A Haunting Memory Of Yellow Fever - 1370 Words

Renee Wilda Ms. Vyse English II 15 April 2016 A Haunting Memory of Yellow Fever The fever of 1793 had spread over Philadelphia like a dark depressing blanket. Laurie Halse Anderson takes the audience on an emotional roller coaster as they explore Mattie Cook?s summer of 1793. The summer of 1793 hit Mattie Cook, her family, and her family owned coffee shop very hard. As she spends her days avoiding chores, she finds herself making plans to turn the coffee shop into one of Philadelphia?s finest. Then, all of a sudden her summer takes a sharp turn towards Hell, and the fever breaks out. Her and her grandpa know they must flee for a chance of survival. It does not take long before they figure out the fever is everywhere and is destroying†¦show more content†¦Yellow fever was carried by mosquitos that had bitten people containing yellow fever. The symptoms of yellow fever consisted of Mild cases cause fever, headache, nausea, and vomiting. Serious cases may cause fatal heart, liver, and kidney conditions (Mayo clinic). In the book Fever 1793 Mattie s mother falls ill with the fever, as Mattie explains, mother flew off the pillows violently ill, vomiting blood all over the bed and floor. Her eyes rolled back in her head. (Anderson) Mattie s mother has just woken up ill in the middle of the night. Mattie knows that she is not safe sticking around so her and her grandfather flee in search for a safer place. The description in the book of yellow fever helps influence research and further studies to find a cure because not only does the reader and the audience get a detailed description of the fever, they also see the emotional side. Mattie is scared and she tries her best to take care of the mother all she can without becoming infected herself. Because of the emotional effects it has on the readers, researchers take to account how damaging the virus really is not only to the infected but to the bystanders. Between the years of 1793 and 2016, researchers have come up with ways to lessen the intensity of the symptoms by prescribing, things such as aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and taking the patients into places like hospitals where the patients can and will be kept in a