The Great Plague of 1665

 

 The Great Plague of 1665 


What was The Great Plague of 1665?
The Great Plague of 1665 was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in England, it lasted for a year from the year 1665 to the year 1666 (it was similar to the Black Death). The symptoms of the plague include : painful swelling, vomiting, fever, dizziness, hallucinations, coughing up blood and bleeding under skin which caused dark blotches to appear. In the same year (1666) the Great Fire of London occurred, it had helped reduce the plague but it didn't end the plague. 

What caused the plague? How did it spread so rapidly? 
Due to the filthy streets of England, The Great Plague was caused by Yersinia Pestis. It was

 bacterium associated with other plague outbreaks before and since the Great Plague of London. Rats were usually seen on the streets, it was what carried the fleas around which caused the Plague. Because people back in the days didn't know much about bacteria, and because the streets were usually covered with filth, rats were able to run around freely spreading the bacteria. Back in the times, houses were very near to each other, this gave a chance for the plague to spread around rapidly. 



How did the people try to control it? 

Due to people not knowing what bacteria were and how it spread, the government tried a lot of ways to control it, one of them included "quarantine", for people coming from overseas, they had to go through a 40 days quarantine. Other than that, if a household contained someone infected with the plague, the people were locked inside and a red cross was painted on their door. People also thought some of the reasons that caused the plague was due to bad air and cats, so it was ordered all cats to be killed (which made the plague worst) and people would light fire on the streets to create smoke to chase away "bad air". Some would also pray to God as they think the plague was a punishment sent by God. 

What was its impact on Britain and the world?
The plague killed around 100000 people in London alone, and much more around the world. During this plague, the government has taken more action compared to the Black Death, such as introducing quarantine to the people. Due to this, The Great Plague of 1665 killed less people than the Black Death. The outbreak of the Great Fire of London helped in reducing the plague as the city was rebuilt with no open sewers. 

(Lighting fire on the streets to create smoke to chase away "bad air")


Comparison of The Great Plague of 1665 and COVID-19

Evaluation : Impact of the two outbreaks 
Both The Great Plague of 1665 and COVID-19 had impact to the world. During the Great Plague, "quarantine" was first introduced, during COVID-19 the quarantine time was shortened from 40days to a week. Because of the better responses the government gave during the Great Plague, it was able to end within a year. During COVID-19 more actions were taken, such as introducing "SOP' or "The Rule of Six", vaccines were also available during COVID-19. Due to the outbreaks and knowledge, people are able to know how to prevent these bacteria. 


Conclusion
Can we prevent these plagues from happening in our world? 
  
Yes, we can. This is because we have a better understanding of what bacteria is and how to prevent it from spreading. We also know that we have to keep our surroundings clean to prevent bacteria, this would highly reduce the chance of plague outbreaks. Plus, in today's world people are not as religious, with better education we can know what the cause and cure of the plague is, and inventing out vaccines to cure/prevent it. In conclusion, plague outbreaks could be prevented in today's world as we have a better knowledge of  how to stop it. 


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