by Sean Martin
Scrofula: Also known as the King’s Evil, scrofula is a form of tuberculosis that attacks the lymph nodes, where it causes swellings in the neck. In mediaeval and early modern France and England, the disease was thought to be curable by being touched by the monarch.
Scurvy: Caused by a deficiency of vitamin C, scurvy was one of the hazards of life on board ship. Symptoms include lethargy, spots on the skin (especially the legs), a softness of the gums that can lead to loss of teeth, jaundice and death. Early attempts at prevention included growing fruit and vegetables on board ship, a technique developed by the Dutch. The Royal Navy experimented with cider before settling on lime juice, earning Britons the nickname ‘limeys’ in the process.
Septicaemia: Blood poisoning usually caused by bacteria entering the bloodstream.
Sheep liver fluke: A zoonotic parasitic disease that affects the livers of sheep and cattle, but can also affect humans. Symptoms include vomiting, weight loss and liver problems.
Shigellosis: Caused by a bacteria closely related to salmonella, symptoms can range from abdominal discomfort to serious dysentery and seizures. Commonly transmitted by the faecal-oral route (contaminated water or unsanitary preparation of food).
Sickle cell anaemia: The most common form of sickle cell disease, it produces sickle-shaped red blood cells that can cause severe pain and strokes. Mainly found in sub-Saharan Africa, sickle cell disease can confer a certain degree of resistance to malaria.
SIV: Simian immunodeficiency virus is the monkey equivalent of HIV. It is thought that HIV made the species jump to humans from sooty mangabeys and chimpanzees sometime in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.
Smallpox: A viral disease caused by two viruses, Variola major and Variola minor. Symptoms include the body being covered by rashes of pustules that can leave permanent scarring. V. major, the more serious form, can be fatal. The history of smallpox remains debated. The Egyptian pharaoh Ramses V (d. 1145 BC) may have suffered from smallpox, and it has been suggested as being the cause of the Antonine Plague (AD 165–190). Gregory of Tours was the first writer to use the term ‘variola’ in 580. Possibly due to a mutation, the disease became much more virulent during the Renaissance and early modern period, when it became known as ‘smallpox’ to differentiate it from the ‘great pox’ – syphilis. The World Health Organization launched a campaign to eradicate smallpox in 1967, and the disease was officially declared extinct in 1980. Samples, however, remain in high security storage facilities.
Spanish Flu: A pandemic of unusually virulent influenza, Spanish Flu broke out in the spring of 1918. Due to war broadcasting restrictions, the first reports came from Spain (a neutral country), and it became known as the Spanish Flu. It is now thought to have killed at least 50 million people in the space of 12 months, more than died in the First World War. It is the deadliest pandemic in history.
Sydenham’s chorea: A neurological disease caused by bacteria that can produce spasmodic movements, loss of motor control and impaired cognitive function. It has been suspected as being the disease behind St Vitus Dance.
Syphilis: The most infamous sexually transmitted disease prior to AIDS, syphilis is thought to have been brought back to Europe by Christopher Columbus’s expeditions to the Americas. Due to the horrific disfigurement it causes, syphilis spread fear and revulsion across Europe. It became less virulent over time. Effective treatments against it were not developed until the early twentieth century.
Taterapox: Posited as one of the diseases smallpox could have evolved from, it affects mainly rodents.
Tetanus: A bacterial disease that, due to the severe spasms it can cause, has long been known as lockjaw. It is transmitted to humans via wounds, and can be fatal in up to 50 per cent of untreated cases.
Toxic shock syndrome: A bacterial disease first reported in 1978. Symptoms can include high fever, accompanied by low blood pressure, malaise and confusion, which can worsen to stupor, coma, and multiple organ failure. Also produces a sunburn-like rash. It can be fatal if untreated.
Trench fever and trench foot: Diseases that affected soldiers in the First World War. Trench fever is a relapsing fever caused by the human body louse (see typhus), while trench foot was a gangrenous condition of the feet caused by prolonged exposure to the cold, dirty water of the trenches. Although most associated with the First World War, it was first noted on Napoleon’s 1812 campaign in Russia.
Tuberculosis: A bacterial disease that can affect almost any organ of the body, tuberculosis most frequently settles in the lungs (pulmonary TB). The remains dating from around 7000 BC of a mother and child found in the submerged village of Atlit Yam off the coast of Israel both showed signs of tuberculosis, making it one of the oldest definitely identifiable diseases.
Tularemia: A bacterial disease that can affect aquatic rodents, but is especially virulent in rabbits and humans. Clinical signs in humans include fever, lethargy, skin lesions, loss of appetite, signs of sepsis, and possibly death. The face and eyes redden, becoming inflamed. If inflammation spreads to the lymph nodes, they can enlarge and suppurate (resembling bubonic plague).
Typhoid: The name, meaning ‘like typhus’, was coined in the 1830s when it became clear it was a separate disease. One of the great nineteenth century diseases of urban filth, typhoid is caused by the bacterium salmonella typhi, and thrives in areas with poor sanitation, transmitted via faecal-oral contamination. Symptoms include abdominal pain, intense headache, high fever and a distinctive ‘rose rash’ on the chest and abdomen. Untreated it can be fatal in 10 to 20 per cent of cases.
Typhus: Transmitted by the human body louse, typhus routinely follows armies and famines. (It defeated Napoleon’s huge army in 1812 when he attempted to take Moscow.) It was also prevalent in prisons, where it was known as jail fever, and caused the Black Assizes – courtroom epidemics – of the early modern period. Symptoms include fever, headache, delirium, high temperature and, after a few days, a rash. The name derives from the Greek word for ‘smoky’ or ‘hazy’, a reference to the delirious state many typhus patients suffer.
St Vitus Dance: Notable outbreaks of dancing mania occurred in 1374 at Aachen and in 1518 at Strasbourg. These have been attributed to convulsive ergotism (St Anthony’s Fire), Huntington’s chorea, Sydenham’s chorea or the effects of stress. Tarantism, thought to be caused by the bite of a tarantula, was long thought to be the same phenomenon.
West Nile virus: Tropical mosquito borne disease discovered in 1937 that was not thought to be a serious threat until it reached Romania in 1996, and New York City in 1999. In severe cases can lead to neurological damage.
Whooping cough (pertussis): A highly contagious respiratory tract infection. With initial cold-like symptoms, whooping cough can become more serious, especially in infants. The distinctive cough can be so hard that it can cause fainting, vomiting, broken ribs, hernias and incontinence.
Yaws: An ancient skin disease related to syphilis, although is not sexually transmitted. Bone evidence suggests humans were susceptible to yaws 1.5 million years ago.
Yellow fever: First recorded in Barbados in 1647, yellow fever causes severe jaundice and death. Its other colourful characteristic, black vomit, earned it the nickname el vomito negro.
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