Vaccines take their name from vaccinia, the virus that caused cowpox. It was the original ingredient used to vaccinate people against smallpox. Stefan Riedel, a pathologist at the Baylor University Medical Center, offers a detailed history of the...
Here’s a handy word: fomite. It means “an inanimate object that can transmit an infectious agent” like a doorknob handle or a comb infested with head lice. It also has a picturesque Latin origin. Martha explains, and shares a...
shuttle-kissing n.—Gloss: Marked “100 Years Ago” in a section head. «Lancashire medical officers are calling attention to the dangers of weavers in the cotton mills contracting infectious diseases from the practice known as...
old man’s friend n.— «Pneumonia was even called the old man’s friend. Infectious diseases with their usually gentle dying process provided the major cause of death until antibiotics were discovered.» —“Society should accept that...