medical revolutions, 7–8, 151, 157, 216
medical supplies, US trade in, 159
meningitis, 205, 221
meningococcus vaccine, 134–35
Menzel, Peter, 24
Merck, 134
mercurous chloride, 131
Mexico, Mexicans, 59, 92, 129–30, 143, 146, 176, 182, 200, 201
miasma, 103, 109, 151
miasma theory, 81, 132
Michalopoulos, Stelios, 65
microcephaly, 189
Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak (MERS; 2015), 221, 223
migrations, 5, 17
military, 152, 228 disease weaponized by, 207–11
effect of sanitation on, 112–13
impact of disease on, 67–74, 81
syphilis in, 89–90
Miller, Judith, 208
miscarriages, 36
Mitochondrial Eve, 13, 242
molecular biology manipulation, 210
Mongol Empire, 42–44, 50, 56
monkeypox, 175
monopoly (patent) rights, 216
Montagu, Mary Wortley, xii–xiii, 126–27
Montezuma, Aztec emperor, 58, 236
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 172
mosquitoes, 14–15, 18, 78, 101, 114, 132, 151–52, 189–90, 199–201, 221
mumps, 134–35, 144
Murray, Damien, 95–96
“Muslim quarantine,” 40
Mussi, Gabriele de, 44, 123
Myhrvold, Nathan, 210
Napoleon Bonaparte Visiting the Plague-Stricken at Jaffa (Gros), 53
Napoleon I, Emperor of France, 53, 70–74, 136, 151
National Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League, 192
Nazi Party, 87
Nelson, Deborah, 205
newborns, measles in, 21
New World, spread of disease in, 6, 53–64, 208
New York, N.Y.: Covid-19 outbreak in, 183, 213
population of, 1, 112, 171
sanitation measures in, 111–12
Nightingale, Florence, 91
Nipah virus, 175, 177, 221
noninfectious diseases, mortality rates from, 8, 144–46
nuclear weapons, 210–11, 227, 235
Nunn, Nathan, 65
nutrition, 24–25, 114 in control of disease, 27, 143, 146
Obama, Barack, 149
obesity, 146, 199
Offit, Paul, 134–35
Ó Gráda, Cormac, 27
Olympic Games (2016), 189
O’Neill, Jim, 206–7
Ordinance of Labourers, British (1349), 47–48
Orellana, Francisco de, 59–60
Oster, Emily, 164, 173
Ottoman Empire, 56, 70, 126–27
outsiders, exclusion of, 75, 75, 88–95
over-population, 235
oxytetracycline, 203
Pakistan, 100, 139, 196 anti-vaccination movement in, 197–98
Panama Canal, 153
pandemics, xi, 23, 27, 33 control measures for, 221
early records of, 31–32, 66
in fall of Roman Empire, 37–40
see also plagues; specific diseases
Papaioannou, Elias, 65
Park, Mungo, 69
parasites, 13–17, 24–25, 154, 200
parasite stress theory, 95–96, 254
Parker, Janet, 124, 138
Pasteur, Louis, 91, 132–34
pasteurization, 133
pathogen diversity, 16
pathogen stress, 96, 165
Peace Corps, US, 157
Pediculus humanus corporis, 68–69
penicillin, 7, 135, 187, 206
Peoples of the West, The, 35
personal belief exemption forms, 194
personal protective equipment, 159, 226
pertussis, 144
pest houses, 87
pesticides, 153, 199–200
pestilence, 4–5, 17–18, 53–74 in Apocalypse, 231, 233
Petrarch, 42–43, 45–46, 122, 236
Pfizer, 221
Philosophical Transactions (Royal Society), 126
Phipps, James, 128, 134
pigs: antibiotic misuse in, 204–5, 220
in spread of disease, 19–20, 175–77
Pinker, Steven, 15–16
plagues, 23, 36, 38, 59, 68, 70, 75, 86, 89, 93, 122, 132, 135, 177, 207, 211, 233, 236 bad air as source of, 102–3
in germ warfare, 208
