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This is a study of the issues related to Lord Byron's death, the primary component of which is malaria. Byron's medical profile includes recurrent bouts of fever, consistent with chronic malarial relapses. In addition, data derived from the British medical records of the Ionian Islands regarding the endemic nature of the disease in western Greece during the 19th century, raise the possibility of a fatal re-infection with malaria during Byron's last months. The example of Byron's chronic fever triggers the alarm over a current medical problem, namely the diagnosis of malaria imported by travellers or migrants, and the need for a detailed medical and travel history, which may place the possibility of malaria in the differential diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the British colonial health policy concerning the case of vaccination against smallpox in the Ionian Islands (1815-1864). The study was based on the registers of the Executive Police Archives during the mass vaccination which was conducted in Corfu in 1852. The archival material provides information about the number of people vaccinated and their sex, age and nationality, the year of the last vaccination and the last year that people "had smallpox". One of the most important items of information is if the vaccinated people had "had smallpox" during the most recent epidemic of smallpox. The findings of the analysis of the registers were combined with the concurrent data of the anti-British press about the extensive epidemic in Corfu in 1852. The unedited archival material and the final findings provide a new dimension to the medical and historical data generally known until now, showing the unprecedented negligence and inefficiency of the health model in that era, which was applied as a part of the British colonial policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tuberculosis in Greece during the interwar period was examined from a demographic and health perspective, based on the flow of patients in the Sanatorium of Parnitha (George Stavros and George Fuge Hospital), which served as a tuberculostatic infirmary of the Regional General Hospital "Evangelismos". Study was made of the annual publication entitled "Exposition of the Proceedings of the «Evangelismos» Infirmary, the G. Stavros and G. Fuge Hospital, and the Staff Pension Fund" for the period 1927-1939. Based on the activities of the sanatorium, the data collected covered the transfer of patients, the forms of tuberculosis, the diagnostic and therapeutic means of the time, the outcome of the patients and the duration of their hospitalization. From the records it was possible to correlate the days of hospitalization with the clinical form of tuberculosis and the type of treatment administered. The recorded data such as age, sex, marital status and occupation were examined, in an attempt to outline the demographic profile of the sanatorium patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sophocles, one of the most noted playwrights of the ancient world, wrote the tragedy Oedipus Rex in the first half of the decade 430-420 bc. A lethal plague is described in this drama. We adopted a critical approach to Oedipus Rex in analyzing the literary description of the disease, unraveling its clinical features, and defining a possible underlying cause. Our goals were to clarify whether the plague described in Oedipus Rex reflects an actual historical event; to compare it with the plague of Athens, which was described by Thucydides as occurring around the same time Sophocles wrote; and to propose a likely causative pathogen. A critical reading of Oedipus Rex and a comparison with Thucydides' history, as well as a systematic review of historical data, strongly suggests that this epidemic was an actual event, possibly caused by Brucella abortus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Andrologie (11662654) is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Andrologie (11662654) is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The current study presents some aspects of syphilis in the Balkan Peninsula from the 19th century until the Interwar. Ever since the birth of modern Balkan States (Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey and Serbia), urbanization, poverty and the frequent wars have been considered the major factors conducive to the spread of syphilis. The measures against sex work and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) were taken in two aspects, one medical and the other legislative. In this period, numerous hospitals for venereal diseases were established in the Balkan countries. In line with the international diagnostic approach and therapeutic standards, laboratory examinations in these Balkan hospitals included spirochete examination, Wassermann reaction, precipitation reaction and cerebrospinal fluid examination. Despite the strict legislation and the adoption of relevant laws against illegal sex work, public health services were unable to curb the spread of syphilis. Medical and social factors such as poverty, citizen’s ignorance of STDs, misguided medical perceptions, lack of sanitary control of prostitution and epidemiological studies, are highlighted in this study. These factors were the major causes that helped syphilis spread in the Balkan countries during the 19th and early 20th century. The value of these aspects as a historic paradigm is diachronic. Failure to comply with the laws and the dysfunction of public services during periods of war or socioeconomic crises are both factors facilitating the spread of STDs.

Princess Alexandra of Greece (1870-1891), the eldest daughter of King George I of Greece (1845-1913), was known as the "beloved daughter of the Athenians". Her death at the age of 21 in 1891 due to a pregnancy complication caused nationwide grief. To honour her, the Alexandra Maternity Hospital in Athens was named in her memory. Affiliated with the University of Athens, Alexandra Maternity Hospital researches pregnancy and newborn care, including complications and maternal mortality. Today, the hospital contains various clinical and laboratory departments providing patients with exceptional health care., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2022, Michaleas et al.)

