Bubonic plague.html |
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| Bubonic plague Classification and external resources |
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| ICD-9 | 020.0 |
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| DiseasesDB | 14226 |
| MeSH | D010930 |
Bubonic plague is the best-known manifestation of the bacterial disease plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (formerly known as Pasteurella pestis). Bubonic plague is often used synonymously for plague, but it does in fact refer specifically to an infection that enters through the skin and travels through the lymphatics, as is often seen in flea-borne infections. Bubonic Plague kills about 50% of infected patients in 4-7 days without treatment. The Bubonic plague is believed by many to be the Black Death that swept through Europe in the 1340s.
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Pathology and transmission
The bubonic plague is an infection of the lymphatic system, usually resulting from the bite of an infected flea. The fleas are often found on rodents, such as rats, and seek out other prey when their rodent hosts die. Once established, bacteria rapidly spread to the lymph nodes and multiply. Yersinia pestis can resist phagocytosis and even reproduce inside phagocytes and kill them. As the disease progresses, the lymph nodes can hemorrhage and become necrotic. Bubonic plague can progress to lethal septicemic plague in some cases.
Symptoms
The most famous symptom of bubonic plague is swollen lymph nodes, called buboes. These are commonly found in the armpits, groin or neck. The bubonic plague was the first step of the ongoing plague. Two other forms of the plague, pneumonic and septicemic, resulted after a patient with the bubonic plague developed pneumonia or blood poisoning.
The plague causes fever and a painful swelling of the lymph glands called buboes, which is how it gets its name. Other symptoms include spots on the skin that are red at first and then turn black, heavy breathing, continuous blood vomiting, aching limbs and terrible pain. The pain is usually caused by the actual decaying, or decomposing of the skin while the infected person is still alive.
History of the Disease
The deadly disease has been with man and part of world and medieval history for a very long time. It has claimed nearly 200 million lives. The first recorded epidemic of the Black Death / Bubonic Plague was in Europe during the 6th Century. The disease truly became pandemic in 1328 - the medieval period of the history of the world. During this period a third of the world population died. We tend to associate the history of this terrible disease with Europe however it originated in the Gobi Desert. The disease initially followed Caravan routes and then, with aid of European Shipping and the accompanying rats, by 1346 arrived in the Crimea. The spread of the disease had started throughout the known world. Within 12 months the spread of the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) had devastated Constantinople. The illness moved to Alexandria in the Autumn of 1347 and within 6 months of the initial outbreak 1000 people were dying every day in that city alone. Two months later the toll in Cairo was exceeding 7500 people who were dying every day.
Treatment
In modern times, several classes of antibiotics are effective in treating bubonic plague. These include the aminoglycosides streptomycin and gentamicin, the tetracyclines tetracycline and doxycycline and the fluoroquinolone ciprofloxacin. Patients with plague in the modern era usually recover completely and with prompt diagnosis, and treatment, although the disease is rarely seen in the industrialized world.
Further reading
Alexander, John T. (2003, 1980). Bubonic Plague in Early Modern Russia: Public Health and Urban Disaster. Oxford, UK; New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195158180. OCLC 50253204.
Carol, Benedict (1996). Bubonic Plague in Nineteenth-Century China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804726612. OCLC 34191853.
Biddle, Wayne (2002). A Field Guide to Germs (2nd Anchor Books edition ed.). New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 140003051X. OCLC 50154403.
Echenberg, Myron J. (2007). Plague Ports: The Global Urban Impact of Bubonic Plague, 1894-1901. New York, NY: New York University Press. ISBN 0814722326. OCLC 70292105.
Little, Lester K. (2007). Plague and the End of Antiquity: The Pandemic of 541-750. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521846394. OCLC 65361042.
Scott, Susan, and C. J. Duncan (2001). Biology of Plagues: Evidence from Historical Populations. Cambridge, UK; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521801508. OCLC 44811929.
See also
Notes
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