historical, 10
as judgment, 29, 87
of Justinian, 37–39, 48–49
mortality rates of, 88–89, 144
resurgence of, 175
see also Black Death; specific diseases
Plagues and Peoples (McNeill), 43
Plato, 32
Pliny the Elder, 34
Plutarch, 207
pneumococcus vaccine, 134–35
pneumocystis, 172
pneumonia, 21, 78, 134–35, 183, 203, 205, 220–21, 257 mortality rates from, 144
polio, xii–xiii, 89, 211, 218, 219
polio vaccine, 134, 139–40, 192, 198 opposition to, 196–97
oral, 119
Polo, Marco, 42–43, 56, 100–101
poorhouses, 106–7
Poor Law, British, 106
population: aging of, 8
decline in, 161
disease in control of, 26–28, 63, 105–6, 234
present-day, 178
population density, 18, 257–58 urbanization and, 155–57
population geneticists, 13
population growth, 1, 15, 17–18, 55, 235, 244, 245, 250 cycles of, see Malthusian theory
settlement in, 18–28
pork tapeworms, 19
Porter, Dorothy, 87, 215–16
postoperative infections, 206
potassium, bromide of, 113
poverty, 92, 146, 155, 181, 236 cleanliness and, 110
declining global rates of, 166
diet and, 24–25
in disease mortality rates, 191, 216–17
progress against disease in, 143
in spread of disease, 9, 104, 106–7, 132, 165, 185, 216–17, 222, 226, 229
pregnancy, risks of, 163, 189
prehistoric diseases, 13–14, 37, 55
premature birth, 36
prescriptions, mail-order, 202
Procopius, 29, 37–39, 44, 122
promiscuity, 163
prostitution, 4, 87, 89–92
protective gear, 115–16
protozoa, 78–79, 154
public baths, 100, 101, 110
public health: budgeting and costs in, 216–17
early advancements in, 103
Public Health Commission (Venice), 103
pustules, 124, 128
putrefaction, 112, 133
quackery, 122
quarantine, 22, 81–84, 88–93, 105, 149, 158, 180–81, 185, 222–26
quinine, 144, 151–53, 199
quinine-related drugs, 144
rabies vaccine, 134
racism, 83, 92–93
rats, 1, 37–38, 43, 44, 45, 49, 50, 88, 99, 101, 115, 132, 186, 208–9
Reed, Walter, 152
refugee camps, 140–41
regressive behavioral disorder (RBD), 187
rehydration, 140–43
religious customs, 83–84
Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain (Chadwick), 107
respirators, 159
restaurant inspections, 111
rheumatoid arthritis, 206
Richards, Frank, xii
Riley, James, 140
rinderpest, eradication of, xii
ring vaccination, 139
Rising Life Expectancy (Riley), 140
Robinson, James, 65, 166
Roman Empire, 6, 40, 43, 81, 90, 125 diet and life expectancy in, 27–28
extent of, 34–36
mortality rate in, 35–36
sanitation in, 101
Romer, Paul, 160
rotavirus, 20
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 11, 119
Royal Society, 126, 128
rubella, 134–35, 144, 187
Russia, 33, 129, 146 cholera pandemic in, 105
Napoleon’s invasion of, 70–74
typhus deaths in, 112–13
Sachs, Jeffrey, 165
Salamon, Michiel Angelo, 207–8
Salk, Jonas, 134
salmonella (Salmonella typhi), 201–2, 204, 211
Salvany, Josep de, 129–30
sanitation, 7–8, 10, 18–19, 28, 51, 96, 132, 144, 151, 157, 186, 190 advancements in, 97–116, 121
basic level services in, 143
in biblical world, 67–68
in control of disease, 77, 106–7, 218–29
disgust as aid to, 80–81
in hospitals, 205–6
hygiene in, 142
lack of, 45, 67, 72, 90, 140–41, 191–92
mortality rates and, 107, 113–14
