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1.
Hist Cienc Saude Manguinhos ; 25(1): 13-31, 2018 Mar.
Article in English, Spanish | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29694518

ABSTRACT

The massive waves of Chinese migrants arriving in California and Lima in the second half of the nineteenth century played a crucial role in expanding Chinese medicine in both settings. From the late 1860s on, herbalists expanded their healing system beyond their ethnic community, transforming Chinese medicine into one of the healing practices most widely adopted by the local population. This article uses a comparative approach to examine the diverging trajectories of Chinese healers in Peru and the USA, as well as the social and political factors that determined how this foreign medical knowledge adapted to its new environments.


Subject(s)
Emigrants and Immigrants/history , Herbal Medicine/history , Medicine, Chinese Traditional/history , Advertising/history , California , China/ethnology , Dissent and Disputes/history , Herbal Medicine/legislation & jurisprudence , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Human Migration/history , Humans , Peru , Physicians/history , Yellow Fever/history , Yellow Fever/therapy
2.
Hist. ciênc. saúde-Manguinhos ; Hist. ciênc. saúde-Manguinhos;25(1): 13-31, jan.-mar. 2018. graf
Article in Spanish | LILACS | ID: biblio-892587

ABSTRACT

Resumen Las masivas olas de migrantes chinos que llegaron a California y Lima en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX jugaron un rol clave en la expansión de la medicina china en ambos contextos. Desde fines de la década de 1860, los herbolarios expandieron su sistema de sanación más allá de su comunidad étnica, transformando la medicina china en una de las prácticas de sanación más adoptada por la población local. Desde una perspectiva comparada, este artículo examina las divergentes trayectorias de los sanadores chinos en Perú y EEUU, así como los factores sociales y políticos que determinaron la adaptación de este conocimiento médico, foráneo, en su nuevo entorno.


Abstract The massive waves of Chinese migrants arriving in California and Lima in the second half of the nineteenth century played a crucial role in expanding Chinese medicine in both settings. From the late 1860s on, herbalists expanded their healing system beyond their ethnic community, transforming Chinese medicine into one of the healing practices most widely adopted by the local population. This article uses a comparative approach to examine the diverging trajectories of Chinese healers in Peru and the USA, as well as the social and political factors that determined how this foreign medical knowledge adapted to its new environments.


Subject(s)
Humans , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Herbal Medicine/history , Emigrants and Immigrants/history , Medicine, Chinese Traditional/history , Peru , Physicians/history , Yellow Fever/history , Yellow Fever/therapy , China/ethnology , California , Advertising/history , Herbal Medicine/legislation & jurisprudence , Dissent and Disputes/history , Human Migration/history
3.
J Hist Biol ; 50(3): 571-608, 2017 08.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27412297

ABSTRACT

Describing the theoretical population geneticists of the 1960s, Joseph Felsenstein reminisced: "our central obsession was finding out what function evolution would try to maximize. Population geneticists used to think, following Sewall Wright, that mean relative fitness, W, would be maximized by natural selection" (Felsenstein 2000). The present paper describes the genesis, diffusion and fall of this "obsession", by giving a biography of the mean fitness function in population genetics. This modeling method devised by Sewall Wright in the 1930s found its heyday in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the wake of Motoo Kimura's and Richard Lewontin's works. It seemed a reliable guide in the mathematical study of deterministic effects (the study of natural selection in populations of infinite size, with no drift), leading to powerful generalizations presenting law-like properties. Progress in population genetics theory, it then seemed, would come from the application of this method to the study of systems with several genes. This ambition came to a halt in the context of the influential objections made by the Australian mathematician Patrick Moran in 1963. These objections triggered a controversy between mathematically- and biologically-inclined geneticists, with affected both the formal standards and the aims of population genetics as a science. Over the course of the 1960s, the mean fitness method withered with the ambition of developing the deterministic theory. The mathematical theory became increasingly complex. Kimura re-focused his modeling work on the theory of random processes; as a result of his computer simulations, Lewontin became the staunchest critic of maximizing principles in evolutionary biology. The mean fitness method then migrated to other research areas, being refashioned and used in evolutionary quantitative genetics and behavioral ecology.