The study presents an anti-vaccination action in the 19th century involving both scientific and political motivation. The research is based on an unpublished archive, namely the registries of the British Executive Police during the massive vaccination campaign in Corfu, the capital of the British possession in the Ionian Islands-Greece (1815-1864), after the smallpox outbreak of 1852. The archival material provides information about the number of vaccinated people, namely their sex, age, nationality, the year of the previous vaccination, along with the last year when a citizen "had smallpox". The records indicated 40,858 citizens and of these, a total 21,845 (53.46%) were vaccinated. Despite the impressive organization, the vaccination project caused a great controversy at both the scientific and political level between the British authorities and the Greek Ionian Assembly. The archival material gives a diachronic message in the fields of public health, infectious disease control, and health crisis management. The lack of control by a State or local authority, combined with political instability and the public's ignorance or distrust of scientific matters, are the main factors behind the failure to prevent, restrict or eradicate infectious diseases even nowadays.

During the Byzantine Times, medicine and surgery developed as Greek physicians continued to practice in Constantinople. Healing methods were common for both adults and children, and pediatrics as a medical specialty did not exist. Already Byzantine hospitals became institutions to dispense medical services, rather than shelters for the homeless, which included doctors and nurses for those who suffered from the disease. A major improvement in the status of hospitals as medical centers took place in this period, and physicians were called archiatroi. Several sources prove that archiatroi were still functioning in the late sixth century and long afterward, but now as xenon doctors. Patients were averse to surgery due to the incidence of complications. The hagiographical literature repeated allusions to doctors. Concerns about children with a surgical disease often led parents to seek miraculous healings achieved by Christian Protectors - Saints. This paper is focused on three eminent Byzantine physicians and surgeons, Oribasius, Aetius of Amida, Paul of Aegina, who dealt with pediatric operations and influenced the European Medicine for centuries to come. We studied historical and theological sources in order to present a comprehensive picture of the curative techniques used for pediatric surgical diseases during the Byzantine Times.

For centuries, the marine quarantine system was the major protection of the public health against serious infectious diseases around the world. The present study reconstructs the history of the Quarantine Station of Piraeus, one of the largest Mediterranean ports, known as the "Lazaretto of Saint George", as a vital element in the maritime sanitary protection of Greece. Our research will investigate the impact left by this institution on public health, as well as on the economic life of the port of Piraeus and the adjacent capital city of Athens. With regard to the first issue, we will seek to evaluate its role in relation to major outbreaks in the capital, as well as the arrival of 1.3 million Greek refugees after the Greco-Turkish War of 1922. The opening of Suez Canal (1865) was a great challenge and the institution was problematic at administrative and sanitary levels. During 20th century, the station complied with the national public health legislation and the international sanitary conventions. Until the Second World War, the Lazaretto of Saint George played a key role in both the protection of public health in general, but also in the economic and industrial progress of Piraeus and Athens.

The study is a presentation of the sole written testimony of the great plague epidemic that struck the island of Rhodes in 1498, at the time when the Order of the Knights of St. John was settled there. The Greek poem "The Thanatikon (i.e., plague) of Rhodes", which was written by Emmanuel Georgillas Limenitis in the late 15th century and recounts the terrible events of the epidemic, was used as a source of information. Among the 644 verses of the poem, elements like the place, time, duration and how the epidemic spread can be identified. Within the historical context of the era, evaluation and analysis of the data reveal the correlation between human activities and the physical history of the disease in the Mediterranean during the 15th century. The Plague of Rhodes confirms the value of non-medical sources in the medico-historical and historico-epidemiological study of the evolution of the disease caused by Yersinia pestis while highlighting an enduring intrinsic weakness of surveillance systems. Despite modern means of epidemiological surveillance, the risk of relaxation of a health system after a long period of absence of an infectious disease constitutes a major factor for future resurgence of the specific disease.

The aim of the study is to explore the medieval concepts on the voluntary death of severely sick people, as they emerge through the endura (endurance) of the heresy of the Cathars in France (twelfth to fourteenth centuries). The endura was the prerequisite act of repentance that would allow the fallen soul to return to heaven. The endura was a necessary act of repentance, after the performance of a ceremonial purification of the soul (consolamentum), and consisted of the patients' voluntary abstention from vital food. The consolamentum and endura could be performed in the final stage of a disease with the consent of the patients or their relatives. The role of the Cathar physician was only to determine the severity of the disease and the forthcoming death of the patient. The physician was not allowed to take steps that would deprive the life of the patient, and the performance of the ritual endura was duty of the spiritual leaders of the community. The modern ethical approach to this subject is dictated by the medieval belief on the salvation of the soul and tries to answer the question of whether the endura could be seen as a medieval concept of a ritual euthanasia or fell within the theological sin of suicide.

Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases involving carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism. It is characterized by persistent hyperglycemia which results from defects in insulin secretion, or action or both. Diabetes mellitus has been known since antiquity. Descriptions have been found in the Egyptian papyri, in ancient Indian and Chinese medical literature, as well as, in the work of ancient Greek and Arab physicians. In the 2(nd) century AD Aretaeus of Cappadocia provided the first accurate description of diabetes, coining the term diabetes, while in 17(th) century Thomas Willis added the term mellitus to the disease, in an attempt to describe the extremely sweet taste of the urine. The important work of the 19(th) century French physiologist Claude Bernard, on the glycogenic action of the liver, paved the way for further progress in the study of the disease. In 1889, Oskar Minkowski and Joseph von Mering performed their famous experiment of removing the pancreas from a dog and producing severe and fatal diabetes. In 1921, Frederick Banting and Charles Best extended Minkowski's and Mering's experiment. They isolated insulin from pancreatic islets and administrated to patients suffering from type 1 diabetes, saving thus the lives of millions and inaugurating a new era in diabetes treatment.

In the 18(th) century clinical cardiology was based on pulse examination and auscultation by placing the ear directly on the patient's chest, while diagnosis of heart diseases was done in postmortem examination. In 1749, Jean-Baptiste de Sénac, physician of King Louis XV, published his work on the heart Traité de la structure du coeur, de son action et de ses maladies. It was the result of years of anatomical and physiological study, in an attempt to illuminate heart and its functions. Sénac recognized among several heart disorders, aortic regurgitation, mitral calcification, and mitral regurgitation. His work remained a landmark in valvular pathology and cardiology until the early 19(th) century.

A little-known effort to conduct biological warfare occurred during the 17th century. The incident transpired during the Venetian–Ottoman War, when the city of Candia (now Heraklion, Greece) was under siege by the Ottomans (1648–1669). The data we describe, obtained from the Archives of the Venetian State, are related to an operation organized by the Venetian Intelligence Services, which aimed at lifting the siege by infecting the Ottoman soldiers with plague by attacking them with a liquid made from the spleens and buboes of plague victims. Although the plan was perfectly organized, and the deadly mixture was ready to use, the attack was ultimately never carried out. The conception and the detailed cynical planning of the attack on Candia illustrate a dangerous way of thinking about the use of biological weapons and the absence of reservations when potential users, within their religious framework, cast their enemies as undeserving of humanitarian consideration.

The iconography of the doctor saints Cosmas and Damian and the artistic representations of their miracles are important sources for the history of medicine. Within the sphere of physician-saints, Cosmas and Damian have the greatest number of iconographic depictions in Byzantine and Post-Byzantine art. In most of their representations, they wear long robes as a sort of professional mantles and carry surgical instruments and boxes indicating their status as doctors. The progress of Byzantine surgery could be attested by these objects, some of them mentioned in collections of miracle stories and documented in medical sources.

The study examines the pathological circumstances related to Byron's death, the primary issue being malaria. Lord Byron died during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire, in Messolonghi on 19 April 1824. Byron's medical profile consists of recurrent onsets of fever, which gave rise to the issue of malaria relapses. According to Byron's letters he reported crises of fever in Greece (1810), Malta (1811), Italy (1817-1819) and England. Evidence from Byron's autopsy, specifically the absence of hepatosplenomegaly, does not support a hypothetical diagnosis of malaria. Nonetheless, the relapsing fevers cannot be ignored and the same applies to the possibility of malaria relapse or re-infection in line with the endemic nature of the Messolonghi area. Our research on the chronologies of Byron's reported fevers found that new attacks occurred at intervals of 540 days on average. Moreover, the most outstanding feature of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium ovale is their ability to form dormant forms of hypnozoites in the liver which, when reactivated (110-777 days), cause true relapses of clinical disease. Of course, an ex post facto diagnosis is under debate, because the diagnosis is not clinical but microscopic. Byron's example raises alarm over a current medical problem, i.e. the diagnosis of unexplained fevers, and the need for a detailed travel or immigration history, which will include malaria in the differential diagnosis.