| Epidemics: The Story of South Africa's Five Most Lethal Human Diseases Contributor(s): Phillips, Howard (Author) |
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ISBN: 0821420283 ISBN-13: 9780821420287 Publisher: Ohio University Press OUR PRICE: $16.78 Product Type: Paperback Published: September 2012 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Medical | Epidemiology - History | Africa - South - Republic Of South Africa - Medical | Health Policy |
| Dewey: 614.496 |
| LCCN: 2012027271 |
| Series: Ohio Short Histories of Africa |
| Physical Information: 0.5" H x 4.2" W x 7" (0.30 lbs) 168 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Southern Africa - Cultural Region - African |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This is the first history of epidemics in South Africa, lethal episodes that significantly shaped this society over three centuries. Focusing on five devastating diseases between 1713 and today-smallpox, bubonic plague, "Spanish influenza," polio, and HIV/AIDS-the book probes their origins, their catastrophic courses, and their consequences in both the short and long terms. The impacts of these epidemics ranged from the demographic-the "Spanish flu," for instance, claimed the lives of 6 percent of the country's population in six weeks-to the political, the social, the economic, the spiritual, the psychological, and the cultural. Moreover, as each of these epidemics occurred at crucial moments in the country's history-such as during the South African War and World War I-the book also examines how these processes affected and were affected by the five epidemics. To those who read this book, history will not look the same again. |