Typhoid Fever: A History

by Richard Adler, Elise Mara

Overview

In the 21st century, typhoid fever afflicts more than 21 million people each year, primarily in underdeveloped countries. In the age before sanitation and antibiotics, the infection was even more devastating, crippling entire armies and claiming the lives of both rich and poor.

The story of typhoid is in many ways the story of modern medicine itself, with early efforts at treatment and prevention paving the way for our understanding of infectious disease in general. Many sought to understand and control the disease, including Robert Koch and Walter Reed. There were unsung heroes as well: Pierre Louis and William Gerhard, among the first to identify the disease's unique nature; William Budd, whose studies demonstrated its transmission through feces; and Georges Widal, whose test for the disease continues to be used in some areas. This book chronicles the fight against typhoid in the words of these and other medical pioneers, showing how far we have come and how far we have yet to go.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786497812
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	03/02/2016
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Richard Adler is a professor of microbiology at the University of Michigan–Dearborn. He has written five other books and numerous professional articles as well as works for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Elise Mara is currently a graduate student studying epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She lives in Livonia, Michigan.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
1. Earliest Historical Descriptions
2. The Plague of Athens
3. The Strange Death of Alexander the Great
4. The Etiological Agent and Pathology
5. Scientific Progress in the 18th and 19th Centuries
6. Of Princes and Presidents
7. Identifying the Etiological Agent
8. Widal Versus Grünbaum: A Question of Priority
9. Typhoid Carriers: The Story of “Typhoid Mary”
10. Vaccination as a Preventive Measure: The Work of Sir Almroth Wright and Beyond
11. Typhoid in the American Army
12. Typhoid Fever in the 21st Century
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

recommended”—Choice.

From the Publisher