Infectious diseases were the greatest cause of Victorian mortality. Most of these, such as smallpox, tuberculosis and influenza, were old scourges, but in 1831 Britain suffered its first epidemic of cholera.
The yearly Death Rate In The 1800s Was 400,000 From Smallpox
During the 18th century, over 400,000 people died annually in Europe from smallpox. Overall fatality rates were around 30%; however, rates were much higher in infants (80-98%), and one-third of all survivors went blind.
It was a time when dangerous diseases stalked the land, including smallpox, cholera, typhus, dysentery, yellow fever, scarlet fever, syphilis, measles, malaria, diphtheria, consumption (tuberculosis), influenza, and many more.
The 13 diseases include: gout, tuberculosis, malnutrition, whooping cough, measles, scurvy, typhoid, scarlet fever, diphtheria, mumps, rickets, cholera, and vitamin D insufficiency.
Scarlet fever, tuberculosis, typhus and typhoid are now quite rare but were untreatable killers 150 years ago. Living in such terrible conditions meant that poor children were weak, malnourished and unable to fight off illness.
How healthy were Victorian children? Many Londoners died from illnesses such as cholera, measles and scarlet fever. Babies in over-crowded and damp housing were the most at risk from diarrhoea and tuberculosis. Even those in rich families died because of poor medical knowledge.
The oldest contagious disease known to affect humans is tuberculosis, a respiratory disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacterium is thought to have existed in something similar to its modern form for more than 70,000 years, and has been infecting humans since early prehistory.
Leprosy (or Hansen's disease) is considered as one of the oldest infectious diseases ever known in human history: it has been the scourge of humanity since antiquity.
The Black Death was one of the most feared diseases in the 14th century. It was a type of plague that was spread via the bite of infected rat fleas. The name Black Death came from the swollen buboes (glands) in the victim's neck, armpits, and inner thigh that turned black as they filled with blood.
dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. advanced lung, heart, kidney and liver disease. stroke and other neurological diseases, including motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis. Huntington's disease.
Smallpox was probably the single most lethal disease in eighteenth-century Britain, but was a minor cause of death by the mid-nineteenth century.
During surprise visits to premises and based on anecdotal evidence, Rugg discovered that the most common substances used to adulterate milk were 'water, flour, starch, chalk, and the brains of sheep' (p. 30), as well as 'treacle, salt, whiting, sugar of lead' – the latter being highly poisonous.
Boracic acid was believed to "purify" milk, removing the sour taste and smell from milk that had gone off.
Two infectious diseases have successfully been eradicated: smallpox in humans, and rinderpest in ruminants. There are four ongoing programs, targeting the human diseases poliomyelitis (polio), yaws, dracunculiasis (Guinea worm), and malaria.
Epidemics caused by viruses began when human behaviour changed during the Neolithic period, around 12,000 years ago, when humans developed more densely populated agricultural communities. This allowed viruses to spread rapidly and subsequently to become endemic.
RPI Deficiency
This is considered to be the rarest disease in the world. Ribose-5-Phosphate Isomerase (RPI), is a crucial enzyme in a metabolic process in the human body. This condition can cause muscle stiffness, seizures, and reduction of white matter in the brain.
Scarlet fever, tuberculosis, mumps, measles: You may think these are deadly diseases of the past, wiped out with vaccines and antibiotics. The truth is that these diseases are still infecting people worldwide, and some have made resurgences in the U.S. Stay healthy and safe with the precautions outlined here.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. This is the case in the U.S. and worldwide. More than half of all people who die due to heart disease are men. Medical professionals use the term heart disease to describe several conditions.
Pneumonia. Pneumonia is the leading infectious cause of death among children under 5, killing approximately 700,000 children a year.
Photo taken from the book My Jolly Friends Secret. Dysentery, diarrhea, and nausea were symptoms experienced by nearly every soldier in the Civil War. Poor sanitation, lack of medicine, and a terrible diet led many soldiers to experience minor dyspepsia (indigestion) at least.
A newborn boy was expected to live to 40.2 in 1841, compared to 79.0 in 2011, whereas a baby girl was expected to live to 42.2 in 1841 and 82.8 in 2011. The low life expectancies of the 19th century can be explained by the higher number of infant deaths.