Subject(s)
Dissent and Disputes/history , Genetic Fitness , Genetics, Population/history , Models, Genetic , Selection, Genetic , Biological Evolution , Biology/history , Genetics, Population/methods , History, 20th Century , Research Personnel/history
4.
Hist. ciênc. saúde-Manguinhos ; Hist. ciênc. saúde-Manguinhos;23(3): 615-634, jul.-set. 2016. tab
Article in Portuguese | LILACS | ID: lil-792556

ABSTRACT

Resumo O artigo demonstra que a posição de dominância das empresas estaduais de saneamento condiciona o processo decisório da política pública de saneamento no Brasil. A hegemonia dessas empresas é aqui explicada por meio da análise de uma trajetória que foi capaz de criar incentivos políticos e econômicos que permitiram sua consolidação no tempo. A partir da análise de conteúdo da legislação proposta para o setor e do material produzido pelos grupos de interesse envolvidos na aprovação de um novo marco regulatório setorial em 2007, o trabalho identifica as principais fontes de incentivo instituídas pela adoção do Plano Nacional de Saneamento que explicariam determinados aspectos estruturais na política atual de saneamento e sua forte resiliência às inovações propostas no contexto democrático.


Abstract This article demonstrates that the position of dominance enjoyed by state sanitation companies dictates the public policy decision-making process for sanitation in Brazil. These companies’ hegemony is explained here through the analysis of a path that generated political and economic incentives that have permitted its consolidation over time. Through the content analysis of the legislation proposed for the sector and the material produced by the stakeholders involved in the approval of new regulations for the sector in 2007, the study identifies the main sources of incentive introduced by the adoption of the National Sanitation Plan, which explain certain structural features of the current sanitation policy and its strong capacity to withstand the innovations proposed under democratic rule.


Subject(s)
History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Dissent and Disputes/history , Government , Public Policy/history , Sanitation/history , Brazil , Government Regulation/history , Political Systems/history , Privatization/history , Privatization/legislation & jurisprudence , Public Policy/legislation & jurisprudence , Sanitation/legislation & jurisprudence
5.
Hist. ciênc. saúde-Manguinhos ; Hist. ciênc. saúde-Manguinhos;23(3): 597-614, jul.-set. 2016.
Article in Portuguese | LILACS | ID: lil-792560

ABSTRACT

Resumo O artigo analisa a participação do antropólogo brasileiro Edgard Roquette-Pinto no debate internacional envolvendo o campo da antropologia física e as discussões sobre miscigenação racial nas primeiras décadas do século XX. Trata especialmente da leitura, das interpretações e das controvérsias que o cientista brasileiro produziu com um grupo de antropólogos e eugenistas norte-americanos, entre eles nomes como Charles Davenport, Madison Grant e Franz Boas. O artigo também problematiza as diferentes formas de leitura e de apropriação intelectual, a circulação internacional de ideias e o modo como as interpretações antropológicas produzidas por Roquette-Pinto ganharam novos sentidos ao romper as fronteiras nacionais.


Abstract The article analyzes Brazilian anthropologist Edgard Roquette-Pinto’s participation in the international debate that involved the field of physical anthropology and discussions on miscegenation in the first decades of the twentieth century. Special focus is on his readings and interpretations of a group of US anthropologists and eugenicists and his controversies with them, including Charles Davenport, Madison Grant, and Franz Boas. The article explores the various ways in which Roquette-Pinto interpreted and incorporated their ideas and how his anthropological interpretations took on new meanings when they moved beyond Brazil’s borders.


Subject(s)
Male , History, 20th Century , Anthropology, Physical/history , Racial Groups , Dissent and Disputes/history , Race Relations/history , Brazil , Racism/history , United States
6.
Hist Cienc Saude Manguinhos ; 23(3): 615-34, 2016.
Article in English, Portuguese | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27557353

ABSTRACT

This article demonstrates that the position of dominance enjoyed by state sanitation companies dictates the public policy decision-making process for sanitation in Brazil. These companies' hegemony is explained here through the analysis of a path that generated political and economic incentives that have permitted its consolidation over time. Through the content analysis of the legislation proposed for the sector and the material produced by the stakeholders involved in the approval of new regulations for the sector in 2007, the study identifies the main sources of incentive introduced by the adoption of the National Sanitation Plan, which explain certain structural features of the current sanitation policy and its strong capacity to withstand the innovations proposed under democratic rule.


Subject(s)
Dissent and Disputes/history , Government/history , Public Policy/history , Sanitation/history , Brazil , Government Regulation/history , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Political Systems/history , Privatization/history , Privatization/legislation & jurisprudence , Public Policy/legislation & jurisprudence , Sanitation/legislation & jurisprudence
7.
Hist Cienc Saude Manguinhos ; 23(3): 597-614, 2016.
Article in English, Portuguese | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27438731

ABSTRACT

The article analyzes Brazilian anthropologist Edgard Roquette-Pinto's participation in the international debate that involved the field of physical anthropology and discussions on miscegenation in the first decades of the twentieth century. Special focus is on his readings and interpretations of a group of US anthropologists and eugenicists and his controversies with them, including Charles Davenport, Madison Grant, and Franz Boas. The article explores the various ways in which Roquette-Pinto interpreted and incorporated their ideas and how his anthropological interpretations took on new meanings when they moved beyond Brazil's borders.


