Island Epidemics


Book Description

In Island Epidemics, the authors show that the complex warfare of invasion and extinction observed by Darwin for plants and animals applies with equal force to human diseases. A world picture is presented of diseases, which range from the familiar (influenza and German measles) to the exotic (kuru and tsutsugamushi), and islands which range in remoteness, from the accessible United Kingdom to the inaccessible Tristan da Cunha and Easter Island.




Epidemics and the Modern World


Book Description

Epidemics and the Modern World uses "biographies" of epidemics such as plague, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS to explore the impact of diseases on society from the fourteenth century to the twenty-first century.




War Epidemics


Book Description

Down the ages, war epidemics have decimated the fighting strength of armies, caused the suspension and cancellation of military operations, and have brought havoc to the civil populations of belligerent and non-belligerent states alike. This book examines the historical occurrence and geographical spread of infectious diseases in association with past wars. It addresses an intrinsically geographical question: how are the spatial dynamics of epidemics influenced by military operations and the directives of war? The term historical geography in the title indicates the authors' primary concern with qualitative analyses of archival source materials over a 150-year time period from 1850, and this is combined with quantitative analyses less frequently associated with historical studies. Written from the viewpoints of historical geography, epidemiology, and spatial analysis, this book examines in four parts the historical occurrence and geographical spread of infectious diseases in association with wars. Part I: War and Disease, surveys war-disease associations from early times to 1850. Part II: Temporal Trends studies time trends since 1850. Part III: A Regional Pattern of War Epidemics, examines grand themes in the war-disease complex. Part IV: Prospects, considers a series of war-related issues of epidemiological significance in the twenty-first century.




Epidemics and Society


Book Description

A wide-ranging study that illuminates the connection between epidemic diseases and societal change, from the Black Death to Ebola This sweeping exploration of the impact of epidemic diseases looks at how mass infectious outbreaks have shaped society, from the Black Death to today. In a clear and accessible style, Frank M. Snowden reveals the ways that diseases have not only influenced medical science and public health, but also transformed the arts, religion, intellectual history, and warfare. A multidisciplinary and comparative investigation of the medical and social history of the major epidemics, this volume touches on themes such as the evolution of medical therapy, plague literature, poverty, the environment, and mass hysteria. In addition to providing historical perspective on diseases such as smallpox, cholera, and tuberculosis, Snowden examines the fallout from recent epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, SARS, and Ebola and the question of the world’s preparedness for the next generation of diseases.




CDC Yellow Book 2018: Health Information for International Travel


Book Description

THE ESSENTIAL WORK IN TRAVEL MEDICINE -- NOW COMPLETELY UPDATED FOR 2018 As unprecedented numbers of travelers cross international borders each day, the need for up-to-date, practical information about the health challenges posed by travel has never been greater. For both international travelers and the health professionals who care for them, the CDC Yellow Book 2018: Health Information for International Travel is the definitive guide to staying safe and healthy anywhere in the world. The fully revised and updated 2018 edition codifies the U.S. government's most current health guidelines and information for international travelers, including pretravel vaccine recommendations, destination-specific health advice, and easy-to-reference maps, tables, and charts. The 2018 Yellow Book also addresses the needs of specific types of travelers, with dedicated sections on: · Precautions for pregnant travelers, immunocompromised travelers, and travelers with disabilities · Special considerations for newly arrived adoptees, immigrants, and refugees · Practical tips for last-minute or resource-limited travelers · Advice for air crews, humanitarian workers, missionaries, and others who provide care and support overseas Authored by a team of the world's most esteemed travel medicine experts, the Yellow Book is an essential resource for travelers -- and the clinicians overseeing their care -- at home and abroad.




