PHSC 401 Lecture 5: Great Pox

• School: University of Maryland
• Department: Public Health Science
• Course: PHSC 401
• Professor: Boyle

Document Summary

Greece: birth of naturalistic explanations: humoralism: balance, imbalance causes disease/illness. Medieval: church: mix of natural/supernatural, black death: challenge to humoral model, social order. Name two public health innovations associated with the black death/plague: quarantine, pest houses, health magistrates. What is a lazaretto: a quarantine building/hospital. What is the renaissance, when did it happen: humanistic revival in the arts, literature, learning, etc. in the 14th century to 17th century. Humoral model: most diseases arise internally, from imbalance, external factors are secondary: Spiritual, astrological, seasonal, meteorological, and other conditions in immediate environment. Combine with internal factors in non-specific ways, often at distance by. Responses to new diseases: (cid:862)i(cid:374)flue(cid:374)(cid:272)e(cid:863) rather tha(cid:374) (cid:272)o(cid:374)ta(cid:272)t: truly no new diseases: ancients knew about them. Ancient texts w/ descriptions that fit novel conditions: ne(cid:449) diseases: a(cid:374)(cid:272)ie(cid:374)ts did(cid:374)"t k(cid:374)o(cid:449) a(cid:271)out the(cid:373), (cid:271)ut pro(cid:448)ided (cid:373)ethods to u(cid:374)dersta(cid:374)d them. Ancient texts to identify these methods: empiricism, case studies.