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VonUndZuFriedenfeldt t1_jadqz11 wrote

It didn’t, there were several so-called echo epidemics after that one. Later on, the disease did reoccur locally, with varying degrees of intensity

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breckenridgeback t1_jads7nq wrote

As for why the full intensity didn't reoccur: the Black Death killed a third of the people in Europe (for comparison, that's about 100x the death rate of covid in the US), and infected most of the rest. By killing off the most vulnerable parts of the population, it made Europeans particularly resistant to plague, so future plague epidemics were less bad. It's similar to how modern Native American populations are no longer ravaged by diseases that, when their ancestors were first exposed to them, wiped out as much as 90% of the population.

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VonUndZuFriedenfeldt t1_jaeeuz2 wrote

that would be a stretch to say that Europeans in general got more resistance. The mutation offering more protection or even immunity did significanly spread in the gene pool, that is true. However, that would fail to explain why the outbreak in London (to give an example) in 1666 claimed so many dead.

If I recall correctly it is estimated that about 90% of the native american population died because of unknown diseases. However, some of those became endemic later on. Plague didn't (nor did that other scourge: smallpox). Plague is therefore one of those diseases that IF found by a doctor, must be reported to the national health authorities almost immediatly (as: within 24 hours) in my country.

The 1348 outbreak coincided with a period of bad harvests and relative overpopulation. Resulting in lower resistance among the populace. It was, in the words suitable for a five year old: a double whammy

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Linzold OP t1_jadrl3y wrote

Varying degrees of intensity? There are branches of severity in the Black Plague?

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breckenridgeback t1_jadss6g wrote

Yes. Not everyone who got the plague died, although a large percentage did (plague is fatal ~half the time without treatment), and there can be different degrees of spread for a particular plague epidemic.

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ZXXZs_Alt t1_jaed06z wrote

There are actually three types of Plague, all from the same bacteria. The most common one, Bubonic Plague infects the lymph nodes, but it can be airborne as pneumonic plague as well. The most serious form is septicemic plague, which is the lease common because you generally die within 24 hours of symptoms presenting without massive doses of antibiotics

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Nowhere_Man_Forever t1_jadwjjv wrote

Some strains of the bacteria aren't as deadly, and some aren't as good at infecting new people. Some are too deadly and kill people very quickly before they can infect a bunch of other people. The Plague bacteria actually still exists today and there are minor outbreaks every now and then even now, although they are extremely rare in countries with widespread access to antibiotics.

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VonUndZuFriedenfeldt t1_jaedq4d wrote

there is a difference between the normal one and the one in the lungs (that's 99% lethal).

The intensity depends on two other factors:

  1. response of local authorities (which over the course of the centuries became more adept at dealing with outbreaks: one such measure was quarantaining (The Venetians had an island for that), ships using special flags to signal the disease on board, etc. The duke of Milan infamously bricked in any house that had a patient in it: harsh but it worked.

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  1. the health of the population: as mentioned before, resistance did improve in the population, HOWEVER: famines (either due to war or bad harvests) impacted the health of the population that was affected by an outbreak.
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Mand125 t1_jadrs0h wrote

People get infected by it in the present day.

Antibiotics help a lot, and we didn’t have those in the 1300’s.

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ADDeviant-again t1_jae7hev wrote

Yes. Both intensity of the illness, and intensity of the outbreaks.

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