Blinding you with science

Well, something strange is certainly happening in Oran - dead rats, a dead concierge, more dead rats, some very sick people... If you've made it to the end of Part One, then you know what Dr. Rieux and Dr. Castel suspected all along: It's the plague (pretty big twist, considering the novel is titled The Plague - huh?).

But what is the plague? Here's some background information for us non-doctors. The following tidbits are taken from Carol Turkington and Bonnie Lee Ashby's article "Plague" in The Encyclopedia of Infectious Diseases (3rd ed., 2007). This article - and many others on the plague - is available through Longview's Health Reference Center online database.

*** "The scourge of early history, plague is a serious infectious disease transmitted by the bites of rat fleas."

*** "Fleas found on rodents can carry the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis (formerly Bacillus pestis or Pasteurella pestis). More than 100 species of fleas have been reported to be naturally infected with plague." (image of oriental rat flea engorged with blood, from the CDC Plague Home Page - http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/plague/)

*** "There are three major forms of the disease: bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic, each of which can occur alone or together, as the disease moves throughout the body. Bubonic plague is centered in the lymphatic system, creating swelling lymph nodes (buboes), from which it gets its name. Septicemic plague affects the bloodstream. Pneumonic plague occurs when the bacteria enters the lungs."

(shameful admission: I have a bachelor's degree in linguistics, and I didn't get the 'buboes'/'bubonic' connection until I looked up "bubo" in one of our medical dictionaries. Talk about your 'Well, duh' moments!)

*** "Two to five days after infection, patients experience sudden fever, shivering, seizures, and severe headaches followed by buboes—smooth, oval, reddened, and very painful swellings in the armpits, groin, or neck." (bubo image also from the CDC Plague Home Page)

*** "Pneumonic plague causes severe, overwhelming pneumonia, with shortness of breath, high fever, and blood in the phlegm. (Onset of these symptoms begins only one to three days after exposure.) If untreated, half the patients will die; if blood poisoning occurs as an early complication, patients may die before the buboes appear."

*** "Plague can be treated successfully if it is caught early. Untreated pneumonic plague is almost always fatal, and the chances of survival are very low unless specific antibiotic treatment is started within 15 to 18 hours after symptoms appear."

*** And, finally, the fact that surprised me the most: "Plague is ... found among ground squirrels, prairie dogs, and marmots in parts of Arizona, New Mexico, California, Colorado, and Nevada. Between 10 and 50 Americans each year contract plague during the spring and summer months." (plague distribution map from the CDC Plague Home Page)

For those interested in more information on the medical aspects of plague, here is a bibliography of scientific resources. All are available on the shelf at Longview Library, through our online databases, or from authoritative websites, such as the Center for Disease Control's and the World Health Organization's.

Next week: a look at plague outbreaks throughout history, including those mentioned by Father Paneloux in his first sermon.