Subject(s)
Anthropology, Physical/history , Dissent and Disputes/history , Race Relations/history , Racial Groups , Brazil , History, 20th Century , Humans , Racism/history , United States
8.
Hist Cienc Saude Manguinhos ; 23(2): 341-57, 2016.
Article in Portuguese | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27276040

ABSTRACT

The article examines the cholera morbus epidemic that afflicted the province of Pernambuco, Brazil, in 1855, focusing on the medical and scientific controversies about how the disease spread, which split medical opinion into two camps: contagion and infection. Documents and reports produced by the Society of Medicine of Pernambuco and the General Public Health Board were analyzed, based on which it was possible to describe the official medical and sanitation program, involving engineers, scientists, and physicians, designed to plan a salubrious city - a model of civilization that combined redeveloping the urban space and disseminating new habits amongst the local people. It is essentially an exercise in observing a science and a society as they take shape.


Subject(s)
Cholera Morbus/history , Epidemics/history , Public Health/history , Brazil/epidemiology , Cholera Morbus/epidemiology , Cholera Morbus/etiology , Cholera Morbus/prevention & control , Dissent and Disputes/history , History, 19th Century , Humans , Sanitation/history
9.
Hist Cienc Saude Manguinhos ; 23(2): 453-71, 2016 01 26.
Article in Portuguese | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27276046

ABSTRACT

The article analyzes two posters that with the same slogan - "Asylums nevermore" - promote National Anti-Asylum Day. The analysis was based on principles of the symptomatology of social discourse, articulating analytical concepts and practices arising from the French School and the pragmatic dimension of discourse analysis. The results revealed affirmation strategies of the movement for the qualification and exacerbation of the issues of the enunciation and other enunciators, namely political actors of the anti-asylum movement and their allies. It also reveals the attempt to disqualify competitive discourse, especially that which discloses the serious problems of its institutional models, but also by juxtaposing the positive presence of the issuers and enunciators of the posters.


Subject(s)
Dissent and Disputes/history , Hospitals, Psychiatric/history , Posters as Topic , Brazil , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Humans , Mental Health
10.
J Hist Neurosci ; 25(2): 142-68, 2016.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26452688

ABSTRACT

Broca coined the neologism "aphemia" to describe a syndrome consisting of a loss of the ability to speak without impairment of language and paralysis of the faciolingual territories in actions unrelated to speech, such as protruding the tongue or pursing the lips. Upon examining the brains of patients with aphemia, Broca concluded that the minimum possible lesion responsible for aphemia localized to the posterior left inferior frontal gyrus and lower portion of the middle frontal gyrus. A review of Broca's writings led us to conclude that (a) Broca localized speech, not language, to the left hemisphere, (b) Broca's aphemia is a form of apraxia, (c) Broca's aphemia is not, therefore, a terminological forerunner of aphasia, and (d) Broca was an outspoken equipotentialist concerning the cerebral localization of language. Broca's claim about the role of the left hemisphere in the organization of speech places him as the legitimate forebear of the two most outstanding achievements of Liepmann's work, namely, the concepts of apraxia and of a left hemisphere specialization for action.


Subject(s)
Aphasia, Broca/history , Apraxias/history , Speech , Aphasia, Broca/etiology , Apraxias/classification , Diagnosis, Differential , Dissent and Disputes/history , Female , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Male , Prefrontal Cortex/pathology
11.
Hist Cienc Saude Manguinhos ; 22(3): 705-22, 2015.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26331640

ABSTRACT

This article explores the controversial decision made by the Ministry of Health to restructure the perinatal emergency services in Portugal in 2006. Particular emphasis is given to the protests held across the country against, the actors involved, and the arguments put forward for and against the measure, in an attempt to understand the forms of knowledge and experiences brought to the discussion about the issues raised by the decision, and how different forms of knowledge are reconciled under a democratic process. In addition, this article explores the importance of citizen participation, including that which emerges from conflicting relations, in the formulation of health policies.


