Pandemics of the Past - Cathy

This week (2-6/9), our class topic is Medicine, we have a chance to have a deeper look at some past pandemic events which are the bubonic plague, the cholera epidemic, and the Spanish flu epidemic. I learned about the cholera bacteria a few months ago, so I was quite familiar with this pathogen, such as what type of bacteria it is, how it infects humans, how to prevent and treat,... the most impressive thing for me was human could examine the disease through its patterns, and until now, I still find it interesting that epidemiology has beneficially developed and helped us a lot in prevent diseases. About the bubonic plague, I did not know that there were 3 major plague pandemics, I only knew the most infamous one which was the Black Death. Then about the Spanish flu, I was stunned by how tough it was for patients to suffocate by the disease. I believed that all of these pandemics were equally hard for humans, because back then, medical technology and knowledge were not advanced enough to investigate new pathogen, and the diseases were completely new to humans. Somehow I feel proud of all the people who fought against those diseases and I appreciate their hard-working contribution of disease study so as to current people like us can live in a safer environment and know how to prepare for future pandemics using the past experience.

Furthermore, I always have this conception that everything has its both positive and negative sides, and we always can learn something from every single event occurred surrounding us. Covid-19 came and changed a lot in the world situation that time, it left us with disastrous consequences as well as lessons such as the importance of public health preparation, value of science and data, mental health awareness, importance of personal responsibility and hygiene, flexibility and adaptability. Personally, I would say that every pandemic was all cruel but we did our best :)