How Epidemics Spur Innovative Thinking
Despite the tragic effects of epidemics throughout history, difficult times often lead to ground-breaking innovations
The Effects of Past Epidemics
- The Black Death, mid-1300s
- Estimated to have killed 30-60% of Europe’s population
- Changed the economic and social structure of Europe
- Led to the creation of a middle class
- Sparked interest in literacy, art, and experimentation
- Shakespeare
- In 1592, London faced an outbreak of the plague
- With theaters closed for 6 months, Shakespeare turned to poetry for income, penning Venus and Adonis, and The Rape of Lucrece
- In 1606, another outbreak closed London’s theaters
- That same year, Shakespeare likely wrote King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony & Cleopatra
- In 1592, London faced an outbreak of the plague
- Isaac Newton
- From 1665-1666, the last major plague outbreak hit England
- Newton fled to the countryside to escape the disease, where he developed many of his theories on calculus, optics, laws of motion, and gravity
- From 1665-1666, the last major plague outbreak hit England
- The Boston Smallpox Epidemic, 1721
- Infected 11,000 and killed 850
- Positive effects:
- Lead to the spread of variolation: taking the pus from a lesion of an infected patient and using it to inoculate a healthy individual
- Reduced mortality from 14% to 2%
- First step toward vaccines
- Inoculation debate sparked a new era in journalism
- James Franklin (brother of Benjamin Franklin) shared his anti-inoculation viewpoint in a newspaper
- Soon, publishers were printing stories about politics, local events, humor, and satire
- Led to the creation of the first independent newspaper in the U.S.
- Lead to the spread of variolation: taking the pus from a lesion of an infected patient and using it to inoculate a healthy individual
- The Spanish Flu, 1918
- A deadly strain of influenza that infected 1 in 3 people worldwide — 50-100 million people died in the pandemic
- Many people didn’t have access to a doctor, for those who did influenza was not a reportable disease
- By the time authorities recognized the pandemic, it was too late for measures like quarantine to be effective
- Many people didn’t have access to a doctor, for those who did influenza was not a reportable disease
- Sparked a new approach to public health that focused on the underlying causes of illness, like diet and living conditions
- By 1925, all U.S. states were participating in a new national disease reporting system
- By 1935, the U.S. deployed its first national health survey
- By 1945, the first effective flu vaccine was discovered
- All of these breakthroughs trace back to the 1918 pandemic
- A deadly strain of influenza that infected 1 in 3 people worldwide — 50-100 million people died in the pandemic
In 1919, despite becoming ill with the deadly the Spanish flu, Edvard Munch continued painting — creating a Self-Portrait with the Spanish Flu
The global health crisis caused by COVID-19 is fertile ground for innovators across many industries to identify challenges and create clever solutions
How Innovators Are Responding During COVID-19
- Addressing Shortages
- Ventilators
- When a hospital in Italy ran out of ventilator valves, Isinnova, a local 3D printing business, came to the rescue
- Created and distributed 3D printed valves
- Cost per valve: $1
- Original valve: $10,000
- Designed an adapter to turn snorkeling masks into C-PAP mask for non-invasive oxygen therapy
- Created and distributed 3D printed valves
- As coronavirus spreads, the U.S. faces a shortage of ventilators as well
- 45,000 ventilators
- Up to 2.9 million Americans might need ICU care
- Dr. Steve Richardson, an anesthesiologist at the University of Minnesota, designed a simpler, less expensive ventilator
- With expedited clearance from the FDA, the new design could be manufactured by the thousand in just 3 weeks
- When a hospital in Italy ran out of ventilator valves, Isinnova, a local 3D printing business, came to the rescue
- Protective Equipment
- Distilleries have begun producing hand sanitizer to help meet the growing demand
- Though some started using alcohol waste, many are now using grain neutral spirit and retrofitting their equipment to keep up the supply
- In January, 3M began increasing production of N95 masks — eventually doubling its output, but there’s still a shortage
- Two companies are working to create washable, reusable masks that will offer better protection than simple surgical masks
- Sonovia — Infuses fabrics with anti-pathogen nanoparticles
- Argaman — Uses copper oxide particles and nanofibers
- Both companies are fast-tracking their development process
- Distilleries have begun producing hand sanitizer to help meet the growing demand
- Tracking The Spread
- Johns Hopkins University reports Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases on their online interactive map
- Kinsa Smart Thermometer
- Anonymously collects temperature readings from devices
- Compared current fevers to past years’ flu season to map unusual fevers (likely due to coronavirus) across the U.S.
- Allows health officials to see likely spread among people who don’t need or seek medical care
- Facebook, Google, and Twitter are working to combat the spread of misinformation concerning the disease
- Facebook tags posts and lowers their ranking in newsfeeds
- Google built an information and resources website for credible information
- Twitter directs search searches to the CDC
- Ventilators
The challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic will likely lead to innovations that will help the world more effectively deal with future health crises
Sources:
https://www.israel21c.org/new-antiviral-masks-from-israel-may-help-stop-deadly-virus/
https://news.3m.com/blog/3m-stories/3m-responds-2019-novel-coronavirus
http://samling.nasjonalmuseet.no/en/object/NG.M.01867
https://dp.la/exhibitions/1918-influenza/legacy/medicine
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-1918-flu-pandemic-revolutionized-public-health-180965025/
http://blogs.wgbh.org/innovation-hub/2018/4/6/spanish-flu/
https://futurism.com/neoscope/3d-printed-adapter-snorkelling-mask-into-ventilator
https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/17/21184308/coronavirus-italy-medical-3d-print-valves-treatments
https://hbr.org/2020/03/coronavirus-is-exposing-deficiencies-in-u-s-health-care
https://time.com/5806060/coronavirus-movie-theaters-streaming/
https://screenrant.com/disney-beat-netflix-coronavirus-streaming-movies-frozen-2/
https://www.statista.com/topics/3002/zika-virus-disease/
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/woolsthorpe-manor/features/year-of-wonders
