History | Medical
Station:
Science (US)
Status:
Ended
Start:
2018-03-29
Rating:
0/10 from 0 users
Viruses have shaped our health and our history, and, despite all the tools of modern medicine, they continue to kill millions of people every year. Influenza, smallpox, and Ebola are among the three most lethal viruses ever to have plagued mankind. Each has taken a devastatingly large toll on the human population. Smallpox killed more people than all the wars in human history, and we are just one test tube away from biomedical warfare. The flu spreads like wildfire across the globe every year, killing the young and the old alike, and Ebola shocks and terrifies the world each time it emerges. The ferocity of these viruses is anything but an event of the past; according to recent reports from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 2017-2018 flu season is one of the worst in years. Smallpox, eradicated in the wild, is a top bioterrorism threat. And the next Ebola outbreak always lurks just out of sight.Three years in the making, Discovery's three-part series Invisible Killers takes viewers around the world to understand how viruses have shaped our health and history, the biological and social impact they have on our global society, and the incredible work being done to combat them. In the ongoing battle between humans and viruses, Invisible Killers asks: Are we winning? And, when the next pandemic comes, will we be ready?
TV Show Ended.
S1E1 - Influenza
Influenza delves into the astonishing and little-understood history and impact of this constantly evolving virus, which is often tragically underestimated as merely a cousin to the common cold. Each year, six months in advance of the anticipated flu season, world health officials gather to speculate what strain of virus will be most prevalent and determine which vaccine will be most successful in treating those affected.
Air Date: 29 Mar 2018 19:00 (CDT)
S1E2 - Smallpox
Smallpox tells the story of perhaps the greatest accomplishment of medical science, the complete eradication of the worst disease known to humankind, a scourge responsible for an estimated 500 million deaths in the 20th century alone. But experts fear the return of smallpox as a biological weapon.
Air Date: 29 Mar 2018 20:00 (CDT)
S1E3 - Ebola
Ebola examines one of the world's deadliest viruses – spread by physical contact with infected body fluids – as it turns human compassion in to human vulnerability attacking the individuals and health professionals trying to care for the sick. The episode looks back at the perfect storm of the 2014 West African outbreak – where lack of public health infrastructure, cultural practices, and a slow global response produced the deadliest outbreak on record.
Air Date: 29 Mar 2018 21:00 (CDT)