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Title:

American plagues : lessons from our battles with disease / Stephen H. Gehlbach.

Author:

Gehlbach, Stephen H., author.

ISBN:

9781442256507

Personal Author:

Gehlbach, Stephen H., author.

Edition:

Updated edition.

Physical Description:

ix, 301 pages ; 24 cm

Content Type:

text

Media Type (RDA):

unmediated

Carrier Type:

volume

Contents:

Gunpowder and calomel : Benjamin Rush and the malignant yellow fever -- Doctors and ministers : smallpox in Boston, 1721 -- Noddle's Island experiment : Benjamin Waterhouse and vaccination -- Scourge of the middle west : autumnal fever and Daniel Drake -- Improving the numbers : Lemuel Shattuck's report -- Adirondack cure : consumption and Edward Trudeau -- The beginning and the end : epidemic poliomyelitis -- A cancer grows : Edward Murrow and the cigarette -- Searching America's heart : the Framingham study -- A cure for complacency : HIV/AIDS -- Too little, too much : healthcare related infections -- Another kind of plague : measles and misinformation.

Abstract:

Smallpox, yellow fever, malaria, polio... now largely just unhappy history. Yet from our confrontations with these past plagues come lessons. As we struggle to understand and remedy problems like HIV/AIDS, coronary heart disease, and Ebola infection, Gehlbach shows how encounters with epidemics in the past will aid our present understanding of health and disease.

Subject Term:

Epidemics -- United States -- History.

Communicable diseases -- United States -- History.

Format:

Books

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Library	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Niagara Falls Public Library	34305010890146	614.4097 GEHL	Searching... Unknown
Searching... North Tonawanda Public Library	34120005992082	614.4097 GEHL	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

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.

Author Notes

Stephen H. Gehlbach, MD, MPH, is dean emeritus of the School of Health and Health Sciences at the University of Hassachusetts, Amherst. He served in the Epidemic Intelligence Service with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) based in Atlanta. A past president of the Council on Education for Public Health- he chaired numerous site visits to schools of public health across the country. He currently teacher, courses in the fields of epidemiology and preventive medicine.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

The term plague is no longer limited to bacterial or viral infections, but is expanding to include heart disease and cancer in this updated edition of a popular textbook. Gehlbach (Interpreting the Medical Literature), dean emeritus of the School of Public Health at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, leads a thoroughly engrossing exploration of American medical history across 12 chapters, which range from a Boston smallpox outbreak in 1721 to a measles outbreak at Disneyland in 2014. Gehlbach describes how devastating epidemic diseases have been encountered, misunderstood, understood, and then conquered (smallpox, yellow fever, tuberculosis, polio) or ameliorated (heart disease, AIDS). He also addresses the deadly new problem of multiply antibiotic-resistant infections as well as contemporary medicine's disastrous bête noire: the anti-vaccine movement. In addition to lauding fine accounts of the great historical studies (the Framingham study of heart disease, the Wynder and Graham study of lung cancer), Gehlbach warns that plenty of research turns up nonsense, and he delivers a painless primer on how to tell good studies from bad. Readers will have little trouble understanding his explanations of bias, contamination, true positives versus false positives, and meta-analysis. Gehlbach's book is often assigned reading for college-level public health classes, and all textbooks should be as entertaining. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Choice Review

Gehlbach (Dean Emeritus of the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst) 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. --Mary P. Tarbox, Mount Mercy University

Preface	p. vii
1 Gunpowder and Calomel: Benjamin Rush and the Malignant Yellow Fever	p. 1
2 Doctors and Ministers: Smallpox in Boston, 1721	p. 21
3 Noddle's Island Experiment: Benjamin Waterhouse and Vaccination	p. 41
4 Scourge of the Middle West: Autumnal Fever and Daniel Drake	p. 59
5 Improving the Numbers: Lemuel Shattuck's Report	p. 79
6 Adirondack Cure: Consumption and Edward Trudeau	p. 101
7 The Beginning and the End: Epidemic Poliomyelitis	p. 129
8 A Cancer Grows: Edward Murrow and the Cigarette	p. 153
9 Searching America's Heart: The Framingham Study	p. 175
10 A Cure for Complacency: HIV/AIDS	p. 195
11 Too Little, Too Much: Health-Care-Related Infections	p. 219
12 Another Kind of Plague: Measles and Misinformation	p. 239
Notes	p. 255
Bibliography	p. 273
Index	p. 285
About the Author	p. 301

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Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Choice Review

Table of Contents