Posts tagged public health
Dr. Seuss on Malaria: This is Ann
Today is the anniversary of Dr. Ronald Ross’ discovery that female mosquitoes spread malaria, and a perfect time to showcase Dr. Seuss’ contribution to the health of the soldiers in WWII. Click through to see most of the full book at the Contagions Blog (a fantastic blog worth following, by the way).
1936 WPA Poster warning of the danger of playing with firecrackers…still pertinent today, US-people! DON’T BE A FOOL, YO.
…also please don’t use firecrackers “safely” at 7 am, lest you unknowingly live somewhere near a human like me who enjoys sleep and will rip your fingers off herself, safe use of explosives be damned.
Chloropicrin wasn’t as lethal as other chemical weapons, but was a lachrymatory agent (caused massive tearing-up of eyes) and caused vomiting. The Allied soldiers had to remove their masks to vomit, exposing them to the toxic gases.
Patient Zero: Typhoid Mary, AIDS, and tracing the origin of contagious diseases
Radiolab has an excellent episode on epidemiology, AIDS, and disease carriers. The issues raised regarding medical privacy and public health are poignant, and the science of contagion is fascinating.
Of course, anything including medicine, history, death, AND some (very well-explained) microbiology is impossible for me to resist.
Have a listen!
Nurse Instructing Mothers on the Importance of Shoes -1937
Massive public health initiatives undertaken between 1920 and 1939 (and to a lesser degree all the way through the 1960s) were a vital part of the eradication of endemic hookworm and other soil-borne illnesses.
1939 WPA Posters for the Improvement of Public Health
While the flies were a visible and tangible problem when one did not have an outhouse or latrine installed, the real danger, as I stated before, was from hookworm infection, and the subsequent destruction of the productivity of those afflicted. To be sure, dysentery and cholera spread by flies were serious dangers. However, they presented themselves in a most obvious fashion, and medical care could then be given. Hookworm? Well, if you don’t know you have something, you probably aren’t going to go to the doctor just cause you’re feeling tired and run down, especially if that’s the only way you’ve felt your entire life.
Posters from Library of Congress Archives: For the People, By the People WPA Project.
“Physical reconstruction”
Manipulation of contracted inter-vertebral ligament in cervical region. Physical therapy nurse at Walter Reed Medical Center, ca. 1916-1917.
From National Museum of Health and Medicine (formerly Army Medical Center) archives.
What I gather from this is…you need to breathe less. You’re poisoning the air around you by breathing! Your plants cannot handle it!
Click through to embiggen and read.
Dr. Foote’s Handbook of Health-Hints and Handy Recipes. Dr. Foote, 1882.
Don't forget Cabbaging Cove!
PHOSGENE ELEPHANT AND INCREASED DOPEY FEELING COMPELS YOU TO FOLLOW
Chloropicrin wasn’t as lethal as other chemical weapons, but was a lachrymatory agent (caused massive tearing-up of eyes) and caused vomiting. The Allied soldiers had to remove their masks to vomit, exposing them to the toxic gases.
1936 WPA Poster warning of the danger of playing with firecrackers…still pertinent today, US-people! DON’T BE A FOOL, YO.
BRUSH YO TEETH
BRUSH YO TEETH
BRUSH YO TEETH
BRUSH YO TEETH
Ok, last film for today!
“I usually stay invisible”…this crazy grandma follows kids around their bathroom and teaches them the importance of keeping their nails and hair hygienic. It’s, um, “interesting”. I actually really liked this one for how odd it was. Early 1950s, I think?
The picture on her wall is of a character from Der Struwwelpeter, a collection of cautionary tales for kids, written in 1845 by Heinrich Hoffman.
A short film reel describing how to avoid disease from 1940. From what I gather, don’t play with rats or flies and wash your hands. Probably 80% of the people in this film seem completely confused as to what’s going on. It’s fascinatingly weird.
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A blog for all biological and medical ephemera, from the age of Abraham through the era of medical quackery and cure-all nostrums. Featuring illustrations, history, and totally useless trivia from the diverse realms of nature and medicine.
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