Undoubtedly, you have heard of the Spanish flu that raged during 1918 and 1919 and affected up to 100 million people worldwide. However, did you know that at the same time there was another epidemic that was dwarfed by the flu but was just as (if not more) deadly? More alarmingly, scientists don’t know if it will recur and are not sure of the cause. Listen this week as Lynne talks about the “sleeping sickness” of the 1920s and 30s. Many thanks to Pam for the recommendation and story.
Special note: Dr. Helen Shui is truly a doctor, but is working under a pseudonym for privacy reasons. Dr. Lynne Kramer is using her real name.
Music by Helen Shui and Caplixo. Cover art by Lynne Kramer.
Sources:
Encephalitis Lethargica In Pregnancy. Margaret Schulze, MD. Journal of the American Medical Association; Mar 13, 1920; pp 732-733.
Encephalitis Lethargica occurring in Pregnancy, with an account of Two Cases Complicated by Albuminuria by S. B. Herd M.B., Ch.B. (Liverpool)
Encephalitis lethargica: 100 years after the epidemic by Leslie A Hoffman, Joel A Vilensky
Encephalitis lethargica by Ravindra Kumar Garg DM FRCP
Encephalitis lethargica by Fid Backhouse, et al.
Encephalitis lethargica via ScienceDirect
Mystery of the forgotten plague; no byline
The Mysterious Encephalitis Lethargica Epidemic by Karl Smallwood
Von Economo Encephalitis by Ankit Vyas, Orlando De Jesus
Postencephalitic parkinsonism - a review by J Casals, T S Elizan, M D Yahr
What caused the 1918-1930 epidemic of encephalitis lethargica? by R R Dourmashkin MD
Encephalitis lethargica syndrome: 20 new cases and evidence of basal ganglia autoimmunity by Russell C. Dale, Andrew J. Church, Robert A. H. Surtees, Andrew J. Lees, Jane E. Adcock, Brian Harding, Brian G. R. Neville, Gavin Giovannoni
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