Medical
Mysteries
Meet Bacteria Bert
and Velma Virus, our webpage tourguides.
They will be showing you around this website, so watch for them!
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From voodoo to vaccines, the history of viruses and diseases has advanced greatly in the last two thousand years. Diseases were an unknown subject in ancient history. They were thought to be caused by everything from planets to cats to witches. But as our knowledge of diseases has advanced, we've learned that diseases are caused by more practical and scientific things, such as bacteria, viruses, and even humans. We also discovered what spread the diseases, such as monkeys, lice, ticks, fleas, and rats. |
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As we've
discovered how diseases are caused, we have also discovered how to cure them, and we
have learned from our mistakes. For example, during the plague we thought cats were
to blame, when it was actually rats, so we killed the cats. Therefore, the cats who were
now dead who could have eaten the rats could no longer eat them. The disease
continued to spread, causing more pain and suffering. This was a significant discovery and we have made many more. But don't think that the study of diseases is over! There are still many deadly diseases that we have yet to find cures for, such as HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and of course the common cold. There are also diseases that we don't have vaccinations for, such as anthrax and World Trade Center (WTC) cough. |
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As well as making mistakes, we have also stumbled across cures quite unintentionally. In 1796, Edward Jenner was the only person who noticed that milkmaids seemed to be immune to the horrible virus of smallpox. After studying the milkmaids he saw that they all had one thing in common: they all had the common virus of cowpox. This discovery led to the first vaccination for a disease-smallpox. To learn more about smallpox and its cure, click on Disease Fact Files. To learn more about other Disease Detectives like Jenner, click on Disease Detectives. |
So don't let us hold you back by continuing with this introduction! Start your adventure in the mysterious world of disease and viruses with our website! |
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Body battles... learn about our incredible Immune System |
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Our
research...Visiting scientists introduce us to pathogens and and disease causing agents
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Debates - You be the Judge Should the government possess strains of deadly but widely eradicated viruses (such as smallpox)? Who has made the greater contribution to our earth, bacteria or humans? Read our points and counterpoints on these and other issues and make up your own mind. |
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Quizzes - Test your knowledge of information presented on our site. |
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Microbial Math - Go figure! |
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Sick Humor - Laughter can be infectious. Hope you catch our humor! |
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Resources & Links - Check out the sites and other resources we used for our research. |
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All about us - Meet the website designers and learn how we built this site. |
