{"id":446,"date":"2019-05-21T14:07:25","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T18:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/hst-journeys\/?p=446"},"modified":"2019-05-21T14:10:02","modified_gmt":"2019-05-21T18:10:02","slug":"medicine-and-disease-in-history-the-1930s-plague-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/hst-journeys\/2019\/05\/medicine-and-disease-in-history-the-1930s-plague-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Medicine and Disease in History: The 1930s Plague Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"



Children’s ward with nurses and visitors in a nursing institute in Java <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Gretchen Blackwell<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: Essay 3 in a series, all from Dr. Amanda McVety’s Spring 2019 class on Medicine and Disease in Modern Society <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning in 1894 and lasting until\naround 1950, a pandemic of the plague began to spread, wreaking havoc on much\nof the developing world. This pandemic was the third outbreak of its kind,\nharkening back to the days of the Plague of Justinian that occured around\n541-542 AD and the Black Death that desolated much of the world between 1347\nand 1500 AD, both of which killed millions and reshaped the political and\nsocial spheres of the world. When the plague spread in the early 1900s,\nclinicians, politicians, and researches were no more prepared for its\ndestruction than those of outbreaks before germ theory was developed. Despite\nthe various methods of prevention, cures, and treatment employed by public\nhealth officials, the outbreak in colonized countries, where the cities were\novercrowded and unsanitary, worsened drastically. The actions of officials were\nmet with much protest and resistance from citizens, as many did not trust any\nWestern medical interventions. Though the third outbreak of plague ravaged the\nmajority of the world, the rich and powerful West was unscathed. Consequently,\nthe memory of this outbreak faded in the minds of the West; yet, its\ndevastation marked the beginning of a clear inequality in health care in those\ncountries affected by the plague and the developed world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The\nplague, a contagion caused by Yersinia\npestis<\/em>, is transmitted by rodents and their fleas. There are three types of\nplague- bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic, the most deadly. A person can catch\nthe plague from being bitten by an infected flea, handling carcases of rodents\nwith the disease or, in the case of pneumonic plague, from Y. pestis<\/em> particles transmitted person to person. The plague kills\nby reproducing its bacteria rapidly and overloading the immune system until the\norgans fail. The symptoms occur around six days after infection and have\nvarious effects depending on the type of plague.[1]<\/sup><\/a> In bubonic plague\ninfections, the patient\u2019s lymph nodes swell, and the patient experiences fever,\naches, and chills. When infected with septicemic plague, the patient develops\nfever, chills, shock, and bleeding under the skin that causes the blackening of\nskin tissue, a characteristic that is typical of this type of the disease. When\neither bubonic or septicemic plague is left untreated, it can develop into\npneumonic plague which causes pneumonia.[2]<\/sup><\/a> There is no vaccine\navailable for the plague; however, if it is treated with antibiotics, the\npatient has an increased rate of survival.[3]<\/sup><\/a> If the plague is left\nuntreated, the patient has a 50 percent survival rate.[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the third outbreak of plague,\nno cure or treatment was known, and there was a lack of understanding of the\nexact mode of transmission. The theory that rats spread the plague developed\nduring this time; however, it was accepted by many that human to human\ntransmissions occurred in every case of the plague, some even attributed\nmiasmic theory to the outbreak.[5]<\/sup><\/a> Ultimately,\npublic health officials resorted to the methods used in past pandemics. These\nmethods included quarantining and the burning homes and belongings of victims,\nforcing them to relocate, in order to stop human to human transmission, what\nthey assumed was causing infection. Additionally, officials would roundup and\npoison rats in order to control the spread of disease. Further, vaccination, a\nmethod that has now been proven very dangerous, was compulsory for citizens of\nSenegal.[6]<\/sup><\/a> None\nof these efforts did much, however, to fight the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many actions taken by health\nofficials during the third plague pandemic were met with resistance in\ncolonized nations, as the officials were ignorant of or apathetic towards the\ncultural and religious traditions of the colonized people. For instance, in\nIndia, citizens reacted with violent protests when forced to conform to Western\nmedical practices, leading \u201cto the death of four Britons, and helped accelerate\nthe growth of Indian nationalism.