overuse and misuse of, 198–99
in present day, 110–11
urbanization and, 74
sanitation gap, 115
sanitation revolution, 104, 110, 112–14, 157, 216
Schaller, Mark, 95–96
Scheidel, Walter, 27
school shutdowns, 223
Scott, James, 28, 31
screenings, 186
Sears, Bob, 195
Second Crusade, 68
selective isolation, 181
self-immolation, 86–87
sepsis, 221, 268
severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), 82, 175, 178–79, 185
sewage, 113, 197, 257–58 advancements in disposal of, 107–11
sewers, sewer systems, 97, 100–101, 114, 116, 132, 143 London development of, 107–10
sexual contact, 81, 163–64, 264
sexually transmitted disease, 4, 66, 89–90, 129, 163, 184, 189 see also specific diseases
sexual restraint, 4–5
sexual revolution (1960s), 136, 163
Shapin, Steven, xiii
Sherman, Paul, 99
shigella, drug-resistant, 207
Short Account of the Destruction of the Indes (Las Casas), 59
sickle cell trait, 62, 79
silk trade, 35, 50
Simon, John, 215
skin infections, 135
slaves, slavery, 31, 66, 153–54, 250 agriculture and, 48–49
in early civilization, 18
immunity in, 62
mistreatment and atrocities of, 57–62
in population replenishment, 27–28
reduction of, 40
in spread of disease, 6, 61–62
slave trade, 34, 50, 58, 61, 63–65, 69, 235
sleeping sickness, 136, 153–54
smallpox, 10, 13, 21, 22–23, 27, 35, 47, 57, 59, 60, 64, 92, 106, 114, 125, 179, 192, 218–19, 236 eradication of, xii–xiii, 124, 137–39, 144, 173, 229
Jenner’s contribution on, 128–29
mortality rates from, xii, 129, 131, 144
progress against, 124–31
spread to Native Americans, 57–61, 208
smallpox vaccine, 124–27, 139, 192 global campaign for, 129–31
smell, 103, 107–9, 132 of disease, 57, 72, 97
linked to disease, 81, 91, 97, 101, 107, 109
Smith, Katherine, 174
sneezing, 191
Snow, John, 132
social distancing, 9, 87–88, 96, 116, 180, 222, 223, 224
Spanish-American War (1898), 113
Spanish conquest, 57–61, 64
spices, sanitizing use of, 99–100
Stanley, Henry Morton, 152, 153–54
staphylococcus, 135, 207
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), 205
starvation, 27, 71, 73, 87
stay-at-home orders, 180
steam baths, 90
sterilization, 113, 222 vaccine and fear of, 196–97
street cleaning, 111
streptomycin, 201, 203
strokes, xi, 79, 144, 145
Stuart, House of, smallpox and, 125–27
Study of History, A (Toynbee), 32–33
stunting, 191, 219
subsistence-level populations, 3–6
suicides, 157
sulfonamide, 201, 203, 257
Summers, Lawrence, 165, 217
surgery: antibiotic resistance and, 206
antiseptics in, 113
lack of sanitation in, 72
Sussman, George, 50
Suzuki, Akihito, 22
swamp drainage, 151–53
swine flu, 19, 75, 95, 176, 180, 182, 225
syphilis, 55, 66, 89–91, 135–36, 163, 178
syringes, 136, 173
Takahashi, Michiaki, 135
Taliban, xiii, 197–98
Talty, Stephan, 71–72
tapeworms, 20–21
Tarbagan marmot, 43
tartar emetic, 131
technology: advances in, 4, 51, 156, 160–61, 218
agricultural, 26
in economic inequality, 236
labor and, 48
in spread of disease, 37
Tenochtitlán, 56, 58
testing, 181, 185, 223, 226
tetanus, 14, 144
tetanus vaccine, 134, 140
tetracycline, 201, 203–4, 207
Thirty Years’ War, 68–69
Thucydides, 31–32, 46
Tognotti, Eugenia, 87
