The Bubonic Plague
The bubonic plague got its name because of the symptoms of the disease. Bubonic plague causes very painful, swollen lymph nodes, called buboes. These swollen lymph nodes are mostly found first in the groin area, which is "boubon" in Latin. The disease became associated with the term "plague" because of the large amount of deaths through history. In medieval times, the plague was also known as the "Black Death" because the dried blood under the skin turns black. The plague can infect pretty much anyone. If you go around someone who's infected, you can get it. If you hang around rats and fleas a lot, you might get the disease. And if you work in a lab with diseases and you ingest a sample of the bacterium, you'll probably get it. If you travel a lot to countries with infected people and you don't take the proper precautions, you might get it. There are many ways to get the bubonic plague, but with modern technology, it can be prevented. But, if by some freak accident, you do get the plague, it can be easily treated. The plague is not age, gender, or race specific. An old, black woman could get it as could a newborn white boy. When the bacterium, Yersinia pestis, enters the bloodstream, it travels to the liver, spleen, kidneys
The plague has a vaccine that lasts for about six months. Currently, this vaccine is not available in the United States. A new vaccine is being worked on and could be licensed sometime soon. Travelers to plague infected areas should take prophylaxic antibiotics. The bubonic plague is easily treated if caught early. Streptomycin is the preferred drug, but others are also effective. Treatment shortly after exposure can reduce mortality from 60%-100%. The most effective way to prevent the plague is to take precautions including: controlling rat and flea populations, cleaning ships properly, making sure houses are sanitary, and isolating bubonic plague patients. Prevention of the plague has improved over the centuries. The people of the 14th century were uneducated and susceptible to superstitions. Some early treatments included: bathing in human urine, wearing excrement, placing dead animals in homes, using leeches and drinking molten gold and powdered emeralds. As plague epidemics occurred regularly after 1350, preventive measures emerged. Bubonic plague patients were placed in penthouses, isolated from the general population. Ships coming from plague infested areas were forced to stay out of port for forty days. This stopp
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