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The Black Death and Other Pandemics
Published in Scott M. Jackson, Skin Disease and the History of Dermatology, 2023
The Antonine Plague (165–180 CE) was a devastating epidemic that occurred during the reign of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus; it was also known as the Plague of Galen since the greatest eyewitness to this plague was none other than the physician Galen. Although Galen never devoted an entire treatise to the epidemic, he did leave scattered accounts. A skin rash was a major feature of the Antonine Plague; Galen described it as black pustules which erupted all over the body, dried up and scabbing over, leaving behind scars.7 His description perfectly coincides with the evolution of the smallpox exanthem, and scholars generally believe that the smallpox virus caused the Antonine Plague.
AI and Immunology Considerations in Pandemics and SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19
Published in Louis J. Catania, AI for Immunology, 2021
The best-known examples of recorded plagues are those referred to in religious writings starting with the Old Testament. The Athenian plague is an historically documented event that occurred in 430–26 B.C. during the Peloponnesian War. This plague affected a majority of the inhabitants of the overcrowded city-state and claimed lives of more than 25% of the population.4 Subsequent plagues over the centuries effected the Roman Empire (the Antonine plague),5 the Justinian plague6 and forward to 13th century and the Black Plague, a global outbreak of the bubonic plague that originated in China in 1334, arrived in Europe in 1347, and over the following 50 years it reduced the global population from 450 million to possibly below 300 million. Some estimates claim that the Black Death claimed up to 60% of lives in Europe at that time.7
Greco-Roman medicine
Published in Lois N. Magner, Oliver J. Kim, A History of Medicine, 2017
In addition to tending Pergamum's gladiators, Galen worked at the Temple of Asclepius and established a flourishing private practice. Nevertheless, within a few years he became restless and decided to leave Pergamum. In 161 he arrived in Rome where through good fortune, brilliant diagnoses, and miraculous cures he soon attracted many influential patients, patrons, and admirers. In addition to managing his patients, Galen was busy with public lectures, demonstrations, debates, and the preparation of anatomical and physiological texts. In 166, Galen returned to Pergamum, claiming that the hostility of Rome's physicians had driven him away. His critics noted that his abrupt departure coincided with the outbreak of an epidemic that had entered the city along with soldiers returning from the Parthian War. Two years later, honoring a request from Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Galen returned to Rome. The plague that caused Galen to leave Rome is known as the Antonine Plague (166–180). Emperor Lucius Verus died of the disease and his family name, Antoninus, became associated with the first and second waves of the epidemic. Witnesses said that the disease caused 2,000 deaths a day in Rome and that about 25% of those who were afflicted died. Victims of the disease suffered greatly from fever, diarrhea, inflammation of the throat, and skin eruptions. Whether the disease was smallpox or measles or another eruptive fever remains unknown.
Protecting Children with Long-Term Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Published in Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Nursing, 2020
The earliest recorded pandemic happened during the Peloponnesian War in 430 BC and has been called the plague of Athens. It killed an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 people, as much as two-thirds of the population. Since then, pandemics of even greater magnitude have continued to haunt mankind. The Antonine plague of 165–180AD (named after the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus), now attributed to an early emergence of smallpox, killed about 5 million including the emperor himself. In context viral smallpox has been a big killer of man over the centuries with an attributed 56 million deaths including an estimated 90% of Native Americans. When Europeans arrived in the new world the indigenous population was exposed to new infectious diseases such as smallpox, diseases for which they lacked any immunity (Patterson & Runge, 2002). Thus, far, however, the biggest biological killer in history has been the Black Death, which caused mortality of up to 200 million with 30–50% of the population of Europe being decimated. It took 200 years for the population to recover. Interestingly, although the Black Death was attributed to the Yersinia pestis bacteria scholars now believe that it might have actually been caused by a hemorrhagic virus perhaps similar to Ebola (Duncan & Scott, 2005).
Pandemics: learning from the past
Published in Climacteric, 2020
The Antonine Plague, named after Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, lasted from AD 165 to 180. It is thought to have begun in Mesopotamia and parts east, from whence it was transferred back to Rome by returning soldiers. The Greek physician Galen wrote of those infected that they suffered from fevers, pharyngitis, diarrhea and pustular skin eruptions. Thought to be smallpox, this plague killed 5 million people of all classes including the emperor. Clearly highly infectious, social isolation was the only treatment.