Not available to order
Publication date:
14 April 2016Length of book:
280 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersISBN-13: 9781442256514
Smallpox, yellow fever, malaria, and polio, fearful diseases that once beset Americans, are now largely, just unhappy history. Yet from our confrontations with these past plagues come lessons that inform today’s struggles to understand and remedy problems like HIV/AIDS, coronary heart disease, and Ebola infection. American Plagues weaves stories of encounters with epidemics over our history with lessons that aid our present understanding of health and disease.
Doctors and clergy, writers and newsmen, public health institutions, and even an entire town relate their personal experiences with various outbreaks and the ways they were identified, contained, and treated. The stories are filled with ambition and accomplishment, jealousy and disappointment, public spirit and self-interest, egotism and modesty. Some episodes lead to vital discoveries. Others were unproductive. Yet each proved instructive and expanded our abilities to gather and process information in ways that improve medicine and public health today.
American Plagues gives readers insights into some of the people and events that make up our rich public health history as well as skills to better grasp the complex health information that cascades upon us from the media.
Doctors and clergy, writers and newsmen, public health institutions, and even an entire town relate their personal experiences with various outbreaks and the ways they were identified, contained, and treated. The stories are filled with ambition and accomplishment, jealousy and disappointment, public spirit and self-interest, egotism and modesty. Some episodes lead to vital discoveries. Others were unproductive. Yet each proved instructive and expanded our abilities to gather and process information in ways that improve medicine and public health today.
American Plagues gives readers insights into some of the people and events that make up our rich public health history as well as skills to better grasp the complex health information that cascades upon us from the media.
Gehlbach provides a vivid picture of life in the United States as extraordinary health events occurred throughout history. Beginning his discourse with the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793, the author describes the scenes in a manner that pulls the reader into the setting, so that he or she can experience the gravity of each episode. The author serves as a ‘health detective’ by exploring the environment, events, and players involved within 11 significant health events, which include more modern scenarios (HIV/AIDS, health-related infections, the recent outbreak of measles, and the misunderstanding of vaccinations). The author recognizes the importance of public health surveillance and data analysis, and chronicles the development of epidemiology, which had an essential impact on health-related proceedings. In addition to a descriptive, insightful narrative, the author uses extensive references and frequent illustrations.
Summing Up: Recommended. All readers.
Summing Up: Recommended. All readers.