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Ringworm and Irradiation: The Historical, Medical, and Legal Implications of the Forgotten Epidemic explores the history of the disease and the use of irradiation for the treatment of ringworm, an epidemic that was spread mainly among poor children in countries across the world in the first half of the 20th century. At its peak in the 1940 and 50s, children around the globe were treated with radiation therapy to prevent and eradicate ringworm of the scalp, a treatment that led years later to latent health risk to develop tumors, malignancies, thyroid cancer, brain tumors, and other health effects among the exposed population. The actions taken by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the US Food and Drug Administration to launch a nationwide campaign warning the public, and thus the medical community, about the late health effects of ionizing radiation received in childhood are evidenced in this compilation.

In this book, we discuss the changing medical and public profile of fungal infections in the period 1850–2000. We consider four sets of diseases: ringworm and athlete’s foot (dermatophytosis); thrush or candidiasis (infection with Candida albicans); endemic, geographically specific infections in North America (coccidioidomycosis, blastomycosis and histoplasmosis) and mycotoxins; and aspergillosis (infection with Aspergillus fumigatus). We discuss each disease in relation to developing medical knowledge and practices, and to social changes associated with ‘modernity’. Thus, mass schooling provided ideal conditions for the spread of ringworm of the scalp in children, and the rise of college sports and improvement of personal hygiene led to the spread of athlete’s foot. Antibiotics seemed to open the body to more serious Candida infections, as did new methods to treat cancers and the development of transplantation. Regional fungal infections in North America came to the fore due to the economic development of certain regions, where population movement brought in non-immune groups who were vulnerable to endemic mycoses. Fungal toxins or mycotoxins were discovered as by-products of modern food storage and distribution technologies. Lastly, the rapid development and deployment of new medical technologies, such as intensive care and immunosuppression in the last quarter of the twentieth century, increased the incidence of aspergillosis and other systemic mycoses.

Title from ebook title screen (viewed on Dec. 16, 2003)

Bien que peu étudiée jusqu'ici, l'histoire des teignes occupe une place de choix dans l'histoire de la dermatologie. Médicale, cette histoire fut aussi, et peut être surtout, celle d'enfants longtemps privés d'une vie sociale normale. Rejetés des écoles en raison de leur apparence qui les affichait comme symboles de misère, ces enfants durent longtemps subir les souffrances qu'imposaient des méthodes thérapeutiques longues, douloureuses et d'efficacité aléatoire. Les lecteurs de cet ouvrage découvriront avec étonnement la famille Mahon, famille de guérisseurs recrutés dans les premières années du XIXe siècle par l'administration hospitalière pour pallier le relatif désintérêt des médecins pour ces maladies réputées incurables. Plus tard, l'Assistance publique sollicitée par un médecin eut l'idée de conjuguer soins et enseignement dans une structure éducative et sanitaire originale. « L'école des teigneux » de l'hôpital Saint-Louis permit à la fois de satisfaire l'obligation d'instruction primaire à laquelle est rattachée le nom de Jules Ferry et de répondre aux préoccupations d'hygiène nées des découvertes de Pasteur et de ses disciples. À partir des années 1900, d'autres médecins, croyant avoir découvert l'arme idéale à opposer aux teignes, imposèrent à ces enfants les rayons X aux effets secondaires mal maîtrisés dont on continue de voir apparaître les graves conséquences tardives. Au coeur de cette histoire se trouve la personnalité de Sabouraud qui fut, à l'aube du XXe siècle, l'un des plus ardents apôtres de la religion microbiologique dans les hôpitaux. Des archives inédites donnent une image nouvelle de sa pensée et de son oeuvre en dermatologie. L'iconographie des maladies de la peau, indissociable de l'enseignement de la dermatologie, trouve ici une place de choix.

Title from e-book title screen (viewed on Dec. 11, 2003)

Summary: In this book, we discuss the changing medical and public profile of fungal infections in the period 1850-2000. We consider four sets of diseases: ringworm and athlete's foot (dermatophytosis); thrush or candidiasis (infection with Candida albicans); endemic, geographically specific infections in North America (coccidioidomycosis, blastomycosis and histoplasmosis) and mycotoxins; and aspergillosis (infection with Aspergillus fumigatus). We discuss each disease in relation to developing medical knowledge and practices, and to social changes associated with 'modernity'. Thus, mass schooling provided ideal conditions for the spread of ringworm of the scalp in children, and the rise of college sports and improvement of personal hygiene led to the spread of athlete's foot. Antibiotics seemed to open the body to more serious Candida infections, as did new methods to treat cancers and the development of transplantation. Regional fungal infections in North America came to the fore due to the economic development of certain regions, where population movement brought in non-immune groups who were vulnerable to endemic mycoses. Fungal toxins or mycotoxins were discovered as by-products of modern food storage and distribution technologies. Lastly, the rapid development and deployment of new medical technologies, such as intensive care and immunosuppression in the last quarter of the twentieth century, increased the incidence of aspergillosis and other systemic mycoses.