Frederick William Lanchester and Pertussis
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Frederick William Lanchester, born on in1868, was an English engineer that has contributions to various fields. First of all, he was pioneer of British motor car builder. In 1896, he and his brother built the first petrol car in England. Later of his life, he turned his interest to the theory and practice of crewed flight. In 1908, before the outbreak of World War I, he published Aerial Flight talking about aircraft offered significant strategic advantages in military. His theories and ideas were proven correct after the result of the World War I.
He also developed a dynamical model of armed conflict, which considered factors such as numerical strength, firepower, strategy, and attitude. The battle of Iwo Jima in World War II demonstrates Lanchesters equations perfectly, but some people criticize his logic and theories since there are analysis of 601 battles from 1600 that did not support his equations.
Pertussis, which is also known as whooping cough, is a bacterial disease that is caused by Bordetella Pertussis and is highly contagious. The main method that Pertussis spreads and transmits is via airborne droplet. The value for the reproductive factor of the infection (Ro) is between 12 and 17. There are three stages of Pertussis. Symptoms for Pertussis are not obvious at the Catarrhal stage, and then turn into severe coughing fits, which produce the namesake high-pitched “whoop” sound in infected patients and children when they inhale air after coughing. The coughing stage lasts for approximately six weeks before Convalescent stage.
The best way to prevent the disease is vaccination. The current vaccine that is being used is acellular vaccine, known as DTaP, since it can reduced the incidence of adverse effects compared to the earlier “whole-cell” pertussis vaccine.