Total Sanitation Campaign, 219
tourism, tourists, 158, 169, 178, 181–82
toxoplasmosis, 14
Toynbee, Arnold, 32–33
trade, 64, 227 globalization of, 149, 159–61
in global spread of disease, 29–51, 56, 173, 185
historic development of, 31, 40–42
travel: bans on, 96, 180–84, 227
in spread of disease, 157–58, 169, 177–78, 227
trench warfare, 112
trichinosis, 19
triclosan, 199
tropical diseases, 15–17, 62, 69, 151–55, 165–66
tsetse fly, 154
tuberculosis, 20, 75, 78, 89, 91–92, 95, 129, 132, 144, 257, 268 drug resistance in, 200–201, 205
mortality rates from, 104, 255–56
resurgence of, 175
tuberculosis vaccine, 139–40
tularemia, 14
typhoid fever, 32, 201–2, 257
typhus, 67–69, 135–36, 208, 236 mortality rates from, 74, 144, 236
in World War I, 112–13
unemployment benefits, 224
United Nations, 156, 162, 228
United Nations Security Council, 209, 211
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, 213
United States, 63, 105, 224 anti-vaccination movement in, 195
childhood mortality in, 145, 191
Covid-19 leadership failures in, 223
Covid-19 response in, 179, 182–84
in global trade and travel, 159
measles outbreak in, 195
misuse of antibiotics in, 202
mortality rankings in, 113–14
plague in, 186
progress against polio in, 139
sanitation workers in, 111–12
urbanization, 8, 33, 49, 51, 96, 179, 185, 241 economic impact of, 156–57
in Industrial Revolution, 104
limitations on, 74
population density in, 28, 155–57
in progress against disease, 146–47
progressive ideology in, 157
public health and sanitation in, 101–4, 111
slowing of, 40
in spread of disease, 104–10, 155
Vaccination Act (UK; 1867), 192
Vaccination Inquirer, 190
vaccinations, ix, 7, 10, 74, 92–93, 116–47, 190, 241 compulsory, 129, 192, 196
diseases without, 139
> economic inequality in, 220–21
opposition to, xiii, 9, 23, 187, 192–98, 235
overuse and misuse of, 198
in reduction of prejudice, 158
Taliban jihad against, 197–98
see also immunization; inoculation
vaccines: effectiveness of, 191
increased development and production of, 228–29
origin of term, 128
see also specific vaccines
variolation, xii–xiii, 125–26, 128, 130, 208
Venice, 36, 42, 49, 88, 103, 225
ventilators, 159
Verdú, Miguel, 45
Vesalius, 123
Victorian period, public health in, 215–16
Vilnius, mass grave in, 73–74
violence, 5, 233 in conquest of New World, 58–59
life expectancy and, 165
in population control, 15–16
in response to disease, 95, 254
in Taliban jihad, 197–98
vitamin A deficiency, 24–25
Voigtländer, Nico, 48, 51
Voth, Hans-Joachim, 48, 51
Wakefield, Andrew, 187, 193–94, 195
Walter, Jakob, 71, 72–74
war, warfare, 4–5, 233, 264 famine and, 27
mortality rates from, 16
in population control, 37
population migration and, 27–28
in spread of disease, 34, 37, 50, 67–68
weaponized disease in, 207–11
see also specific conflicts
Washington, George, 131, 208
water supplies, 100–101, 103–4, 107–8, 110, 113–14, 116, 121, 123, 141–43, 191, 218 tainted, 85–86, 92, 142
wealth, wealthy, 83, 171 health and, 165–66
in life expectancy, 27, 114
sentiment against, 106
weaponization, of disease, 9, 190, 207–9, 228
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