Fungal Disease in Britain and the United States 1850-2000: Mycoses and Modernity

ISBN-13: 9781137377012 / Angielski / Twarda / 2013 / 225 str.

Aya Homei; Michael Worboys

Opis

This book is open access under a CC BY license. The grand narrative of twentieth-century medicine is the conquering of acute infectious diseases and the rise in chronic, degenerative diseases. The history of fungal infections does not fit this picture; indeed, it runs against it - this book charts the path of fungal infections from the mid nineteenth century to the dawn of the twenty-first century, both in Britain and the United States. It examines how fungal infections became more prevalent and serious over the century, a rise that was linked to the increased incidence of chronic diseases and to social, technological and medical 'progress'. In 1900, conditions such as ringworm, athlete's foot and thrush were minor, external and mostly chronic conditions - irritating, but mostly self-limiting. In the subsequent decades, these infections remained very common, but were better controlled by antifungal drugs. However, by the year 2000 doctors were faced by a growing number of serious and life-threatening fungal infections, such as invasive aspergillosis and systemic candidiasis. These infections principally affect patients who have benefited from medical advances, such as antibiotic treatment and transplantation, and those with immuno-compromised conditions.

Recenzje

"Fungal Disease is a significant introduction to the history of medical mycology with a variety of case studies in two nations. The authors provide strong arguments for the necessity of including fungal diseases within the wider historiography of medicine." (Rosemary Wall, Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Vol. 90 (4), 2016)

"Homei and Worboys have used the history of fungal disease to cleverly extend this dynamic to the social level, examining the conditions that have promoted the apparent emergence of fungal diseases ... . With respect to specialisation, the authors nicely problematise expected natural histories of inevitable differentiation and specialisation. ... we should be grateful to the manner in which the authors have turned our attention to these microbes and diseases all around us." (Scott H. Podolsky, Medical History, Vol. 59 (3), 2015)

Spis treści

This book is open access under a CC BY license.   Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Ringworm: A Disease of Schools and Schooling 2. Athlete's Foot: A Disease of Fitness and Hygiene 3. Candida: A Disease of Antibiotics 4. Endemic Mycoses, Mycotoxins and Allergies: Diseases of Social Change 5. Aspergillosis: A Disease of Medical Progress Conclusion   

O autorze

Aya Homei is a Wellcome Trust Fellow at the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, University of Manchester, UK. She is currently working on a new book, Family Planning, Health Promotion and Global Medicine, 1945-1995: The Activities of Japanese Health Campaigners around the World (forthcoming).

Michael Worboys is Director of the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, UK. He works on the history of infectious diseases and has recently published, with Neil Pemberton, Rabies in Britain: Dogs, Disease and Culture, 1830-2000 (Palgrave 2012).