The twentieth century was a century full of discovery and human progress for American History. One of the overlooked discoveries of this century was the monstrous advancement in medicine. Doctors and scientists discovered several diseases, vaccines and technological advances during the twentieth century. Three of largest diseases that were discovered how to treat were polio, small pox and measles ; which are rare in today’s time because of these advancements. The discovery of these diseases changed the way medicine advanced, since medicine is one of the more ‘new’ things in this country still progressing forward today. Through discovering and understanding polio, smallpox and measles, doctors were able to change the way medicine is practiced and advance its tecnology. In 1900, 30% of all deaths was children dying of sickness; by 1997 this number was able to decrease to 1.7% because of the technological advances in medicine. (1) The big question is: How did the discovery and understanding of polio,measles and smallpox, as well as developing their vaccines, advance medicine and effect history? |
Polio
Source: University of Manitoba
Footnote:
1.Boston University School of Public Health. "20th Century Public Health Achievements." A Brief History of Public Health. http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/ otlt/MPH-Modules/PH/PublicHealthHistory/publichealthhistory9.html. |
MeaslesSource: Mackay Health
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SmallpoxSource: flickr / Tim Davies
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