Pandemics: Today and Yesterday

By

Jim Harris

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A young child receiving an oral polio vaccine.

Oral Polio Vaccine

A young child receiving an oral polio vaccine consisting of a sugar cube, to which the polio vaccine had been added, 1977.

An 'Influenza Bulletin' from Ontario Emergency Volunteer Health Auxiliary.

Influenza Bulletin

An “Influenza Bulletin” from Ontario Emergency Volunteer Health Auxiliary providing information to nurses on care for sick patients, 1918.

A public health campaign poster from the 1920s that sought to end the spread of Influenza and TB.

Public Health Poster

A public health campaign poster from the 1920s that sought to end the spread of Influenza and TB.

Dr. Gary Noble draws blood from his patient to test for antibodies to the H1N1 strain of influenza, 1976.

Influenza Inoculation Program

Dr. Gary Noble draws blood from his patient to test for antibodies to the H1N1 strain of influenza, 1976.

A National Guardsman assists with a drive through testing site for COVID-19 in Louisiana, 2020.

A COVID-19 Drive Through Testing Site

A National Guardsman assists with a drive through testing site for COVID-19 in Louisiana, 2020.

Poliovirus (left), Influenza (center), and COVID-19 (right).

Deadly Companions

Three of our “deadly companions.” Poliovirus (left), Influenza (center), and COVID-19 (right).

A house in Des Moines, Iowa sharing messages of encouragement to passing cars.

We Are In This Together

A house in Des Moines, Iowa sharing messages of encouragement to passing cars during the Stay at Home Orders of 2020.

Robert Koch.

Robert Koch

Robert Koch (1843-1910), the German physician who discovered the causative agents of tuberculosis and cholera, among other diseases.

'Plague in an Ancient City' (1652-1654) by Michiel Sweerts.

The Plague of Athens

"Plague in an Ancient City" (1652-1654) by Michiel Sweerts depicts the epidemic that ravaged Athens.

Pericles bust.

Bust of Pericles

Pericles, an Athenian statesman who died during the Plague of Athens in 429 BCE.

St. Sebastian pleads with Jesus for the life of a gravedigger afflicted by the Justinianic Plague.

Saint Sebastian Interceding for the Plague Stricken

St. Sebastian pleads with Jesus for the life of a gravedigger afflicted by the Justinianic Plague.

A sixth-century mosaic depiction of Justinian I from San Vitale in Ravenna.

Justinian I

A sixth-century mosaic depiction of Justinian I from San Vitale in Ravenna.

A depiction of the Black Death in a 15th-century Italian miniature.

Depiction of Death

A depiction of the Black Death in a 15^th-century Italian miniature.

The plague of Florence in 1348, as described in Boccaccio's Decameron.

The Plague in Florence

The plague of Florence in 1348, as described in Boccaccio's Decameron. Etching by L. Sabatelli.

Francesco Rosselli’s 1480 "View of Florence" shows the city’s population decimated by the plague.

Population Depletion of Florence

Francesco Rosselli’s 1480 "View of Florence" shows the city’s population decimated by the plague. The walls, built in the 13th century at the population peak, are too large for the diminished 15th century population.

Citizens of Tournai, in the present-day Netherlands, bury plague victims, 1353.

Burying Plague Victims

Citizens of Tournai, in the present-day Netherlands, bury plague victims, 1353. Plague pits, like these, led to several public health reforms in cities.

This 1888 Life magazine cartoon symbolically illustrates the threat of a cholera epidemic rising up out of the London slums at that time.

Cholera Cartoon

This 1888 Life magazine cartoon, symbolically illustrates the threat of a cholera epidemic rising up out of the London slums at that time, and crossing the Atlantic to threaten New York City, while “Science”, which is metaphorically depicted as a sleeping soldier on the docks, lies unaware of the impending doom.

A 1832 engraving from J. Roze depicting the cholera epidemic in Paris.

Cholera Through the Window

A 1832 engraving from J. Roze depicting the cholera epidemic in Paris.

An 1852 illustration from the magazine Punch showing where cholera was thought to spread.

A Court for King Cholera

An 1852 illustration from the magazine Punch showing where cholera was thought to spread. The "Court for King Cholera" was the slums, largely due to overcrowding and poor hygienic conditions.

US Army Camp Hospital No. 45 Aix-Les-Bains, France.

Army Camp Hospital Flu Ward

US Army Camp Hospital No. 45 Aix-Les-Bains, France, Influenza Ward No. 1. C. 1918.

Children ready for school during the 1918 flu pandemic.

Boys in Face Masks

Children ready for school during the 1918 flu pandemic.

Nurse with a mask and patient in the Walter Reed Hospital.

Nurse in 1918

Nurse with a mask and patient,1918 in the Spanish Flu of the Walter Reed Hospital.

Two public health technicians carry out a vaccination campaign inside a Dekalb County, Georgia.

Vaccine Program

Two public health technicians carry out a vaccination campaign inside a Dekalb County, Georgia, elementary school, 1966.

The 1990 ACT-UP protest at the National Institutes of Health.

ACT-UP Protest

The 1990 ACT-UP protest at the National Institutes of Health sought to bring awareness to the AIDS crisis in America.

A SARS patient and their doctor in China during the 2003 outbreak.

SARS Patient

A SARS patient and their doctor in China during the 2003 outbreak.

The billboard in the background of this 1963 photo is from the Polio Eradication Campaign of the early 1960s.

Stamp Out Polio

The billboard in the background of this 1963 photo is from the Polio Eradication Campaign of the early 1960s. (In the foreground, a member of what had been the Oklahoma City, OK, Emergency Citizens Group is radioing information to his headquarters.)

A drive through COVID-19 testing site in Louisiana, 2020.

COVID-19 Drive Through Testing

A drive through COVID-19 testing site in Louisiana, 2020.

A 1720 view of the Lazzaretto on Manoel Island near Malta.

Manoel Island Lazzaretto

A 1720 view of the Lazzaretto on Manoel Island near Malta. It was first built in 1592 to control an outbreak of plague with strict quarantine and remained the quarantine complex for all incoming ships.

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