Planetary Health


Book Description

Human health depends on the health of the planet. Earth’s natural systems—the air, the water, the biodiversity, the climate—are our life support systems. Yet climate change, biodiversity loss, scarcity of land and freshwater, pollution and other threats are degrading these systems. The emerging field of planetary health aims to understand how these changes threaten our health and how to protect ourselves and the rest of the biosphere. Planetary Health: Protecting Nature to Protect Ourselves provides a readable introduction to this new paradigm. With an interdisciplinary approach, the book addresses a wide range of health impacts felt in the Anthropocene, including food and nutrition, infectious disease, non-communicable disease, dislocation and conflict, and mental health. It also presents strategies to combat environmental changes and its ill-effects, such as controlling toxic exposures, investing in clean energy, improving urban design, and more. Chapters are authored by widely recognized experts. The result is a comprehensive and optimistic overview of a growing field that is being adopted by researchers and universities around the world. Students of public health will gain a solid grounding in the new challenges their profession must confront, while those in the environmental sciences, agriculture, the design professions, and other fields will become familiar with the human consequences of planetary changes. Understanding how our changing environment affects our health is increasingly critical to a variety of disciplines and professions. Planetary Health is the definitive guide to this vital field.




Spatial Diffusion


Book Description

An exploration of the geography by which measles has repeatedly passed through a series of communities in Iceland during the 20th century. Demonstrates the general principles which underlie person-to-person spatial diffusion processes.




Ethical and Legal Considerations in Mitigating Pandemic Disease


Book Description

In recent public workshops and working group meetings, the Forum on Microbial Threats of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has examined a variety of infectious disease outbreaks with pandemic potential, including those caused by influenza (IOM, 2005) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) (IOM, 2004). Particular attention has been paid to the potential pandemic threat posed by the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which is now endemic in many Southeast Asian bird populations. Since 2003, the H5N1 subtype of avian influenza has caused 185 confirmed human deaths in 11 countries, including some cases of viral transmission from human to human (WHO, 2007). But as worrisome as these developments are, at least they are caused by known pathogens. The next pandemic could well be caused by the emergence of a microbe that is still unknown, much as happened in the 1980s with the emergence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and in 2003 with the appearance of the SARS coronavirus. Previous Forum meetings on pandemic disease have discussed the scientific and logistical challenges associated with pandemic disease recognition, identification, and response. Participants in these earlier meetings also recognized the difficulty of implementing disease control strategies effectively. Ethical and Legal Considerations in Mitigating Pandemic Disease: Workshop Summary as a factual summary of what occurred at the workshop.




Epidemic Urbanism


Book Description

Thirty-six interdisciplinary essays analyze the mutual relationship between historical epidemics and the built environment. Epidemic illnesses--not only a product of biology, but also social and cultural phenomena--are as old as cities themselves. The outbreak of COVID-19 in late 2019 brought the effects of epidemic illness on urban life into sharp focus, exposing the vulnerabilities of the societies it ravages as much as the bodies it infects. How might insights from the outbreak and responses to previous urban epidemics inform our understanding of the current world? With these questions in mind, Epidemic Urbanism gathers scholarship from a range of disciplines--including history, public health, sociology, anthropology, and medicine--to present historical case studies from across the globe, each demonstrating how cities are not just the primary place of exposure and quarantine, but also the site and instrument of intervention. They also demonstrate how epidemic illnesses, and responses to them, exploit and amplify social inequality in the communities they touch. Illustrated with more than 150 historical images, the essays illuminate the profound, complex ways epidemics have shaped the world around us and convey this information in a way that meaningfully engages a public readership.




The Geographical Structure of Epidemics


Book Description

Peter Haggett's research over the last thirty years has focused on mapping and modelling the paths by which epidemics spread through human communities. This led to his 1998 inaugural lectures for a new series, the Clarendon Lectures in Geography and Environmental Studies, the result of which is this book. In it, Haggett presents an accessible, concise, and well illustrated account of how environmental and geographical concepts can be used to enhance our knowledge of the origins and progress of epidemics, and sometimes to slow or even halt their spread.