BPS 1101 Lecture Notes - Agostino Bassi, Gram-Positive Bacteria, Commodity Chemicals
2 Dec 2012
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Life expectancy: 1900"s = 44 years; 2004 = 82 years. Back in the day people were sick all the time. Now we die from accident or our bodies give out on us. Infection could kill you back in the day. Plagues were common throughout history mortality rate was 25-50% Cause of disease was unknown back then. Cures and treatments failed (if you were lucky they were harmless) Some people thought that they were caused by smells, mask with flowers at end was thought to protect themselves from smell, therefore protecting them from plague. Post-natal infections caused 30% death rate, penicillin made it better. In wwi and wwii more people died from infection than combat: died from std, malaria, influenza or cholera. John snow disproved miasma theory (disease carried from bad smell: disproved it because he found real source of disease, cholera came from dirty water not smell, water pump that caused cholera is now a historical landmark.
