¿Qué fue la plaga de Atenas?

Abstract

In the year 430 B.C., at the beginning of the second year of the Peloponessian War, a terrible epidemic fell upon Athens and the most populous cities in Attica. It would last for just over four years and it would kill 100.000 people, a quarter to a third of the population. We know about it through the masterly description made by Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War. His narrative has withstood twenty fi ve centuries due to its medical interest and, above all, its great dramatic force. The description of symptoms and signs, their evolution, and the consequences upon persons and moral and social order has captivated physicians, philologists and classical historians ever since. It has inspired literary works and hundreds of medical articles, with no agreement having been reached upon its cause or consequences, or if it is history or tragedy, or even if there is a single answer to these alternatives.Key words: Plague, epidemics, Thucydides, history of Medicine. Palabras clave: Plaga, epidemias, Tucídides, historia de la Medicina. Pontificia UniversidadCatólica de Chile. Facultad de MedicinaDivisión de Anestesiología y Programa de Estudios MédicosHumanísticos.No hay conflictos de interés. Recibido: 7 de mayo de 2011Correspondencia a:Jorge Dagnino Sepúlveda jdagnino@med.puc.cl E sparta, que lideraba la liga del Peloponeso invadió Ática en el año 431 a.C iniciando así una brutal lucha fraticida que duraría veintisiete años y cambiaría irreversiblemente el mundo griego y la civilización antigua 1 (Figura 1). Apenas habían transcurrido cincuenta años desde las épicas batallas en las Termópilas, y luego en Salamina y Platea, donde los griegos entonces unidos enfrentaron y derrotaron al enorme ejército persa invasor en la segunda de las guerras médicas. Esta improbable victoria ante fuerzas inmensamente superiores en número fue seguida por décadas de gran desarrollo económico y cultural, particularmente en Atenas, con seminales avances en las artes, las ciencias y la medicina. Entre los líderes atenienses sobresale Pericles, cuya habilidad política y militar facilitaría el desarrollo del imperio ateniense en el siglo que lleva su nombre. Al desatarse las hostilidades, Pericles, consciente de la superioridad de los hoplitas espartanos en el combate terrestre, impuso la estrategia de dejar los campos a merced del ejército invasor, protegiendo a la población en Atenas y su puerto, el Pireo. Estas ciudades estaban amuralladas y se encontraban unidas por un largo corredor defendido por las Murallas Largas que Temístocles había erigido al retirarse el ejército persa (Figura 2). Este complejo fortifi cado constituía una posición inexpugnable para las posibilidades bélicas de la época, mientras que la conexión marítima y la hegemonía ateniense en el mar aseguraban el abastecimiento indefi nido de la población y permitían desarrollar ataques en las costas del territorio enemigo. A consecuencias de esta estrategia, la población de Atenas se había cuadruplicado con los refugiados, muchos de los cuales vivían hacinados ...

Behavior of the epidemic due to the covid-19 virus in Mexico. Development of an algorithm

“…Starting from the initial approach, with the first data considered, we now turn to the logistic equation in the following way, (12) Furthermore (7) can also be used so that can be define, b a M = 2 (13) We now proceed to determine the maximum population, considering the new data (Table 2) and the growth rate expressed by evaluating the derivative of the function y 2 (t), to find the solution of (4). The growth ratio with the data in Table 2 With these values, a solution to equation ( 4) is sought, and the system of equations is obtained: With the procedure shown, based on the records provided by the country's authorities, it is found that the epidemic due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus manifests signs of lasting more than 2 years at the national level, with the possibility of around ten million confirmed infections.…”

“…Thucydides rigorously recounts the desperation of doctors and patients in the face of the devastation of an epidemic for which neither knowledge nor remedies were known in Athens at the time of Pericles, during the Peloponnesian War against the Persians. And especially during the war against Sparta and her allies, in the year 430 before our era [12], [13]. The Antonine plague (165-180 BC) also known as the plague of Galen, because it was this famous doctor who adequately described it, was an epidemic possibly of smallpox or measles that affected the Roman Empire.…”

The New Normal: History and Impact of Pandemics

“…The impact of this plague was severe. 4 Roman Empire got decline after it. Modification of religiousness and spirituality were found.…”

“…The disease hit first at Anthon's port. 3,4 The epidemic broke out in May 430 B.C and another wave was seen in summer of 428 B.C and winter of 427-426 B.C. The disease spread from person to person through aerosols/respiratory transmission with a very high attack and spread rate.…”