List of Pandemics in History

If there’s one thing that humans cannot escape, it’s the very existence of plagues and diseases. They have been ravaging humanity for centuries. If you think that the current COVID-19 pandemic is a nightmare, wait until you hear the tragic plagues, epidemics, and pandemics that haunted humanity in the past. The Straits Times is here to talk about some of them.

The Great Plague of London: 1665-1666

The plague that started in April 1665 and its last major outbreak caused a mass departure from the city which was led by King Charles II. It was said that the transmission was caused by the fleas from rodents that lurk in filthy ports and sewers. It didn’t help that the plague also happened during the hot summer months, making the transmissions much faster.

This London plague has killed around 100,000 people which includes an estimated 15% of the city’s population. What makes this one of the most unforgettable pandemics in history is that the plague was also followed by the Great Fire of London which lasted for four straight days, burning a huge portion of London.

The Flu Pandemic: 1889-1890

As the world became more sophisticated and introduced to a whole slew of ways to transport and travel, comes the risk of spreading diseases across the world more easily. In just a few months, the flu infected the planet and killed more than a million people. It was believed that the flu came from Russia where the first few cases were reported.

The American Polio Epidemic: 1916

A polio epidemic that caused thousands of deaths in the US. It was reported that this epidemic started in New York in 1916 and its main victims were children. It wasn’t until 1954 when a vaccine to prevent its spread was developed and became widely available. While not completely eradicated, polio is still present and the world has tremendously reduced the further spread of this disease.

The Spanish Flu: 1918-1920

Despite its name, this flue didn’t start in Spain. In fact, the country was in a neutral state at the time. It was only believed by many that the illness was specific to Spain because of the bare censorship of the nation’s press during World War I.

The flu has infected an astounding 500 million people from all over the world, of which one-fifth of that number unfortunately died. What’s worse is that it even led to some indigenous communities being almost wiped out from existence. The rapid spread was also due to the fact that there was a lack of nutrition and resources to boost everyone’s immunity during the war.

The Asian Flu: 1957-1958

The flu sounds a lot familiar like the COVID-19. First, this virus was recorded in China and the disease has reached over a million deaths.

Many Singapore news outlets reported that the virus was a blend of avian flu viruses that quickly spread across Asian countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong. Shortly after, the coastal cities of the US have also been infected, giving a death toll of over 100,000 deaths in the US alone.

AIDS Pandemic and Epidemic: 1981-Present

AIDS, since it was first discovered in 1981, has remained to be one of the most elusive diseases that has no direct cure even to this present day. More than 35 million people have been identified with this virus, and it was believed that the infection came from a chimpanzee virus that was transmitted to humans.

For many years, people with AIDS have been living a normal life with constant treatment and medications. Thanks to these medications, two people have been successfully cured of this disease in 2020 according to the latest news in Singapore.

H1N1 Swine Flu: 2009-2010

This disease was first recorded in Mexico in 2019 and it was mostly known as the Swine Flu. It had infected a billion people all over the globe and killed more than half a million people in just a single year alone. Unlike the other cases of flu in the past, there is still no cure for this disease but there are medications given to those infected.