A teenage girl in Oregon is currently in the ICU with the plague...as in Bubonic, as in Middle Ages. She is believed to have been infected with the disease in early October during a hunting trip. The girl began feeling ill on the 21st and was checked into the hospital on the 24th. Doctors say that in many cases people just assume it's the flu and that a rare few can get over it without antibiotics. The majority of the infected are checked into the Emergency Room. The plague is most common in rural and semi rural areas of western United States, such as New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado. It is a naturally occurring disease typically carried through flies that have bitten infected rodents and in turn transfer it to humans. But don't worry it's not like the Bubonic Plague is coming back in full swing, it's just in general more evident than, at least I, expected. There have been 15 cases in the US this year. Thankfully none have died, but still, up until 15 minutes ago I thought that the Bubonic Plague was left with the spears and scabbards.
Like I said I'm kind of shocked that this is still such a detrimental problem. Thankfully now we have antibiotics, so the diseases is not as widespread as it used to be, but if the antibiotics don't work, as they haven't in some cases, then the disease still has the same consequences as it did thousands of years ago.
I was thinking about what the difference is between now and then. During the Middle Ages they didn't have the antibiotics that we do, to help stop the spread and cure. Also, we have probably built up some immunity to the disease. It's like during the American colonization period when the Europeans brought over a sudden surge of diseases that the Native Americans didn't have any immunity towards. In the Middle Ages, we didn't have any immunity toward the Bubonic disease, but give us a couple thousand years and we're just about there when it comes to walking the path of immunity.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/30/health/oregon-teen-has-plague/index.html
The fact that we still encounter cases of the Bubonic Plague is scary, yes, but we now have the resources and medical technology we need to effectively treat it. I am extremely glad that this girl got to the hospital in time. I believe that more people need to be aware of the symptoms so that they can identify it and get to the emergency room as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteI thought the plague was gone from existence too! We have so much faith in modern medicine, we forget the possibility of old diseases re-emerging.
ReplyDeleteMy mom told me about this and I was in shock. It amazes me that no matter how advanced scientists and doctors become, illness seems to be step ahead. I hope doctors can nurse the teen age girl back to health and determine what exactly caused her to contract the plague.
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