When we kids came down with chickenpox, I came to understand all the more the wonderful life that we had compared to decades past when the first sign of a bubble on the skin panicked people about the dreaded smallpox. Thus, it was no surprise when the family thanked the "amman" goddess after the recovery. The fact that we lived in an industrial township amidst all the science and technology didn't matter. Science and religion coexisted without any hassles in the family and in the community too.
When I returned to school after the few days off, my class teacher exempted me from attending the school assembly under the hot morning sun, which was quite a reward! ;)
There were worries about mumps and measles too, when we were kids. After hearing about a kid in school who died from diphtheria, I had one more addition to my vocabulary of dreaded diseases even though I had no clue what any of those ailments were.
Life, even a few decades ago, was an obstacle race. Viruses and bacteria were always waiting to trip people of all ages down, and any one obstacle could end it all. We have quickly forgotten how difficult existence was a mere generation or two ago, in any part of the world. A virus or a bacteria, on the other hand, doesn't forget, and tries its best live and propagate. If those suckers live, we die.
So, whatever happened to diphtheria that killed a young school-mate of mine? How widespread was this "throat distemper"?
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, diphtheria challenged doctors with the terrible specter of children choked, smothered, snuffed out. It brought terror to the richest and the poorest, blighting famous families and anonymous ones.
No royal power could match this deadly disease.
And then something happened:
Then, toward the end of the 19th century, scientists started identifying the bacteria that caused this human misery—giving the pathogen a name and delineating its poisonous weapon. It was diphtheria that led researchers around the world to unite in an unprecedented effort, using laboratory investigations to come up with new treatments for struggling, suffocating victims. And it was diphtheria that prompted doctors and public health officials to coordinate their efforts in cities worldwide, taking much of the terror out of a deadly disease.
A pathogen. It chokes people to death. Public health. Global coordination.
Seems familiar, doesn't it!
Scientists developed a vaccine against the bacteria, and now we pretty much never ever hear about diphtheria. A few years ago, when I went to the doctor after a nasty reaction to an insect bite, they gave me a Tdap vaccine that protects adults from tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough. A booster shot of sorts. Sounds familiar?
If only the story ended there.
And yet, the diphtheria story isn’t over. A recent analysis led by a researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted some 8,800 cases reported overseas in 2017. In places where people aren’t getting vaccinated, or are slacking off on booster shots, diphtheria is finding its way back. And the standard treatment, little changed in more than a century, is in short supply.
"Remembering these success stories can help us maintain a feeling of awe, gratitude and willingness to do our part."
People have forgotten the nasty, brutish, and short lives of a few generations ago. Those who forget history are bound to relive it; unfortunately, they make the rest of us also relive it sometimes to the point of dying from it :(
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