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Aside from that, most of the major infectious diseases known today originated in the Old World. The American era of limited infectious disease ended with the arrival of Europeans in the Americas and the Columbian exchange of microorganisms, including those that cause human diseases. European infections and epidemics had major effects on Native ...
In the infant stages of this disease in Europe, many ineffective and dangerous treatments were used. The aim of treatment was to expel the foreign, disease-causing substance from the body, so methods included blood-letting, laxative use, and baths in wine and herbs or olive oil. [64] Mercury was a common, long-standing treatment for syphilis. [65]
Widespread non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer are not included. An epidemic is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time; in meningococcal infections , an attack rate in excess of 15 cases per 100,000 people for two consecutive weeks is considered ...
The Columbian exchange of diseases towards the New World was far deadlier. [52] The peoples of the Americas had previously had no exposure to Old World diseases and little or no immunity to them. [52] An epidemic of swine influenza beginning in 1493 killed many of the Taino people inhabiting Caribbean islands.
In Colonial America, local doctors, midwives, healers and even officials administered medical care to the residents in their village or town. [2] There was no distinction between physicians and surgeons; when an emergency occurred the person who was responsible for administering medical care was expected to handle all aspects of the problem. [2]
George Washington by Charles Willson Peale, 1776.. The New World of the Western Hemisphere was devastated by the 1775–1782 North American smallpox epidemic.Estimates based on remnant settlements say at least 130,000 people were estimated to have died in the epidemic that started in 1775.
The first European contact in 1492 started an influx of communicable diseases into the Caribbean. [1] Diseases originating in the Old World (Afro-Eurasia) came to the New World (the Americas) for the first time, resulting in demographic and sociopolitical changes due to the Columbian Exchange from the late 15th century onwards. [1]
Young people with polio receiving physiotherapy in the 1950s. The social history of viruses describes the influence of viruses and viral infections on human history. Epidemics caused by viruses began when human behaviour changed during the Neolithic period, around 12,000 years ago, when humans developed more densely populated agricultural communities.