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Making History
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 Tuesday 3.00-3.30 p.m |
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Sue Cook presents the series that examines listeners' historical queries, exploring avenues of research and uncovering mysteries. |
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Gaol fever - typhus or typhoid?
Listener's query
"What exactly was gaol fever?"
Brief summary
From mediaeval times onwards, prisons and ships were so frequently swept by disease that the disease itself was known as gaol fever. The Norman Cross Prisoner of War Depot near Peterborough was built to take French prisoners from the Napoleonic Wars. It was hit by gaol fever and more than a thousand prisoners died.
Typhus and typhoid fever were two diseases which the Victorians tended to confuse and use interchangeably, certainly in fictional writing. So what is the difference between typhus and typhoid, and which of them - if either - was what came to be known as 'gaol fever'?
The answer is that gaol fever was typhus, a disease caused by bacteria spreading through the bites of lice and fleas. The infection causes headache, fever and a rash of red spots. It arrived in Europe in the 15th century, and there was a fearful epidemic in 1557-59.
Typhoid, on the other hand, is spread by consuming contaminated food or water and is not unrelated to salmonella.
Expert consulted
Professor Philip Stott of London University
Further reading
Roy Porter, Disease, Medicine and Society in England, 1550-1860 (Cambridge University Press, 1995)
Frederick Cartwright and Michael Biddiss, Disease and History (Sutton Publishing, 2004)
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Vanessa has presented听science and current affairs programmes for 大象传媒, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Discovery and has presented for 大象传媒 Radio 4 & Five Live and a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday, Scotsman and Sunday Herald.听