Follow Science on Pandemics

Each pandemic is different, but as we debate how best to handle Covid-19, let’s explore a little history of how pandemics have affected mankind over the ages. I found an excellent resource in the first chapter of the book, “Homo Deus” by Yuval Noah Harari. This is a sequel to Harari’s “Sapiens” which has stayed on the Amazon list of top 20 non-fiction books for 158 weeks, and on the New York Times bestselling non-fiction list for 105 weeks.

Harari explains that throughout recorded history, mankind has been at the mercy of famine, pandemics, and war. Only in recent years have we managed to tame these forces, and we are facing new challenges in our modern world. He notes, “In 2010 famine and malnutrition combined killed about 1 million people, whereas obesity killed 3 million.”

HISTORY OF PANDEMICS

The Black Death, a plague caused by bacteria spread by rats and fleas starting in the 1330s, took between 75 million and 200 million lives over a period of 20 years. In England, 4 out of 10 people died. Officials had no idea how pandemics were caused and tried to fight it with prayers and processions.

The Spaniards introduced the smallpox virus to Mexico. “In March 1520, when the Spanish fleet arrived, Mexico was home to 22 million people, by December only 14 million were still alive.” The Spaniards also brought flu, measles, and other diseases for which the native population had no immunity, and by 1580, the Mexican population was less than 2 million.

A few days after I was born, my father and brother contracted polio. My mother sent me to stay with my grandmother, as there was no vaccine and isolation was the only protection. Mom recounted many times the story of a day when she went to church to pray, and a parishioner chided her, “How dare you come to church with your dread disease.” I remember as a child standing in line to get the polio vaccine on a sugar cube. Polio had been eradicated in the U.S. and most of the world.

SCIENCE IS KEY TO STOPPING PANDEMICS

Science has come a long way in understanding and fighting disease. I have a nearly invisible mark on my left shoulder from my smallpox vaccination. Thanks to a vaccination program by the World Health Organization, smallpox was eradicated in 1977. AIDS erupted in the early 1980s and claimed more than 30 million lives. Scientists have now developed a virtual cure for AIDS. There was an outbreak of Ebola in West Africa in 2014. Two and a half years after the first case was discovered, the outbreak ended with roughly 28,600 cases and only 11,325 deaths.

In our current pandemic, too many world leaders and citizens choose to ignore science and spread misinformation about the coronavirus. Scientists are still learning about this new disease, but here’s what the CDC recommends …

The CDC recommends that everyone wear cloth face coverings when leaving their homes, regardless of whether they have fever or symptoms of COVID-19. This is because of evidence that people with COVID-19 can spread the disease, even when they don’t have any symptoms.

For more information, read this informative discussion on herd immunity.  Herd immunity can be achieved either through vaccination or if a substantial number of people contract the disease and recover. The latter option may be very costly in terms of lives and overwhelming our health care system. That’s why scientists are asking people to continue to help flatten the curve. Listen to science and do your part to save lives.