Biomaterial Database

Medicine as social science: Rudolf Virchow on the typhus epidemic in Upper Silesia. 1985

R Taylor, and A Rieger

Rudolf Virchow's Report on the 1848 typhus epidemic is one of the neglected classics of "social medicine"--a term he did much to popularize. His analysis of the epidemic emphasized the economic, social, and cultural factors involved in its etiology, and clearly identified the contradictory social forces that prevented any simple solution. Instead of recommending medical changes (i.e., more doctors or hospitals), he outlined a revolutionary program of social reconstruction; including full employment, higher wages, the establishment of agricultural cooperatives, universal education, and the disestablishment of the Catholic Church. This article includes the first English translation of these long-term recommendations. It also locates Virchow's Report within the context of the Medical Reform Movement of 1848 and traces his influence on the subsequent development of social medicine. Parallels are drawn between Virchow's attempts to reform health care and current developments in the political economy of health.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D005858	Germany	A country in central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark. The capital is Berlin.
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012936	Social Medicine	A branch of medicine concerned with the role of socio-environmental factors in the occurrence, prevention and treatment of disease.	Medicine, Social
D014438	Typhus, Epidemic Louse-Borne	The classic form of typhus, caused by RICKETTSIA PROWAZEKII, which is transmitted from man to man by the louse Pediculus humanus corporis. This disease is characterized by the sudden onset of intense headache, malaise, and generalized myalgia followed by the formation of a macular skin eruption and vascular and neurologic disturbances.	Brill's Disease,Brill-Zinsser Disease,Typhus,Brill Disease,Epidemic Typhus,Jail Fever,Louse-Borne Typhus,Rickettsia prowazekii Infection,Brill Zinsser Disease,Brills Disease,Epidemic Louse-Borne Typhus,Fever, Jail,Infection, Rickettsia prowazekii,Louse Borne Typhus,Louse-Borne Typhus, Epidemic,Rickettsia prowazekii Infections,Typhus, Epidemic,Typhus, Epidemic Louse Borne,Typhus, Louse-Borne
D049672	History, 19th Century	Time period from 1801 through 1900 of the common era.	19th Century History,19th Cent. History (Medicine),19th Cent. History of Medicine,19th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 19th Century,History of Medicine, 19th Cent.,History, Nineteenth Century,Medical History, 19th Cent.,Medicine, 19th Cent.,19th Cent. Histories (Medicine),19th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 19th (Medicine),Cent. History, 19th (Medicine),Century Histories, 19th,Century Histories, Nineteenth,Century History, 19th,Century History, Nineteenth,Histories, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 19th Century,Histories, Nineteenth Century,History, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Nineteenth Century Histories,Nineteenth Century History
D049673	History, 20th Century	Time period from 1901 through 2000 of the common era.	20th Century History,20th Cent. History (Medicine),20th Cent. History of Medicine,20th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 20th Century,History of Medicine, 20th Cent.,History, Twentieth Century,Medical History, 20th Cent.,Medicine, 20th Cent.,20th Cent. Histories (Medicine),20th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 20th (Medicine),Cent. History, 20th (Medicine),Century Histories, 20th,Century Histories, Twentieth,Century History, 20th,Century History, Twentieth,Histories, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 20th Century,Histories, Twentieth Century,History, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Twentieth Century Histories,Twentieth Century History