Plague of Athens Compared to COVID-19

Today, not in class, we compared the plague that hit Athens after the Peloponnesian war with COVID-19 (Coronavirus). Of course, the big difference between the two is location. The Athenian plague originated in Africa whereas COVID-19 originated in China. Below are more facts about both diseases.

Plague of Athens:

• killed 25% of Athens population
  infected 75,000-100,000 of Athenians
• plague is caused by some diseases such as influenza, typhoid fever, bubonic plague, smallpox, measles, and many more.
• affects people of different age groups and genders (not targeted on specific age group/gender)

COVID-19:

• killed about 23,588 people in the world
• about 519,899 are infected in the world (China, Italy, and the U.S are the countries with the most cases in order from greatest to least)
• Symptoms include fever, tiredness, and a dry cough
• affects mainly older people and those with medical conditions like asthma, diabetes, and/or heart disease.

Similarities between the two:

• massive damage to the world
• weakened the strength of the people and the government
• both occurred during an important event with their government/army
• very deadly

Links: 

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19787658
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15081502
• https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries
• https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses#:~:text=symptoms