There is no cure for the common cold. Scientists have been trying for centuries to find a cure that will surely make our lives easier. But the common cold has nothing on these 10 infectious diseases. Diseases, for lack of a better word, become so viral that you have a high chance of dying from the complications. Some of these diseases have vaccines, some have preventive measures, and others are fatal with little chance of survival. To be included on this list, a virus must be the leading cause of death in history, ranked by worldwide death rate and impact. However, if the disease is detected, it will be lower on the list.
10. Smallpox
There were many forms of this variola virus and it continues to be the required vaccine for many countries. The worse forms of smallpox—hemorrhagic and flat—had the highest mortality rates, with only a 10 percent or less chance of survival. Fortunately, this disease is the only disease on this list that has been completely eradicated from nature, as it is only contagious through humans.
9. Typhoid fever
Perhaps one of the least fatal diseases on this list, typhoid fever has a mortality rate of only 10 to 30 percent. But the symptoms appear in stages over three weeks and are not fatal in most cases. That is, the disease can remain dormant in a person who has overcome it, and then it can pass to another person. The most famous case of this was an American cook known as “Typhoid Mary” Mallon in the early 1900s.
8. Flu
Perhaps the scariest virus on this list is the one that anyone can catch anywhere – the flu. Fortunately, influenza is easily identified and easily treated in most countries. However, young children and the elderly are especially vulnerable to the flu. The most famous strain was the Spanish flu, which was estimated to have killed 2-5 percent of the human population in 1918-1919. Thankfully, this strain was never seen again; however, the flu virus is notorious for mutating from animals to humans.
7. Bubonic plague
This plague is transmitted by an infected flea and kills about 70 percent of its victims within 4 to 7 days. The most famous epidemic was the Black Death in the Middle Ages, which was rumored to have killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe alone, and another 50 million worldwide. Bubonic plague is often characterized by swollen lymph nodes, although in the modern world a few pimples are seen.
6. Cholera
Normally, a person becomes infected with cholera by eating or drinking contaminated food or water. And if untreated, the disease will progress from massive diarrhea to shock within 4-12 hours and death within 18 hours or several days. Fortunately, with oral rehydration therapy, a person can recover from cholera; but in its most severe form cholera can kill within three hours. But good sanitation practices can prevent an outbreak.
5. Anthrax
While anthrax was previously used as a biological weapon, humans die from anthrax after inhaling the spores or eating or coming into contact with animals that have ingested the spores. Once contaminated, the bacterium multiplies rapidly and produces two deadly toxins that kill the host. Death from cold-like symptoms can take anywhere from two days to a month, leading to severe respiratory problems, shock, and eventually death. Large amounts of antibiotics have been proven to stop the disease. A vaccine is known, and then again, there are antibiotic-resistant strains of ants.
4. Malaria
This vector-borne infectious disease still infects more than 500 million people each year, resulting in 1-3 million deaths if not properly treated. Fortunately, with treatment, a malaria patient can expect a full recovery, although like many of the diseases on this list, there is no vaccine. However, it has been noted that malaria deaths occur on average every 30 seconds.
3. SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) saw only one major outbreak in Asia a few years ago. In most cases, the disease, which takes the form of viral pneumonia, has a fatality rate of about 70 percent, with the highest fatality rate among victims over 65 years of age. The Chinese government allegedly created a vaccine that was effective in about two-thirds of the tests. groups; however, many other treatments have proven to be as problematic as SARS itself. What doesn’t heal you, what kills you?
2. Ebola
The death rate of this virus strain discovered in the last 30 years is between 50-89 percent. Known to be devastating to both humans and animals, Ebola usually kills a person in one to two weeks as a result of multiple organ failure or hypovelmic shock. A Canadian company recently announced that they had created a vaccine that was effective in 99 percent of monkey test cases. Unfortunately, no vaccine or treatment is currently approved for humans.
1. HIV/AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which weakens a person’s immune system. AIDS has been classified as an epidemic by the CDC, and despite the lack of a vaccine or cure, life expectancy has increased. Although the Ebola virus itself is more lethal in the short term, most AIDS victims eventually die from an AIDS-related illness.
