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Fecal-Oral Diseases

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Historical Diseases from a Modern Perspective

Abstract

Fecal-oral diseases are acquired by ingesting water or food contaminated by the feces of an infected individual. Commonly, drinking water is tainted by primitive (or non-existent) sewage systems and food by using human waste for fertilizer. An infected individual can unknowingly spread fecal-oral diseases by handling food or eating/cooking utensils without appropriate handwashing following a bowel movement. Modern municipal sewer systems and sanitary water supplies have dramatically decreased the incidence of fecal-oral diseases in the United States, but they are still very common in underdeveloped countries, and Americans remain vulnerable when traveling abroad.

The fecal-oral diseases discussed in this chapter, along with their historical names and monikers, are: Cholera (Blue Death); Poliomyelitis (Polio, Infantile Paralysis); Typhoid Fever (Bilious Fever, Burning Fever, Enteric Fever); and Dysentery (Bloody Flux, Montezuma’s Revenge, “Trots”).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The reader might enjoy Ken Dalton’s autobiography Polio and Me (Different Drummer Press, 2016), recounting his personal experience with paralytic polio.

  2. 2.

    Of note: With complete philanthropic intent, Dr. Salk filed no patent claim to his vaccine. Six pharmaceutical companies were licensed to produce Salk’s vaccine, with no royalty agreement or profit accrued by Dr. Salk.

  3. 3.

    The author was a “Polio Pioneer,” receiving the experimental Salk vaccine in 1954 (age 7) and the oral Sabin vaccine on a sugar cube in 1960 (age 12).

  4. 4.

    The reader may find The Washington Post interactive web page, The history of polio and the vaccines that nearly eradicated it, by Ruby Mellen (Aug 20, 2022) of interest (www.washingtonpost.com).

  5. 5.

    The reader might be interested in the historical novel, Fever, by Mary Beth Keane (Scribner: New York, NY; 2014) based on the life of Mary Mallon and/or the excellent video depicting Mallon’s life at: https://www.news-medical.net/health/typhoid-fever-history.aspx.

  6. 6.

    The reader might enjoy The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (Seawolf Press, 1906), a very influential book depicting the unsanitary working conditions in the meat- packing industry.

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  1. Clinical Professor (Retired), SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA

    James A. Shaw

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Shaw, J.A. (2024). Fecal-Oral Diseases. In: Historical Diseases from a Modern Perspective. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-52346-5_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-52346-5_4

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