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For my disease of study, I picked Meningococcal disease. The most revealing aspect that I learned about this disease is that there was no effective vaccine or treatment for this disease until about 100 years after the first outbreak. What surprised me the most about this disease was the methods that were used to initially treat this disease. In order to treat meningitis, doctors would use leeches or emetics in order to "relieve" inflammation! (Surprise! It wasn't effective). I think an interesting part to include in the padlet could be more on how prevalent the disease still is today, or if it is even still around. It would be interesting to analyze what parts of the world have the disease and the "why?" behind it.

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How was the disease handled by the leadership and/or governmental bodies to the disease?

There wasn't much response to the disease's first outbreak in the 19th century as technology hasn't been advanced enough to treat it correctly.

Were any innovative initiatives used in combatting the disease? What were they?

After the initial outbreak, there are treatments now for meningococcal disease. There are also preventative vaccines that are required for most children to be able to attend school and other activities.

What could leadership have done better in response to this disease?
Leadership could have put travel bans in place and helped control the spread of the disease by properly quarantining and treating patients.

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1. How was the disease handled by the healthcare community?

This disease *used* to be treated by giving the patients emetics in order to cause vomiting. This was believed to reduce inflammation.

1. What medical advances were used in combatting the disease?

Now, antibiotics and corticosteroids are used in order to kill any bacteria causing the infection and prevent it from spreading to the brain

1. Were any new technologies applied to this disease? What were they?

The new technology would just be the advances in medicine and antibiotics. Without antibiotics, the bacteria causing the infection could not be treated.
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Beyond the physical effect, what was the societal and sociological impact of this disease?

This disease was detrimental to society and the psychological aspect because there was no cure/remedy until the early 20th century. Therefore if one got meningitis, it was usually a death sentence which likely took a toll on the mental health of those who got it, and the family or friends of those who got it.

Did any society's behaviors change?

Unfortunately, in the years during the first pandemic and after not much in society changed, because no medicine or government was advanced enough to be able to treat/contain the spread of a disease like meningitis. Eventually, early in the 20th century, society learned to develop effective "vaccines" in order to prevent the disease.

Did society “learn” from the physical effect of the disease?

Society did learn from the physical effect of the disease because this type of disease was far more severe than other diseases occurring at this time. Society was able to discover that bacteria can cause meningitis, and treatment would have to be antibiotics, not methods such as using leeches. Society has also learned that there are major after-effects from this disease, such as a personality change, or even memory loss.

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What is a virulent disease?

A virulent disease is a disease that spreads quickly and severely throughout a population or over a period of time.
How virulent is your disease?

Meningococcal disease can vary in virulence depending on the strain. However, the survival rate of meningococcal disease is low, and it is not as contagious as the flu or the common cold.
Did the virulence change over time?

The virulence has changed over time and gotten lower because of vaccines, however, it still remains a part of society

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Where (e.g., what geographical regions) did the disease spread to?

The Disease spread from Geneva in 1805 to Africa by 1840 and throughout the world by the 20th century.

What was the timeline of the spread?

It took about 115 years for it to spread through all of the continents.

Approximately how many people were affected (illness and/or death)?

1/10 people with this disease will die, and the fatality rate is higher in older people. The mortality rate used to be 31 percent and around 250,000 people die per year because of it.

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I chose Meningococcal disease, caused by  Neisseria meningitidis.

This bacteria can cause infections in the brain and spinal cord called meningitis.

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1. Where was your disease of study first detected? The first outbreak of Meningococcal disease was in Geneva in 1805

2. What was the suspected infectious agent? The infectious agent of Meningitis can either be viral or bacterial. It is usually caused by an infection in a different part of the body that moves to the spinal cord and brain. The bacteria that most commonly cause this are Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, or Neisseria meningitidis.

3. What type of disease was it (e.g., zoonotic, emerging infectious disease, etc.)? Meningitis was an emerging infectious disease during its type. Emerging infectious diseases are "infectious diseases that have newly appeared in a population or have existed but rapidly increase in incidence or geographic"