Septicemic plague
Septicemic (or septicaemic) plague is a deadly blood infection. It is one of the three main forms of plague, which are all caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis.[1] The other two are called bubonic plague and pneumonic plague.[1] Bubonic plague can worsen into septicemic plague, or a person can get septicemic plague in another way.
Without treatment, septicemic plague is almost always fatal. In medieval times, 99% to 100% of people who got this disease died from it.
Septicemic plague was the rarest of the three types of plague that killed between 25 million and 50 million people during the Black Death.[2][3]
Cause and spread
changeUsually, an infected rodent or insect carries the plague. When it bites a human, it can spread plague bacteria to them.[4][5] The Black Death spread this way, when fleas on infected black rats bit humans.[6]
In rare cases, plague bacteria can enter the body another way. It can get into a person's bloodstream through a cut on their skin. An infected person can also spread the plague in respiratory droplets (for example, by coughing or sneezing).[4]
Symptoms
changeSepticemic plague's early symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, nausea, vomiting, and low blood pressure. Without treatment, victims have blood clotting problems which cause severe bleeding; their organs fail; they get sepsis; and then they die.[1][7]
Septicemic plague can kill very fast - even before symptoms appear.
Bleeding problems
changeIn septicemic plague, Yersinian pestis bacteria grow quickly in the blood, causing severe sepsis. (This is a life-threatening response to an infection.) Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) can result.[8] In this condition, tiny blood clots form throughout the body. This stops blood from getting to parts of the body. Without blood (and the oxygen it carries), the cells in those body parts die.[8]
DIC uses up the body's ability to make blood clots. As a result, the body can no longer control bleeding.[8] Victims bleed into their skin and other organs. They may cough up blood (hemoptysis) and/or vomiting blood (hematemesis).[8]
DIC can also cause a rash, with bumps on the skin that look like insect bites. These bumps are usually red, and sometimes white in the center.[8]
Death rate
changeWithout treatment, septicemic plague is fatal, and it can kill very quickly. A person with septicemic plague needs treatment within 24 hours of becoming infected, or they will die.[9]
However, with early antibiotic treatment, a person with septicemic plague can recover. According to the Cleveland Clinic:[3]
Immediate treatment with antibiotics will help you survive the plague. With quick treatment, about 90% of people with all forms of plague survive. Without treatment, plague is nearly always fatal. With treatment, there’s a 5 to 15% mortality (death) rate for bubonic plague and around a 50% mortality rate for pneumonic and septicemic plague.
In the Black Death
changeSee the main article: The Black Death
Between 1346 and 1353, a pandemic called the Black Death killed one out of every three people in Europe.[2][9]
People died from bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic plague (or a combination of them) during the Black Death.[2] Of these, septicemic plague was the least common.
Like the other forms of plague, septicemic plague spread from the East through trade routes like the Silk Road.[10] Infected people from all around Europe and Asia traveled to major port cities like Venice and Florence, then spread the plague to others there.[10]
The Black Death helped cause the Peasants' Revolt in 1381.[11]
Related pages
changeReferences
change- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Plague". MedlinePlus. National Library of Medicine.[permanent dead link]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Benedictow, Ole (2021). The Complete History of the Black Death. Suffolk, UK: The Boydell Press. p. 876. ISBN 978-1-78744-931-2.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Plague: Maps and Statistics". The Cleveland Clinic. May 15, 2024. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "How Plague Spreads". The United States Centers for Disease Control. May 15, 2024. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
- ↑ "Plague: Symptoms and Causes". The Mayo Clinic. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
- ↑ "Bubonic Plague". The Cleveland Clinic. June 17, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
- ↑ "Plague: Symptoms and Causes". The Mayo Clinic. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Korhonen, Timo K.; Haiko, Johanna; Laakkonen, Liisa; Järvinen, Hanna M.; Westerlund-Wikström, Benita (2013). "Fibrinolytic and coagulative activities of Yersinia pestis". Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. 3. doi:10.3389/fcimb.2013.00035. ISSN 2235-2988. PMC 3724046. PMID 23898467.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: PMC format (link) CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Plague". World Health Organization. July 7, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "The Spread of Disease along the Silk Roads | Silk Roads Programme". UNESCO. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
- ↑ Cartwright, Mark. "Peasants' Revolt". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2024-10-03.