\u201d[7]<\/sup><\/a>\nFurther, in Bombay in 1936, it was reported that after objections from\ncitizens, officials would stop the trapping of rats because of the religious\nbeliefs.[8]<\/sup><\/a> The\ntitle of an article from the Sunday Times of London read \u201cPlague Preferred\u201d,\nshowing a clear inconsideration of the values of the society in which Britain\nwas occupying. In the West, it was thought that only those who were ignorant\ncaught the plague. In fact, when there was an outbreak in Scotland, officials\nwere embarrassed by its presence.[9]<\/sup><\/a> It\nwas generally accepted that backwardness and uncleanliness would cause the\nplague. A medical professional in the American Journal of Public Health and the\nNation\u2019s Health in 1934 claimed that it was \u201cignorance and fear\u201d that worsened\nthe fatality of disease.[10]<\/sup><\/a> In\nIndia, this became \u201can excuse for letting the plague epidemic\u2026 burn out\u201d.[11]<\/sup><\/a>\nOfficials decided to stop intervention and let the disease run its course,\nresulting in 10 million deaths in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the outbreak around\n1950, nearly 15 million were dead, primarily in the port cities of India,\nChina, and other Asian countries. There were many deaths in Africa, South\nAmerica, and Australia as well, but, comparatively, Europe and North America\nexperienced very few casualties. The breeding ground for plague epidemics is\novercrowded and unsanitary spaces, a description of many seaports in the\ndeveloping world during the early 1900s. The threat of death by the plague\nstruck so much panic in citizens of India that two men from Calcutta were\nsentenced to death for the murder of a man by using \u201cbacilli serum\u201d containing\nplague microbe.[12]<\/sup><\/a> In\ncomparison, the West had a developed public health system that enforced\nsanitary codes and prevention efforts. The New York Sanitary Code from 1940\nlists the rules and regulations to be followed in the case of plague, including\nnotifying authorities, isolating the patient and the patient\u2019s family, and\nquarantining the patient\u2019s home.[13]<\/sup><\/a>\nUltimately, these measures led to the disparate effects of the plague\npandemic.  In an article from The Science\nNews-Letter from 1938, \u201cthe horrors of the plague of the Orient\u201d are described\nas being far off and distant from the minds of Americans.[14]<\/sup><\/a> Further, an article from\nThe Sunday Times discusses the public health efforts to prevent infection and\nhow the threat of plague has been \u201chappily\u201d reduced in Britain because of them.[15]<\/sup><\/a>\nWhile the majority of the world was being ravaged by the plague, the disease\nwas barely on the radar of Westerners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The disparities in public health interventions that existed during the time of the third plague pandemic led to the death of millions by, as evident by the low mortality in Western countries, a preventable disease. While North America and Europe were barely touched by the disease as a result of the regulations and precautions set in place by their bureaucracies, poor and often colonized countries such as India and China experienced an unbridled pandemic that struck fear into the populations and left the countries with political and social turmoil. This sharp contrast between formally colonized countries and the Western world is still evident today. According to the World Health Organization, as of 2017 \u201cnearly 9 million children under the age of five die every year\u201d and \u201caround 70% of these early child deaths are due to conditions that could be prevented or treated\u201d.[16]<\/sup><\/a> Most of these deaths are concentrated in developing countries, the same regions ravaged by the plague around 100 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Gretchen Blackwell is a freshman from Huron, Ohio planning on majoring in history and political science with a minor in computer science.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Works Cited<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\n“CDC Plague | Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Plague.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018).\nhttps:\/\/emergency.cdc.gov\/agent\/plague\/faq.asp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Echenberg,\nMyron. “Pestis Redux: The Initial Years of the Third Bubonic Plague\nPandemic, 1894-1901.” Journal of <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

