Pandemics of the Past -- A Reflection -- Grace

From the videos on the bubonic plague, the cholera epidemic, and the Spanish flu epidemic, I think the death toll of the Spanish flu was a lot more than I expected. I knew that we are often encouraged to get a flu shot every year just to have immunity against influenza due to how severe it was, but I did not expect the number of cases would be so high in the past.

Personally, the most terrifying factor of these epidemics is the unprecedented nature of pandemics. In other words, the pandemics happen without warning; we cannot predict when the next outbreak would be, what kind of infectious disease would occur, what treatment would work, or how severe the symptoms would be. We can only find the treatment later on and then eventually find ways to prevent it. For example, in the case of Covid-19 pandemic, it was unprecedented and it spread quickly.

However, these pandemics taught us to respond quickly to mitigate the spread of infection, which helped with the advancement of healthcare knowledge and hygiene practices, and even urban planning in some cases.

One positive social change that I can think of is how we now learn that our society needs a better outbreak response system and public health communication. For example, quarantine policies might be needed to be implemented quickly, vaccination requirements can be an important preventative measure, and knowledge on personal hygiene and treatments should be more available and encouraged among people. Moreover, I think the Covid-19 pandemic has challenged our societal norms such as working conditions (onsite vs. remote) and made us consider the importance of essential workers in our society.