Although India may have witnessed widespread illnesses and virus outbreaks in parts of the country, including the SARS outbreak between 2002-2004, statistics show that since the 1990s, they were nowhere as widespread as the COVID-19, that has now reached almost every part of the country and almost every country in the world. Among other causes, mass travel has contributed to the rapid and more frequent spread of viruses around the world in an unprecedented way.
What is an epidemic?
The World Health Organization defines epidemics as “the occurrence in a community or region of cases of an illness, specific health-related behaviour, or other health-related events clearly in excess of normal expectancy. The community or region and the period in which the cases occur are specified precisely. The number of cases indicating the presence of an epidemic varies according to the agent, size, and type of population exposed, previous experience or lack of exposure to the disease, and time and place of occurrence.” Epidemics are characterised by the rapid spread of the specific disease across a large number of people within a short period of time.
Many Indian citizens born at the start of the 21st century have not fully witnessed or experienced circumstances surrounding the mass outbreak of epidemics in the country and for many, the challenges brought by the rapid spread of COVID-19 is unknown territory. This is not to say however, that as a nation, India is completely unfamiliar with dealing with epidemics and public health crises, some with exceptional success. indianexpress.com tracks epidemics that have occurred in the country since the 1900s.
1915-1926 — Encephalitis lethargica
Encephalitis lethargica, also known as ‘lethargic encephalitis’ was a type of epidemic encephalitis that spread around the world between 1915 and 1926. The disease was characterised by increasing languor, apathy, drowsiness and lethargy and by 1919, had spread across Europe, the US, Canada, Central America and India. It was also called encephalitis A and Economo encephalitis or disease.
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According to Dr. J.E. Dhunjibhoy, an Indian doctor who conducted research on the disease and published his findings in July 1929, the virus was then considered to be an “acute contagious disease” where the virus “attacks the central nervous system…and grey matter”. The research goes on to say that it spread across Europe in 1917 after having first been discovered in Vienna in the same year. However, despite being witnessed in an epidemic form in Europe between 1917-1929, it was still “sporadic” in India by 1929. This virus, according to Dr. Dhunjeebhoy’s notes, appeared to be spread through nasal and oral secretions. Approximately 1.5 million people are believed to have died due to this disease.
1918-1920 — Spanish flu
Before most of the world had recovered from the spread of Encephalitis lethargica, there was a new virus to contend with, the Spanish flu. This epidemic was a viral infectious disease caused due to a deadly strain of avian influenza. The spread of this virus was largely due to World War I that despite drawing to a close by the time the epidemic had peaked, has caused mass mobilisation of troops in various parts of the world, whose travels helped spread this infectious disease. There are contradicting reports concerning the total number of fatalities caused by this disease around the world, but researchers say that the death toll was significantly more than 50 million people. In India, approximately 10-20 million people died due to the Spanish flu, that was brought to the region a century ago, by Indian soldiers who were part of the war. During this pandemic, however, records show that word spread of the dangers of the disease, through official government channels as well as word of mouth. People began taking basic precautions of engaging in forms of social distancing and limited travel, perhaps contributing to the disease eventually tapering off in India.
Source: Indian Express
