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EPIDEMICS… Spanish influenza killed more than half a million people worldwide from March to November of 1918. Polio struck more than 125,000 individuals in this country — killing more than 10,000 — in the epidemics of 1916, 1949 and 1952. AIDS deaths in the U.S. from 1981 through December 31,1999 topped 425,000, with 724,656 reported cases at that time.
Plagues of infectious disease are part of our history. They seem to arise suddenly, spread from person to person like wildfire, appear to be unstoppable, then dwindle and die out, leaving families and sometimes entire towns and countries demolished. But with vaccines, ever-more-potent antibiotics and other drug therapies, better surveillance and more targeted responses, outbreaks of infection in this country are neither as frequent nor as deadly. Despite that bit of good news, Americans are worried. As our globe shrinks, "bugs" from far off lands seem to threaten our well-being. Mad cow disease, Ebola hemorrhagic fever and West Nile virus are just a few of the illnesses alarming Americans. As international travel increases, will previously unheard-of infections cross borders, and even jump continents and oceans, to gain a foothold in our country? As scary as these "foreign"agents are, they can’t compare right now with the menaces lurking under our noses. Physicians warn us about epidemics of obesity, diabetes and asthma. In addition, lung cancer rates continue to rise in women,yet ever increasing numbers of teenagers and young adults are smoking. These diseases are killing thousands of Americans each year, but no one is paying attention. The enemy is looking us full in the face and we’re failing to notice. In addition, as baby boomers look down the road to retirement, they may be up against an Alzheimer’s epidemic that could catch them unaware and unprepared. Without a vaccine or more effective drugs, there may be nine million Americans afflicted with the disease by 2040.
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The magazine of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey |
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