in Africa
Before the covid shock wave, foreboding signs can be seen in the renewed yet modest attention afforded to animal-borne infectious diseases, notably the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, Ebola, and Zika, alongside the swine and avian flu, MERS, and the mad cow disease
This disturbing proliferation caused few human casualties in the Western sphere, nurturing a sense of remoteness or control... despite untold numbers of animals slaughtered. Covid in a cultural sense is the rediscovery of pandemics.
For more context, read https://synaps.network/post/world-in-crisis-post-covid
For more context, read https://synaps.network/post/world-in-crisis-post-covid
