Get well soon : history's worst plagues and the heroes who fought them / Jennifer Wright.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wright, Jennifer, 1986- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Epidemics--History.

Epidemics.

History.

Communicable diseases--History.

Communicable diseases.

Epidemiology--Social aspects.

Epidemiology.

Epidemics--history.

Pandemics--history.

Disease Transmission, Infectious--history.

Medical Subjects:

Pandemics--history.

Disease Transmission, Infectious--history.

Local Subjects:

Epidemics--history.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xii, 320 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Henry Holt and Company, 2017.

Summary:

"A humorous book about history's worst plagues from the Antonine Plague, to leprosy, to polio and the heroes who fought them In 1518, in a small town in France, Frau Troffea began dancing and didn't stop. She danced herself to her death six days later, and soon thirty-four more villagers joined her. Then more. In a month more than 400 people had died from the mysterious dancing plague. In late-nineteenth-century England an eccentric gentleman founded the No Nose Club in his gracious townhome a social club for those who had lost their noses, and other body parts, to the plague of syphilis for which there was then no cure. And in turn-of-the-century New York, an Irish cook caused two lethal outbreaks of typhoid fever, a case that transformed her into the notorious Typhoid Mary and led to historic medical breakthroughs. Throughout time, humans have been terrified and fascinated by the plagues they've suffered from. Get Well Soon delivers the gruesome, morbid details of some of the worst plagues in human history, as well as stories of the heroic figures who fought to ease their suffering. With her signature mix of in-depth research and upbeat storytelling, and not a little dark humor, Jennifer Wright explores history's most gripping and deadly outbreaks."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Elect sane, calm leaders : Antonine plague

Frogs don't save lives, reading history books does : bubonic plague

Try being nice instead of burning people as witches : dancing plague

Spread the word that vaccines are the best : smallpox

STD shaming leads to STD spreading : syphilis

Never glamorize ill health : tuberculosis

If you want to demonstrate conventional wisdom is wrong, be ready to prove your theory thoroughly : cholera

Know that one good person can make a difference, and that you can be that person : leprosy

If you are diseased, don't deliberately infect other people : typhoid

Censorship kills : Spanish flu

Keep track of medical advances, because they are happening faster than ever : encephalitis lethargica

Don't listen to fast-talking charlatans with few medical credentials : lobotomies

Understand that when communities, leaders, and scientists work together, we can save the world : polio

Learn from the past : epilogue.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-318).

ISBN:

9781627797467

1627797467

OCLC:

959372466