Throughout history, many nations have been plagued by various epidemics. Such epidemics, which often began in European countries, killed millions of people and caused many other social and economic issues.
However, the positive effects of such epidemics throughout history have not gone unnoticed. Among them are advances in patient care and various forms of treatment.
The epidemic, known as the ‘Black Death’, which spread throughout Europe in the 14th century, raised the living standards of working people who were living extremely difficult lives.
Demand
The epidemic left a large number of people dead and eventually a severe shortage of labour. Therefore, the demand for working people had increased unbelievably and as a result, the enslaved working class had the opportunity to speak out for their rights.
The Spanish Flu spread through the world in 1918 and killed nearly 50 million people. This led to a number of changes in public health policies in a number of countries, including the United States.
Nancy Mimi, a Public Health Specialist at the University of Harrisburg, says that with the Spanish Flu epidemic, many countries had moved on to new concepts in medicine.
Expanded
Countries such as Russia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, in particular, are said to have expanded health care systems to care for patients following this epidemic.
Also, Kelly Ronen, a Professor of History at the University of Adolfi, says epidemics have been a major factor in improving hospital facilities. Relevant authorities and agencies had taken steps to focus on even the smaller matters.
Citing an example, she says that the use of metal beds instead of the wooden beds that were then kept for patients in hospitals began during this period.
Concepts such as social distancing is another positive effect of the epidemics that spread in the past.
According to sources, the concept of ‘social distance’ has a long history stretching hundreds of years. During the outbreak of a plague, physicians used a long beak-like face mask designed to keep the physical distance between the patient and the physician. In addition, the various herbs contained in the beak-like part were said to have antiseptic properties.
With the concept of social distancing, the construction of houses had begun.
People
Many countries have introduced new methods of building houses, as most of the epidemics are caused by people living in close quarters.
It is said that by the 1930s some countries had even enacted laws making it mandatory for apartment complexes to have separate bathrooms and toilets for each household.
While suffering from epidemics from time to time, some turned their experiences into great works of art.
Novels are one of the main sources of such art, often found in European countries.
For instance, British author Daniel Defoe and Italian author Alessandro Manzoni wrote historical novels based on epidemics that swept across Europe in the 17th century.
A number of literary works were produced based on the 1918 influenza pandemic.
Author
Rebecca Mesberger, co-founder of the University of Washington’s Medical Anthropology Program, says: “The medieval author Giovanni Boccaccio wrote his masterpiece ‘Decameron’ in the midst of the bubonic plague of 1348. The events he experienced in Florence, Italy, made his work even more successful.”