Diseases+Other+Than+the+Plague



​ By: Brenna Denison

There were many diseases other then the plague in the Elizabethan time. A few different types of disease were: typhus, tuberculosis, syphilis, scurvy, malaria, sweating sickness, and diphtheria. People died, not knowing why in the sixteenth century. They had multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, and meningitis. In the sixteenth century people thought a moon or planet as a hint of a disease struck them. People also had epidemic diseases and also got more common (Medical Beliefs and Practices). Typhus is infectious diseases characterized by sever headache, high fever, and spotted rash; caused by germs carried by fleas or lice. Typhus was also known as the “bloody flux” (Picard 93). Tuberculosis is a disease where you have fluid in your lungs. It’s also known as “TB.” TB had the same death proportions as the plague did (Picard94). Syphilis is an infectious, chronic venereal disease caused by a spirochete. Syphilis was also called “the foul,” or “French Pox.” People from England during the Elizabethan time exchanged European measles for American syphilis (Picard 94). Syphilis was still very common, yet gonorrhea became more common. Communal baths were stopped because of the spread of syphilis and gonorrhea (Medical Beliefs and Practices). Scurvy is a “fatal illness caused by lack of vitamin C.” Scurvy grass was known for healing and treatment for scurvy, because of the richness of vitamin C. If people couldn’t afford scurvy grass they were to take four spoonfuls of lemon juice, twice a day (Picard 94). Malaria is a disease characterized by recurring attacks of chills, high fever, and sweating. It’s caused by microscopic parasites introduced into the bloodstream. Malaria has many agues and fevers. There are three types of agues. The first is Tertian Fever which recurring every three days. The second is Quartian Fever which recurring every four days. The third is Quotidian Fever which recurring everyday. Malaria had an unseen knock-on effect, in lowering the body’s resistance to other ailments. Malaria has no cure (Picard 94). Childhood was very important to children, because most children didn’t make it to adulthood. Most children had epilepsy, palsy, quinsy, stomachache, diarrhea, worms, kidney and bladder stones, measles, smallpox, shingles, or indigestion (Picard 95). Children most times were left and abandoned, especially if they had syphilis (Medical Beliefs and Practices). Sweating Sickness was a disease that was deadlier than the plague, yet less common. People would get a high fever and then proved fatal within twenty-four hours (Andrews 96).

[|Youtube Malaria video.]

Works Cited Andrews, John F, ed. //Shakespeare’s World and Work//. Vol. 2. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2001. Print. //Monsters inside Me: Malaria Parasite//. Animal Planet TV. //Youtube.com//. N.p., 13 Aug. 2009. Web. 21 Apr. 2010. Picard, Liza. //Elizabeth’s London Everyday Life in Elizabethan London//. New York: St. Martin’s, 2003. Print. Ramsey, Lia. “Medical Beliefs and Practices.” //Elizabethan England//. N.p., 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. X-ray of lungs. N.d. //State of the Environment Department//. Web. 14 Apr. 2010.