Diseases During the Great Depression
The picture below shows a women treating sick patients.
Franklin Roosevelt once stated “Don't let our doubts of today limit our tomorrow. (Roosevelt 1)” This quote explains that even if you’re having a bad doesn't mean that the next day will be bad too. To always have hope because good always comes tomorrow, one day you could be sick and the next you could be healthy. In the 1930s lots of people suffered The Great Depression. They suffered money problems, their houses were lost, most people were left without jobs. But most importantly lots of adults and kids suffered diseases.The most common diseases were cholera, diphtheria and malaria. These diseases caused problems during the Great Depression and it also causes lots of deaths.
To start, if we get sick we can easily go see a doctor and get any medicine that we need. During the Great Depression things were different. Many people did not have jobs and they were low on money during this time. Cholera was one of the many illnesses that affected people during the Great Depression. Cholera is a serious bacterial disease that usually causes severe diarrhea and dehydration. This disease is usually spread through contaminated water. It is cause by a bacterial infection of the intestine. According to the text it states “In 1832 cholera had made it to the americans (history.com staff 1)”. This is how cholera came into the U.S and all of this chaos began. Cholera was very popular during the Great Depression because the water wasn't protected as it is today, even if it was dirty people wouldn't have a choice but to just drink it. For an example, lake water they would still drink it. So drinking water that is not clean can lead to getting cholera. It was very devastating because little kids would die of this disease, back then they did have the technology we have now to help them get better so unfortunately they died.
Furthermore, diphtheria was also a very popular and dangerous diseases that is easily spread. Diphtheria is a serious bacterial disease that affects the respiratory system or the skin. The respiratory diphtheria causes sore throat and fever, also causes swelling of the neck. In rare cases it can cause membrane that can cause breathing problems.According to the text it states “diphtheria bacteria live in the mouth,throat, and nose of an infected person (diphtheria:questions and answers 1)” Diphtheria is a childhood disease that was common during the Great Depression. Diphtheria left children dead at the age of 5. It was also became one of the major causes of death.diphtheria bacteria was first identified in the 1800’s and in the 1890’s diphtheria antitoxin was developed in Germany to treat victims of the disease.
In addition, malaria was also affected by many people. Malaria was a recurring fever caused by a protozoan parasite that invades the red blood cells. According to the text it states “It was a commonly believed that swamp fumes produced the illness (Finkel 3)”. The parasite is transmitted by mosquitoes in many tropical and subtropical regions. The overall decline in malaria deaths in the south after 193 is surprising. Malaria is a disease of poverty, and the rural south was hit particularly hard by the Great Depression. Mosquito can clearly a nasty parasite that cause malaria a potentially deadly disease. Even though malaria and parasites may seem far removed from us the disease had greatly affected the Great Depression.
In conclusion, us people take everything for granted. People during this time were depressed and sick. Since the technology and medicine isn't as good as it is today, ¾ of people ended up dying from these diseases. Such as cholera, diphtheria and malaria. But just because they had these diseases didn't mean they stopped fighting. “Don't let your doubts of today limit our tomorrow (Franklin 1)”
To start, if we get sick we can easily go see a doctor and get any medicine that we need. During the Great Depression things were different. Many people did not have jobs and they were low on money during this time. Cholera was one of the many illnesses that affected people during the Great Depression. Cholera is a serious bacterial disease that usually causes severe diarrhea and dehydration. This disease is usually spread through contaminated water. It is cause by a bacterial infection of the intestine. According to the text it states “In 1832 cholera had made it to the americans (history.com staff 1)”. This is how cholera came into the U.S and all of this chaos began. Cholera was very popular during the Great Depression because the water wasn't protected as it is today, even if it was dirty people wouldn't have a choice but to just drink it. For an example, lake water they would still drink it. So drinking water that is not clean can lead to getting cholera. It was very devastating because little kids would die of this disease, back then they did have the technology we have now to help them get better so unfortunately they died.
Furthermore, diphtheria was also a very popular and dangerous diseases that is easily spread. Diphtheria is a serious bacterial disease that affects the respiratory system or the skin. The respiratory diphtheria causes sore throat and fever, also causes swelling of the neck. In rare cases it can cause membrane that can cause breathing problems.According to the text it states “diphtheria bacteria live in the mouth,throat, and nose of an infected person (diphtheria:questions and answers 1)” Diphtheria is a childhood disease that was common during the Great Depression. Diphtheria left children dead at the age of 5. It was also became one of the major causes of death.diphtheria bacteria was first identified in the 1800’s and in the 1890’s diphtheria antitoxin was developed in Germany to treat victims of the disease.
In addition, malaria was also affected by many people. Malaria was a recurring fever caused by a protozoan parasite that invades the red blood cells. According to the text it states “It was a commonly believed that swamp fumes produced the illness (Finkel 3)”. The parasite is transmitted by mosquitoes in many tropical and subtropical regions. The overall decline in malaria deaths in the south after 193 is surprising. Malaria is a disease of poverty, and the rural south was hit particularly hard by the Great Depression. Mosquito can clearly a nasty parasite that cause malaria a potentially deadly disease. Even though malaria and parasites may seem far removed from us the disease had greatly affected the Great Depression.
In conclusion, us people take everything for granted. People during this time were depressed and sick. Since the technology and medicine isn't as good as it is today, ¾ of people ended up dying from these diseases. Such as cholera, diphtheria and malaria. But just because they had these diseases didn't mean they stopped fighting. “Don't let your doubts of today limit our tomorrow (Franklin 1)”