RESUMEN
Introducción: Las pandemias y epidemias son acontecimientos mundiales de la sociedad humana, que expresan gran catástrofe y desolación, acompañadas de elevada letalidad y repercusión marcada en los servicios de salud. Han diezmado sociedades, de forma similar a las guerras, pero contribuyen al surgimiento de avances en las ciencias. Objetivo: Describir las características y peculiaridades de las pandemias y epidemias ocurridas en diferentes épocas de la historia, en el contexto de la salud pública y su gran repercusión social. Métodos: Se utilizaron las bases de datos SciELO, PubMed, Google Scholar, sitios web de la OMS y la OPS, además de otras fuentes y recursos de información disponibles en Internet a las cuales se accedieron por medio del buscador web de Google. En la elaboración de la estrategia de búsqueda se utilizó el vocabulario controlado de los Descriptores en Ciencias de la Salud. Los términos utilizados fueron: pandemia, epidemia, plaga, peste, vacuna. Se recuperaron 40 artículos y documentos científicos que se seleccionaron dada su pertinencia para la investigación. Conclusiones: Las pandemias y epidemias requieren medidas de promoción de salud que estimulen un adecuado saneamiento ambiental, la disponibilidad del agua potable, correcto lavado de las manos, así como prevenir la expansión del contagio y la disminución de los riesgos que implican el cambio climático, la falta de control de los vectores y la pobreza entre otras, para contribuir a disminuir la morbi-mortalidad. La carencia de estrategias preventivas, obliga a desarrollar centros especializados para producir vacunas, que garanticen la protección específica de poblaciones susceptibles.
Introduction: Pandemics and epidemics are global events in human society, which express great catastrophe and desolation, accompanied by high lethality and marked repercussions on health services. They have decimated societies, similar to wars, but they contribute to the emergence of advances in the sciences. Objective: To describe the characteristics and peculiarities of pandemics and epidemics that occurred at different times in history, in the context of public health and its great social impact. Methods: The SciELO, PubMed, Google Scholar databases, WHO and PAHO websites and other sources and information resources available on the Internet were used, which were accessed through the Google web browser. In the elaboration of the search strategy, the controlled vocabulary of the Descriptors in Health Sciences was used. The terms used were: pandemic, epidemic, rinderpest, plague, vaccine. 40 scientific articles and documents were retrieved and selected given their relevance for the investigation. Conclusions: Pandemics and epidemics require health promotion measures that stimulate adequate environmental sanitation, the availability of drinking water, correct hand washing, as well as preventing the spread of contagion and reducing the risks implied by climate change, lack of vector control and poverty among others, to contribute to reducing morbidity and mortality. The lack of preventive strategies forces the development of specialized centers to produce vaccines that guarantee the specific protection of susceptible populations.
RESUMEN
Em 1918, o mundo testemunhou uma das maiores tragédias de sua história, quando uma epidemia de gripe arrasou a população. Acredita-se que 15 a 25 milhões de pessoas tenham perdido a vida em consequência de uma grave insuficiência respiratória. O comportamento não usual de levar jovens entre 20 e 40 anos à morte mantém acesas as discussões a respeito de sua natureza. O objetivo deste estudo foi rever na literatura os primórdios da epidemia e suas consequências, além dos estudos que tentaram e tentam desvendá-la. A gripe espanhola tem sido estudada por meio de diferentes pontos de vista. A dimensão social da doença envolve constatações de semelhanças entre outras epidemias do passado, como os sentimentos de desorientação, impotência e terror, e por ter vitimado principalmente a parcela mais carente da população. Porém, em 1918, já se conheciam os micro-organismos patogênicos, impedindo que houvesse o apontamento milenar de culpa de membros segregados pela sociedade. Pesquisas sobre o agente causal, a fisiopatologia e as causas dos óbitos mobilizaram os laboratórios ao redor do mundo. As causas de seu estranho comportamento não estão totalmente esclarecidas. Os mistérios da gripe espanhola ainda intrigam a ciência...
In 1918, the world witnessed one of the greatest tragedies in its history, when an epidemic flu devastated the population. It is believed that 15 to 25 million people died due to a severe respiratory failure. The unusual behavior of killing young people between 20-40 years old keeps discussions about its nature lively. The objective of this study was to review the epidemic beginnings and its consequences, as well as the studies that tried and are trying to unveil it. Spanish Flu has been extensively studied from different points of view. The social dimension of the disease involves findings of similarity with other epidemics of the past, such as disorientation, helplessness and the terror felt by the population, and also the fact that it victimized mainly the poorest. However, in 1918, the pathogenic microorganisms were already known, avoiding members segregated by society to be made responsible for the disease. Researches on the agent, the pathophysiology, and cause of deaths mobilized laboratories around the world. The causes of its strange behavior are not totally clear, and still intrigue science...