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Spanish Flu Pandemic
The Spanish Flu was derived from the H1N1 virus, which is a type of avian influenza. The Spanish Flu Pandemic spread rapidly and paired with a high mortality rate, caused a devastating pandemic. Roughly 50 million individuals lost their lives during this pandemic, nearly a million from the US. This pandemic highlighted the need for improvement in monitoring diseases and medical treatments. This eventually lead to the first clinical trials for vaccines (Jester et al., 2018). -
Insulin Officially Isolated
Dr. Frederick Banting, a Canadian surgeon and Charles Best, a medical student, are the two who officially isolated insulin. They first administered insulin to dogs with diabetic symptoms and noticed that when given insulin injections their blood glucose levels would return to normal. This quickly led to efforts to have insulin treatment for people and of course now we can see the lasting impacts as diabetic individuals can lead healthy, “normal” lives (UMass, 2023). -
Discovery of Penicillin
Alexander Fleming, a Scottish physician, discovered penicillin when studying staphylococcus bacteria in a petri dish. When studying the dish he noticed a mold grow on it and no bacteria could grow on this mold. Fleming identified that the mold produced a chemical that killed the bacteria. This was a major breakthrough as penicillin became the first antibiotic used to treat infections (ACS). -
Establishment of the World Health Organization
The idea of an international health organization was originally proposed by representatives of China and Brazil during a conference in San Francisco, California. The purpose of creating the World Health Organization was to set international health standards, promote global health initiatives, support the eradication of diseases, etc… This provided strength within the study of epidemiology as it allowed for further advancement of the field and overall global health (WHO). -
Framingham Heart Study
This study was originally started by Dr. Gilcin Meadors, a Public Health Service physician, and was a response to the cardiovascular disease epidemic going on. The objective of the study was to determine the common characteristics of CVD by following its development over a long course of time. The researchers did this by gathering around 5,000 participants and had them return every two years for physical examinations. The study significantly advanced the understanding of CVD (FHS). -
Development of Polio Vaccine
The first successful vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk, a US physician. This was done by using a dead virus that would be injected into the body. The vaccine dramatically reduced the prevalence of polio cases worldwide (WHO). -
Smallpox Eradication
This has been marked as a landmark achievement in the field of epidemiology. Being able to eradicate a highly contagious and devastating disease, proved that there was potential for eradicating diseases. Adding to this, it set a precedent for the field of epidemiology to not only contain, but eliminate other infectious diseases (WHO). -
Discovery of AIDs
The virus that causes AIDs was discovered by Luc Montagnier, a French virologist, and Robert Gallo, an American physician-scientist. The researchers discovered that the virus was a type of retrovirus. This led to the development of antiretroviral medicines and meant that millions of lives were now able to be saved from this disease. It would also lead scientists developing blood tests in order to screen for this disease and further prevent deaths (Mayo Clinic). -
SARS Pandemic
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease that was first identified during an outbreak that emerged in China. The World Health Organization quickly began investigating the diseases and supported health authorities in the affected countries. This ultimately allowed for the disease to be brought under control (WHO). -
Human Genome Project
The Human Genome Project was initiated by Francis Collins, a geneticist who directed the project. The goal of the project was to generate the first sequence of the human genome and was a major milestone in understanding human genetics. This resulted in a genome sequence that accounted for around 90% of the human genome. The project left a lasting impact as it provided the foundational understanding of human genetics (NIH). -
Swine Flu Pandemic
The Swine Flu spread rapidly, but was not as deadly as the Spanish Flu. It did, however, possess the same characteristic as the Spanish Flu, which was disproportionately killing younger individuals. This pandemic highlighted the key improvements of the field of epidemiology between the time Spanish Flu took place and currently. The rapid surveillance and pandemic preparedness saved numerous lives, but showed there was more advancement still needed (Sampath et al., 2021). -
COVID-19 Pandemic
COVID-19 was originally discovered in Wuhan, China. This disease spread rapidly and led to countries shutting down in order to stop/slow the spread. This pandemic again showed that more precautions needed to be put in place in order to reduce the risk in future pandemics (Hao et al., 2022).