Scenarios about 'infectious disease'
Infectious diseases are illnesses caused by pathogenic microorganisms that can spread between individuals through direct contact, bodily fluids, airborne particles, or vectors like insects. Throughout history, epidemics and pandemics such as the Black Death, smallpox, and influenza have dramatically altered demographic patterns, influenced warfare outcomes, and catalyzed social and economic transformations. In alternate history scenarios, different trajectories of disease spread or medical advancement can fundamentally reshape population distributions, technological development, and the rise and fall of civilizations.
What If AIDS Was Contained Earlier?
Exploring the alternate timeline where HIV/AIDS was identified, understood, and effectively contained in the early 1980s, potentially saving millions of lives and reshaping global health priorities.
What If Antibiotics Were Never Discovered?
Exploring the alternate timeline where penicillin and other antibiotics were never discovered, radically altering modern medicine, public health, and global demographics throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
What If Penicillin Was Never Discovered?
Exploring the alternate timeline where Alexander Fleming never discovered penicillin in 1928, potentially delaying the antibiotic revolution and transforming modern medicine, warfare, and global health outcomes throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
What If Smallpox Was Never Eradicated?
Exploring the alternate timeline where humanity's first and only successful disease eradication campaign failed, allowing smallpox to remain a deadly global threat into the 21st century.
What If The AIDS Epidemic Was Contained Earlier?
Exploring the alternate timeline where HIV/AIDS was identified, understood, and addressed years before it became a global pandemic, potentially saving millions of lives and reshaping social attitudes toward public health and LGBTQ+ communities.