Famous People and the Germs that Harmed Them ties together history, culture, science, medicine and famous people and looks at each of them through the lens of infectious disease. As of this writing, the deadly COVID-19 virus has infected close to 50 million people worldwide, leaving a wake of uncertainty as it continues to unleash its power. History is rich with examples of infections like COVID-19, and because they all are unique, we are still learning the most effect ways to defend against them.
As an Infectious Disease specialist for the past three decades, I have had a front-row seat to countless wretched diseases and have witnessed the misery they impart on their victims. They are foreign invaders which assault the human body by many mechanisms. In my practice, I have seen the extent of the damage these germs and their poisons cause to people daily, and famous people are not immune.
What do King Tut, Jack Nicklaus, William Shakespeare, Helen Keller, Anne Frank and Abraham Lincoln all have in common? They were all sickened by a serious infection. As you read through this book, you will be stunned by the power of invisible microorganisms and how they have inflicted pain and death throughout history. Infectious diseases do not discriminate; they can inhabit one person and skip over another for no apparent reason. Many famous people in our history have succumbed to an infectious disease, from American presidents, gangsters, movie stars, professional athletes, military leaders, and world explorers, to composers and rock band icons.
This book is for people who want to gain insight into the world of infectious diseases and achieve a better understanding of the notion that "bugs rule, and far too often, take no prisoners".
Microbes are microscopic bugs, and some of these such as chicken pox, influenza, and TB (Tuberculosis) are highly contagious. During my career, I have learned how to diagnose and treat these and other body invaders quickly with the help of medications. Unfortunately, sometimes these virulent infections are impossible to stamp out. While vaccines have been incredibly effective in eradicating disease and will be discussed later in the book, many lethal organisms still don't have an effective vaccine - HIV, Hepatitis C, and Dengue viruses come to mind. Even though most microbes are benign commensal organisms, meaning, they "go along for the ride", some are major invaders, happy to take their plunder.
Throughout human history, certain types of super bugs that are invisible to the naked eye have revealed their awesome power and ability to kill large numbers of people, sometimes in only a matter of days. What most people don't realize is that these unseen microorganisms literally rule the earth; and their sheer power and brutality are extremely hard to defend against.
In Famous People and the Germs that Harmed Them, I will explore and expand on the many kinds of bugs that can kill us. Parasites, fungi, bacteria, and viruses are the different groups of microbes that can raise their foul heads at any time and take over a human being or group of people like a raiding army of commandoes, spreading disease like wildfire. I have seen it time and time again, and history has too. I will take a closer look at how microbes have been responsible for the deaths of millions of people and even eradicated some civilizations through epidemics and pandemics over the centuries. We will also look at how some have been utilized as secret microbial agents of bioterrorism to kill human enemies.
This book will also take a close look at just what makes these microbial organisms tick. Questions about how infectious diseases invade us without being detected, what kinds of poisons they generate, how they interact with our immune systems, and how they use "middlemen" such as arthropods to sicken or even kill humans will be answered.