Typhoid Fever During The Civil War

STD’s have been around for a long time, dating back to 1550 B.C. During this time the first recorded form of an STD was found. They were reported to be found in Europe. Gonorrhea and Syphilis are recorded to be the two most common diseases in Europe. Some men on Christopher Columbus’s voyage brought back syphilis with them. Syphilis causes progressive destruction of the brain and spinal cord, leading to mental dysfunction and hallucinations, speech problems and general paresis (G. Burg). The common knowledge of STD’s have been around but have not been able to be treated up until around the late 1700s.

The diseases that most affected the soldiers,while they were fighting for a cause in the trenches were,Trench Foot,The Trench Influenza and Shell Shock.

The diseases soldiers tended to face were small pox, measles, mumps, dysentery, and so on. The list is endless. Dysentery was by far the most lethal during the Civil War (Civil War Diseases 1). There was a 75% chance that if a soldier was injured, an amputation would occur (Civil War Medicine 1). This led to a tremendous death toll due to the bacteria into the wound. There were plentiful reasons as why a soldier contracted these diseases other than a gunshot wound. These reasons included, poor physical upon entering the army, the doctors lack of knowledge when it came to medical information, terrible hygiene, disease causing parasites, and lack of the basic necessities for survival. As you can see, this is a recipe for failure and death. For example, in order to

Dysentery was the number one killer during the Civil War, victims got severe diarrhea with passage of mucous and blood. Closed bowels were treated with the infamous

One of the main diseases that were caused in WW1 was Wiel’s disease. Wiel’s disease was caused because of rats. This disease occurred in the trenches as a lack of hygiene. “Rats would produce 480 babies per year” (WW1- class 6, 2012) Soldiers would get this disease as there would be swamps of rats that would keep coming into the trenches therefor giving the soldiers “Wiel’s Disease”. The effect of this disease on the soldiers was mild flu like symptoms headaches and chills. However, this disease could also lead to organ failure and bleeding.

The vulnerable people of Philadelphia were surrounded by endurable humidity and heat, during the terrible epidemic in the summer of 1793. Philadelphia had faced, many fever infected mosquitoes, and dry weather causing the historical event from the book Fever 1793. When reading this book, I learned many devastating and almost unreal historical facts about the yellow fever outbreak in 1793 which include the statistics, life during fever and symptoms, and lastly, cures for the fever. These serious and unpleasant facts are unbelievably real and they should be shared.

Another disease is Trench Fever is a disease caused by lice outbreaks. Symptoms of Trench Fever were high fever, severe headache, pain on the movement of eyeballs, and soreness of muscles. Soldiers would recover in 5 to 12 weeks. In addition, dysentery was a big thing the soldiers went through. Dysentery was due to unsanitary conditions and a lack of supply water in the unsanitary trenches.

One of the most common deaths was shellfire, some would be sniped down, others would be lounging out in the dugout and be killed, and some were just random, The most deaths that occurred in the war was sustained in the trenches, almost a third of the allies were killed in there, men were also killed by rats, there food being contaminated and that was just so many of them, thy tried to get rid of them with gunfire or clubbing them to death. Rats weren’t the only disease killing soldiers, it was the lice, they would breed in the soldier’s clothes and because of the heat they would hatch, they started the trench fever, soldiers would feel a sudden pain and then a high fever, the recovery would take 12 weeks out of the trenches. The other disease

In 1918, a deadly disease called the Spanish Flu struck Europe, along with the rest of the world. The influenza pandemic had devastating effects, negatively impacting both citizens and soldiers. It quickly spread over 5,000 miles, killing many. Because it was so unexpected, more than 20 million people who became infected with this disease suddenly died. The abruptness of this virus meant that no cure or treatment could be developed quick enough to combat it.

In this assignment I am as an Assistant Deputy Commissioners for the NYC Health Department analyzing the Mary Mallon incident should review a proposal to test all food handlers for Typhoid fever.

Throughout the 1800s, there were many different laws, acts, and regulation put in place by Parliament that concerned prostitution, health, sexual violence, and homosexuality. In 1864, Parliament passed the Contagious Diseases Acts. This act allowed for police officers to arrest any woman suspected of being a prostitute in certain places across London. These women were then mandated by law and subjected to checks for venereal disease. Often, these women would be sent to a Lock Hospital, a dedicated clinic for treating diseases like syphilis. The original Lock Hospital was also known as The Female Hospital and Lock

When syphilis became hazardous to the health of the population, “sexual practices” were put under control by the British authorities. Several Contagious Diseases Acts were introduced to regulate the spread of this disease (1863, 1866, 1869). Intercourse with prostitutes endangered not only the men’s health, but also their wives’ condition, so the Acts were drawn in defense of women, too. Prostitutes were put into lock hospitals for a certain period of time when they had been found suffering from syphilis. As Duncan Crow describes their situation very aptly, “everyone must be regarded as innocent until proved guilty [Habeas Corpus], where under the Acts [a] woman was guilty unless she could prove herself innocent” (244). So, guiltiness was attached

It is important because people may be disease carriers even though they are not sick themselves. Typhoid fever is an example of a disease that has chronic carriers; up to 5% of individuals infected with typhoid fever excrete the bacteria for up to a year. For example, in the historical case of Typhoid Mary, Mary Mallon infected 47 people with typhoid fever over the course of 15 years, even though she was never ill herself.Doctors use the immune response when we are vaccinated against diseases. Our immune system remembers the pathogens to which we have been exposed, and the next time we are exposed to the pathogens our immune system attacks them more quickly and efficiently. Doctors take advantage of this priming effect by exposing us to inactivated

Since the 1800s there have been innumerable influences, both medically and socially upon altering the outlooks surrounding sexually transmitted diseases. In kin to the spread and contraction of syphilis, prostitutes and women were mainly held accountable for their lack of sexual conduct and were subsequently forced to take medical examinations so not to taint the man. There was very little representation for women during the period of war, and men received an opposing societal approach to their sexual promiscuities. The stigmatisation surrounding women during this time is also prevalent in the HIV/AIDS epidemic in America, where homosexuals were blamed for the infiltration of this malady, again showing society blaming one category of people for the spread of disease. The collective disgrace surrounding sexual preference and morality is still evident in today’s culture; however it is much less predominant. Homoeopathically, the invention of Lock Hospitals further branded women to be immoral, however the medical advancements of treating STD’s with reference to Alexander Fleming’s discovery of Penicillin in 1928 and Wasserman’s test for syphilis in 1906 has aided societal views to not ostracise one specific gender or sexual preference group, and instead comprehend that disease can be spread in a multitude of ways and thankfully can now be treated more effectively.

Due to the criminalization of prostitution, prostitutes generally have a higher risk of transferring sexually transmitted diseases. A sexually transmitted disease, or STD, are diseases or infections that can only travel through a sexual act. Prostitutes make money from having sex with other people and in order to become prosperous, they must have sex with several different people. Many clients also refuse to use condoms. The prostitute will usually be offered more money if they participate in the sexual act without the use of a condom. Condoms are proven to be highly successful in preventing someone from contracting or spreading an STD according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. If infected, many prostitutes are unaware of their condition because they can't afford to visit a healthcare professional or carry health insurance. The combination of a prostitutes tendency to exchange sexual intercourse with multiple people and the client's refusal to use condoms opens the prostitute to a greater possibility of transmitting an STD. Since a medical check up isn’t financially an option or required for the prostitutes, the prostitute may potentially be spreading an STD to their client unknowingly.