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Full-Text Articles in Medical Humanities
Osler And The Infected Letter, Charles T. Ambrose
Osler And The Infected Letter, Charles T. Ambrose
Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications
The spread of infectious agents through the mail has concerned public health officials for 5 centuries. The dissemination of anthrax spores in the US mail in 2001 was a recent example. In 1901, two medical journals reported outbreaks of smallpox presumably introduced by letters contaminated with variola viruses. The stability and infectivity of the smallpox virus are reviewed from both a historical (anecdotal) perspective and modern virologic studies. Bubonic plague was the contagious disease that led to quarantines as early as the 14th century in port cities in southern Europe. Later, smallpox, cholera, typhus, and yellow fever were recognized as …
The Secret Kappa Lambda Society Of Hippocrates (And The Origin Of The American Medical Association's Principles Of Medical Ethics), Charles T. Ambrose
The Secret Kappa Lambda Society Of Hippocrates (And The Origin Of The American Medical Association's Principles Of Medical Ethics), Charles T. Ambrose
Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications
This paper relates the neglected history of an idealistic, secret medical fraternity which existed briefly in Lexington, Kentucky, during the first half of the 19th century. It was created for students in the Medical Department at Transylvania University, the fifth US medical school, founded in 1799. One goal of the fraternity was to counter the widespread dissension and often violent quarrels among doctors that characterized American medicine of that period. And to that end, it was among the first to promote Thomas Percival's code of medical ethics in this country. Branches of the fraternity were established in Philadelphia and New …