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In Malaria: Poverty, Race, and Public Health in the United States, Margaret Humphreys presents the first book-length account of the parasitic, insect-borne disease that has infected millions and influenced settlement patterns, economic development, and the quality of life at every level of American society, especially in the south.
Humphreys approaches malaria from three perspectives: the parasite's biological history, the medical response to it, and the patient's experience of the disease. It addresses numerous questions including how the parasite thrives and eventually becomes vulnerable, how professionals came to know about the parasite and learned how to fight them, and how people view the disease and came to the point where they could understand and support the struggle against it.
In addition Malaria: Poverty, Race, and Public Health in the United States argues that malaria control was central to the evolution of local and federal intervention in public health, and demonstrates the complex interaction between poverty, race, and geography in determining the fate of malaria.
The Johns Hopkins University Press
— Kenneth F. Kiple
— W.F. Bynum
— Allan Saul
— Ronald C.HamdyMDFRCPFACP
— Elizabeth Fee
Gracefully written, perceptive, and well-documented, it will make historians of medicine, public health, and the social history of the American South grateful for her efforts.
— Leo B. Slater
This is a fresh (and plausible) explanation for the disappearance of another southern germ of laziness, and it is presented in a study that does a fine job of packaging its findings within a richly documented historical context.
Margaret Humphrey's monograph on malaria in America has a strong storyline and a well-articulated thesis. It combines modern knowledge of malaria transmission and the genetic basis of resistance with a sound appreciation of the social, geographical and cultural nuances of the disease in American history.
A fascinating story of the spread of malaria through the USA following its introduction in the 17th century, through its greatest geographical coverage in the 19th century.
[ Malaria] is a masterpiece and is recommended reading for anyone involved in or interested in health care.
A complex and fascinating story of the social history of malaria.
Accessible to a wide audience. A great breadth and depth of research underpins each chapter.
| Acknowledgments | ||
| Introduction | 1 | |
| 1 | The Pestilence That Stalks in Darkness | 8 |
| 2 | The Mist Rises: Malaria in the Nineteenth Century | 30 |
| 3 | Race, Poverty, and Place | 49 |
| 4 | Making Malaria Control Profitable | 69 |
| 5 | "A Ditch in Time Saves Quinine?" | 94 |
| 6 | Popular Perceptions of Health, Disease, and Malaria | 113 |
| 7 | Denouement | 140 |
| Notes | 155 | |
| Note on Sources | 187 | |
| Index | 191 |
Overview
In Malaria: Poverty, Race, and Public Health in the United States, Margaret Humphreys presents the first book-length account of the parasitic, insect-borne disease that has infected millions and influenced settlement patterns, economic development, and the quality of life at every level of American society, especially in the south.
Humphreys approaches malaria from three perspectives: the parasite's biological history, the medical response to it, and the patient's experience of ...