Topic 1 (causes of illness and disease)

• General causes of illness and disease

  Living conditions - crowded houses, contaminated water, rats, mice, fleas

  Poor diet - 25% of rural families had enough land to support themselves, child mortality was high and malnutrition was common

  Famine - happened regularly in 1069, 1258 and 1437-1439, harshest was 1315-1317 when torrential rain ruined planting and harvesting

  War - wounds inflicted by swords and axes became gangrenous
• When was the Great Plague of London?

  1665
• Bubonic plague


  Spread by fleas from black rats

  Symptoms - buboes erupted in armpits, fever, headache, boils all over body,

  Death occurred within a week
• Pneumonic Plague


  Spread by breathing or coughing germs

  Symptoms - Attacked the lungs, causing breathing problems and coughing up blood

  Death occurred quite quickly
• When did the Black Death enter Britain?

  July 1348 (came through the port of Melcombe on the south coast)

  By the end of 1349 it had spread across England, Wales and Scotland
• Black Death in Wales

  Entered Wales through costal port of Haverfordwest

  Killed 100,000 people in Wales (1/3 of the population)

  Caldicot was badly affected

  Impacts on trade, farming and collection of rents and taxes (Wiped out Cosmeston which became a deserted medieval village)
• How many people died from the Black Death?

  40% of UK population was killed
• How many people died of the Great Plague of London?

  100,000 people died (25% of the population)
• Outbreaks of Cholera in Wales

  1832- Merthyr Tydfil (160 deaths) Swansea (152 deaths) Denbigh (47 deaths) Holywell (49 deaths)

  1849 - Cardiff and Merthyr Tydfil, By November 396 people had died in Cardiff and 1,682 deaths in Merthyr Tydfil
• What is Tuberculosis?


  Bacterial infection

  Spread through tiny droplets of moisture produced when coughing

  Symptoms - coughing, blood stained spit, weight loss and chest pains
• Impacts of Tuberculosis


  TB affected at least 15% of the population in the 19th century

  Between 1851-1910 an estimated 4 million people died in England and Wales
• What was the Spanish Flu?

  Pandemic in 1918-1919

  Started in USA

  Troop movements at the end of WW1 caused the disease to spread

  Symptoms - Headaches, sore throat, loss of appetite

  Could kill someone in a day
• Impacts of the Spanish Flu


  50 million people died

  Infected 20% of the world's population

  7 million deaths reported in Spain

  Killed 280,000 people in UK, including 8,750 in Wales
• What is HIV/Aids?


  First cases of Aids reported in 1981 in the USA

  Spread through blood, bodily fluids, sexual contact and sharing injections

  Destroys immune system which reduces defence against attacks
• Impacts of HIV/Aids


  By 2,000 an estimated 30 million people were infected with Aids

  Worst affected area was Africa (accounted for 63% of all infected)

  By 2,000 over 8 million people had died, including 19,000 people in the UK