The Black Death, also known as bubonic plague, is characterized by raised bumps around lymph nodes that darken as the person becomes ill. Other symptoms include fever, body aches, fatigue, and vomiting. The disease can be deadly, and early treatment is crucial. Pneumonic plague is more dangerous as it can be transmitted through the air. In the past, unreliable medical techniques and rodent infestation led to terrible epidemics, but antibiotics have become the most common approach to treatment.
The best known symptoms of the Black Death are the raised bumps around the lymph nodes usually known as buboes. As the person becomes ill, these tend to darken, hence the name “black death”. Other Black Death symptoms are actually pretty similar to a bad case of the flu. Patients will often develop fever, body aches, fatigue, and sometimes vomiting. In truth, the actual term “Black Death” isn’t used as often as it once was, and more often now, the disease is called “bubonic plague” or simply “the plague.”
It doesn’t take long after the symptoms of the Black Death appear for the patient to die, and this is one reason why it can still be very dangerous even with modern medical treatments. Because many of the symptoms are relatively common in much less life-threatening ailments, people may not always seek out the treatments they need. Sometimes people can die within three days of the first symptoms appearing, and this does not give the person much time to realize that he is suffering from the Black Death or even recognize the potential seriousness of his disease.
Pneumonic plague, which is a respiratory infection caused by the same bacterium that causes the Black Death, leads to a deadly type of pneumonia, and this type of plague can sometimes be transmitted through the air, making it much more dangerous. Bubonic plague, on the other hand, is usually transmitted through the bites of parasitic insects that have also fed on the blood of infected rodents. In the past, people often lived in very unsanitary circumstances and generally lacked reliable methods of pest control. As a result, their homes were often infested with rats and other rodents to a much more severe degree than would be common in more modern times.
During historical times, the combination of unreliable medical techniques and the prevalence of rodents lead to terrible Black Death epidemics. According to many experts, millions of people died, greatly decimating many historical populations. Some of the worst Black Death outbreaks occurred in China and Europe.
Eventually, more reliable treatments were developed and people found better ways to protect themselves from rodent infestation. In general, antibiotics have become the most common approach when a patient is exhibiting symptoms of the Black Death. These drugs are usually able to fight the bacteria quite effectively, but early treatment is usually crucial to giving the patient the best chance of recovery.
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