World\nHistory<\/em>13, no. 2 (2002a): 429-49.\nhttp:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/20078978, 435.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Echenberg,\nMyron J. Black Death, White Medicine:\nBubonic Plague and the Politics of Health in Colonial Senegal, <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1914-1945<\/em>. (Oxford: James Currey, 2002b), 103.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larkey,\nSanford Vincent. \u201cPublic Health in Tudor England.\u201d American Journal of Public Health<\/em> 24 (November 1934): <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1099\u20131102. doi:10.2105\/AJPH.24.11.1099, 1102.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Murder\nby Germs.” (Sunday Times<\/em> 1935),\np. 21. The Sunday Times Digital Archive<\/em>,\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/tinyurl.galegroup.com\/tinyurl\/9M3dZ9. Accessed 4 Mar.\n2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our\nAgricultural Correspondent. “Plague Peril from Rats.” (Sunday Times<\/em> 1937), p. 31. The Sunday Times Digital <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Archive<\/em>, http:\/\/tinyurl.galegroup.com\/tinyurl\/9M3Aq2. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our\nOwn Correspondent. “Indian City Not to Trap Rats.” (Sunday Times<\/em>, 1936), p. 24. The Sunday Times Digital <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Archive<\/em>, http:\/\/tinyurl.galegroup.com\/tinyurl\/9Lzbq6. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProvisions\nof the Sanitary Code of the City of New York and Regulations Relative to\nReportable Diseases and <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conditions and Control of Communicable Diseases\u201d(Department of Health, 1940).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stafford,\nJane. \u201cDeath Rides a Rat.\u201d (Science News\nLetter<\/em>, 1938), 134\u201335. doi:10.2307\/3914747.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unknown\nauthor “Children’s ward with nurses\nand visitors in a nursing institute in Java”<\/em>[digital <\/p>\n\n\n\n

image]. https:\/\/www.repository.cam.ac.uk\/handle\/1810\/285241<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S.\nNational Library of Medicine. “Plague.” (MedlinePlus,  2018). https:\/\/medlineplus.gov\/plague.html.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

World\nHealth Organization. “Child Mortality.” (World Health Organization,\n2011). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.who.int\/pmnch\/media\/press_materials\/fs\/fs_mdg4_childmortality\/en\/.\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a> Echenberg, Myron. “Pestis Redux: The Initial Years of\nthe Third Bubonic Plague Pandemic, 1894-1901.” Journal of World History<\/em>13, no. 2 (2002a): 429-49.\nhttp:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/20078978, 435.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/sup><\/a> U.S. National Library of Medicine. “Plague.”\n(MedlinePlus,  2018).\nhttps:\/\/medlineplus.gov\/plague.html.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/sup><\/a> Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “CDC\nPlague | Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Plague.” (Centers for\nDisease Control and Prevention, 2018).\nhttps:\/\/emergency.cdc.gov\/agent\/plague\/faq.asp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4]<\/sup><\/a> Echenberg\n2002a, 435.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]<\/sup><\/a> Echenberg 2002a, 437.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6]<\/sup><\/a> Myron J., Echenberg. Black\nDeath, White Medicine: Bubonic Plague and the Politics of Health in Colonial\nSenegal, 1914-1945<\/em>. (Oxford: James Currey, 2002b), 103.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7]<\/sup><\/a> Echenberg 2002a, 443.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8]<\/sup><\/a> Our Own Correspondent. “Indian City Not to Trap\nRats.” (Sunday Times<\/em>, 1936), p.\n24. The Sunday Times Digital Archive<\/em>,\nhttp:\/\/tinyurl.galegroup.com\/tinyurl\/9Lzbq6. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[9]<\/sup><\/a> Echenberg\n2002a, 448.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[10]<\/sup><\/a> Sanford Vincent, Larkey. \u201cPublic Health in Tudor England.\u201d American Journal of Public Health<\/em> 24\n(November 1934): 1099\u20131102. doi:10.2105\/AJPH.24.11.1099, 1102.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[11]<\/sup><\/a> Echenberg 2002a, 443.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[12]<\/sup><\/a>  “Murder by Germs.” (Sunday Times<\/em> 1935), p. 21. The Sunday Times Digital Archive<\/em>,\nhttp:\/\/tinyurl.galegroup.com\/tinyurl\/9M3dZ9. Accessed 4 Mar. 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[13]<\/sup><\/a> \u201cProvisions of the Sanitary Code of the City of New York\nand Regulations Relative to Reportable Diseases and Conditions and Control of\nCommunicable Diseases\u201d(Department of\nHealth, 1940).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[14]<\/sup><\/a> Jane Stafford. \u201cDeath Rides a Rat.\u201d (Science News Letter<\/em>, 1938), 134\u201335. doi:10.2307\/3914747.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[15]<\/sup><\/a> Our Agricultural Correspondent. “Plague Peril from\nRats.” (Sunday Times<\/em> 1937), p.\n31. The Sunday Times Digital Archive<\/em>,\nhttp:\/\/tinyurl.galegroup.com\/tinyurl\/9M3Aq2. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[16]<\/sup><\/a> World Health Organization. “Child Mortality.”\n(World Health Organization, 2011).\nhttps:\/\/www.who.int\/pmnch\/media\/press_materials\/fs\/fs_mdg4_childmortality\/en\/.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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