The Plague by Albert Camus

At periodic intervals throughout history, the Pasteurella pestis bacillus has wrought largescale devastation on human populations. For example, in Europe during the fourteenth century, a P. pestis epidemic occurred which was known as the Black Death. Different forms of these infections vary both in their presentation and prognosis. As vividly illustrated in Albert Camus' The Plague, however, the ultimate result of these diseases can be rapid death. In the past, local outbreaks of plague typically caused government authorities to impose severe restrictions on affected populations. While these regulations may have prevented widespread dispersal of the disease, they also resulted in significant sociopsychodynamic effects.

At the present time, the annual morbidity and mortality caused by the plague are not great. In the United States, for instance, only a few cases typically occur every year and, among these, the disease is not usually fatal (Stark et al., 1967, p. 8). However, the recurrence of localized outbreaks of plague serves as a continuous reminder of the disease's pathogenic potential (Bahmanyar & Cavanaugh, 1976, p. 1). Perhaps the most famous outbreak of plague occurred between the years 13461400. During this period, the epidemic which spread across Europe came to be known as the Black Death. In Great Britain, onehalf to twothirds of the population perished. Indeed, onefourth of Europe's entire population, or

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concierge began again to suffered from vomiting, delirium, and painful lymph nodes. He died that very day. A few pages later, The Plague gives a general description of the typical plague victim's fate. Patients' abscesses were lanced: "two crisscross strokes, and the ganglion disgorged a mixture of blood and pus." They would then lie with their limbs stretched out as far as possible and bleed. Typically, these people died in a "stench of corruption" (Camus, 1948, p. 33). This form of plague is perhaps the most widely known varietyi.e., bubonic plague. Although Camus described several people infected with plague, he seemed less concerned with delineating the different specific types of Pasteurella pestis infection. Bubonic plague is generally transmitted through the skin. Infection usually develops as a result of being bitten by an infected rodent flea. As described in the novel, "the microbe, after a short intermission, can quadruple in three days' time the volume of the spleen, can swell the mesenteric ganglia to the size of an orange and give them the consistency of gruel" (Camus, 1948, p. 45). Subsequently, as patients develop a bacteremia, an endotoxin produced by P. pestis typically causes prostration, wid
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Approximate Word count = 2100
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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