There are certain deadly diseases that strike fear into the hearts of the general public when they have reason to believe that they may be affected by one of them.
Cancer is certainly the big one for most people, but did you know that there are other deadly diseases out there that you are probably thinking are no more but could still kill you? Some of them can kill within days or maybe hours, making them even more frightening than cancer.
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10 Deadly Diseases You Can Still Catch
Most people may not remember the following 10 deadly diseases but they could still strike any of us at some point in the future.
1. The Plague
This is one of the absolute worst epidemics in human history. The plague wiped out an estimated 75 to 200 million human lives in the 14th century.
The plague was spread through the air and also by direct contact, and unfortunately, it is still out there. A large number of people around the world are still infected with it every year. The plague is also referred to as the “black death,” underscoring how dangerous it is at causing deaths.
2. Anthrax
It is really fortunate that anthrax is not infectious and that’s an extraordinarily good thing since this deadly bacterial infection is frightening even when you know that it is relatively rare. This is one of the deadly diseases that are most times passed from animals to humans and can also linger in the soil where it can be inhaled when an infested area is disturbed.
3. Cholera
This one is a particularly nasty infection and not only because it is often contracted by contact with unhygienic environments such as drinking water that is contaminated by sewage. Cholera, amongst other deadly diseases, can kill within few hours if you don’t treat it properly.
The symptoms include severe diarrhea which can cause dangerous, life-threatening dehydration and may also lead to other fatal complications.
4. Diphtheria
This disease is one that causes symptoms that sometimes affect the nose and throat and the reason this happens is that the bacterial infection is the cause.
The most common symptoms of Diphtheria are cough, chills, fever, and swollen glands in and around the neck. One needs to treat this as soon as possible before it causes serious damage to important organs just like the kidneys. Diphtheria can also have an effect on the heart and central nervous system and up to three percent (3%) of cases are fatal.
5. Polio
Among other deadly diseases, this particular disease is one the majority of us probably devote little thought to these days since it’s been all but eradicated. However, Polio is still out there and struck 37 people across the world in 2016.
Polio is widely famous for the muscle paralysis it can cause and it can easily confine victims to wheelchairs or a life of using crutches to get around. In some cases, the disease affects the muscles in charge of breathing and that can lead to death. Polio has always been a disease that is most dangerous for youngsters.
6. Tuberculosis
Often mentioned simply as “TB,” tuberculosis is a word we have all heard at one time or another and probably thought it had been another one among those historic diseases that we no longer have to worry about.
This age-old disease is still pretty much alive, however, and it still affects people worldwide, including “developed” countries just like the United States and people in Europe.
One of the most frightening things about tuberculosis is that some strains of the disease are becoming immune to the antibiotic treatments that we make use of for so many years to control it. This disease is a nasty bacterial infection that affects the lungs.
7. Scarlet Fever
One thing that is very frightening about scarlet fever is that it sometimes develops as the result of a common infection we know as strep throat. Fortunately, it’s not a very common development but when it does happen it is vital to seek treatment immediately before it can cause serious damage to the heart, central nervous system, kidneys, and lungs.
As the name suggests, scarlet fever makes distinctive by a red rash that usually appears on the face and neck and can spread to the whole body.
8. Mumps
Despite what could also be a playful-sounding name that one can use as a name for a movie character, mumps is a serious disease that can cause inflammation of the brain that could be fatal.
This is one of the deadly diseases and it’s extremely contagious and can be transferred from one person to another through casual contact. Swelling in the area of the cheeks and jaw are the revealing signs of this viral infection for which antibiotics are of no use at all.
9. Measles
We came close with measles, due to vaccines that nearly eradicated it in the past but it still persists to this day. Cause measles is a virus that leads to symptoms such as a cough, fever, pink eye, skin rash, and white spots on the inner parts of the mouth. In 2015, there has been nothing less than 600 cases of measles in the United States.
10. Flu Pandemic
We might not think of the flu as something serious that can kill us, but it’s a real chance. What’s so disturbing about this deadly disease is that it is very unpredictable, and the virus that causes it is always adapting and evolving, making it possible that a strain will emanate that is both particularly perilous and hard to control.
The flu pandemic that took place in 1918 infected a total of about 500 million people all over the world and killed somewhere between 50 and 100 million people. The most frightening reality is that a pandemic like that is currently happening again as of today.