Subject(s)
Community Participation/history , Dissent and Disputes/history , Emergency Medical Services/history , Health Policy/history , Hospital Units/history , Maternal-Child Health Services/history , Perinatal Care/history , Emergency Medical Services/organization & administration , Female , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Humans , Infant , Infant Mortality/trends , Perinatal Care/organization & administration , Portugal/epidemiology , Pregnancy
12.
Hist Cienc Saude Manguinhos ; 22(3): 687-704, 2015.
Article in English, Portuguese | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26331639

ABSTRACT

This article describes the debate over theories about the propagation of yellow fever in the São Paulo press. Our time span was defined as the period between 1895 and 1903, a time that saw high indices of the disease in Brazil. Documentary research involved mass circulation newspapers in São Paulo and medical journals of the period. The empirical data was collected from the Public Archives of the State of São Paulo and from the library of the Faculdade de Saúde Pública at Universidade de São Paulo. It was observed a clash between theories as to the propagation of yellow fever that revealed a symbolic dispute for influence in the formation of the scientific field.


Subject(s)
Dissent and Disputes/history , Newspapers as Topic/history , Yellow Fever/history , Brazil , Disease Transmission, Infectious/history , History of Medicine , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Yellow Fever/transmission
13.
Hist Cienc Saude Manguinhos ; 22(3): 723-41, 2015.
Article in English, Portuguese | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26331641

ABSTRACT

The article reflects on how the themes of hunger, consumption of soft drinks and consumption of beans and rice are addressed in Brazilian popular music. We investigate the years of military dictatorship (1964-1985). The focus of the analysis is on the so-called protest song, a musical genre characterized by aesthetic, cultural, political, ideological and social criticism to military rule. The study of the ideology and philosophy of language of Mikhail Bakhtin is the theoretical reference; especially his concepts of "ideological sign" and "word." Analysis reveals that the protest song portrayed elements of the economic, political and social contexts and led to the diffusion of healthy or unhealthy eating habits or ideologies, contributing to the construction of the Brazilian dietary identity.


Subject(s)
Carbonated Beverages/history , Diet/history , Dissent and Disputes/history , Food/history , Music/history , Brazil , History, 20th Century , Humans , Hunger , Political Systems/history
14.
Hist. ciênc. saúde-Manguinhos ; Hist. ciênc. saúde-Manguinhos;22(3): 723-741, jul.-set. 2015.
Article in Portuguese | LILACS | ID: lil-756441

ABSTRACT

O artigo reflete sobre como as temáticas fome, consumo de refrigerantes e consumo de feijão com arroz são enfocadas na música popular brasileira. Investigamos os anos de ditadura militar (1964-1985). O foco da análise é a chamada canção de protesto, gênero musical caracterizado por críticas estético-cultural, político-ideológica e social aos governos militares. Tomando como referencial teórico os estudos de ideologia e filosofia da linguagem de Mikhail Bakhtin, evidenciamos que a canção de protesto retratou elementos dos contextos econômico, político e social, e propiciou a difusão de hábitos e ideologias alimentares saudáveis ou não saudáveis, contribuindo para a construção da identidade alimentar brasileira.


The article reflects on how the themes of hunger, consumption of soft drinks and consumption of beans and rice are addressed in Brazilian popular music. We investigate the years of military dictatorship (1964-1985). The focus of the analysis is on the so-called protest song, a musical genre characterized by aesthetic, cultural, political, ideological and social criticism to military rule. The study of the ideology and philosophy of language of Mikhail Bakhtin is the theoretical reference; especially his concepts of “ideological sign” and “word.” Analysis reveals that the protest song portrayed elements of the economic, political and social contexts and led to the diffusion of healthy or unhealthy eating habits or ideologies, contributing to the construction of the Brazilian dietary identity.


Subject(s)
Humans , History, 20th Century , Carbonated Beverages/history , Diet/history , Dissent and Disputes/history , Food/history , Music/history , Brazil , Hunger , Political Systems/history
15.
Hist. ciênc. saúde-Manguinhos ; Hist. ciênc. saúde-Manguinhos;22(3): 705-722, jul.-set. 2015. tab, ilus
Article in English | LILACS | ID: lil-756455

ABSTRACT

This article explores the controversial decision made by the Ministry of Health to restructure the perinatal emergency services in Portugal in 2006. Particular emphasis is given to the protests held across the country against, the actors involved, and the arguments put forward for and against the measure, in an attempt to understand the forms of knowledge and experiences brought to the discussion about the issues raised by the decision, and how different forms of knowledge are reconciled under a democratic process. In addition, this article explores the importance of citizen participation, including that which emerges from conflicting relations, in the formulation of health policies.


O artigo examina o processo de restruturação dos serviços de emergência perinatal implementado pelo Ministério da Saúde em Portugal em 2006 e tem como objetivo analisar essa decisão controversa. Especial ênfase é dada aos protestos desencadeados no país contra essa medida, os atores envolvidos e os argumentos contra e a favor, de forma a compreender os conhecimentos e as experiências trazidos para discussão dos problemas suscitados pela decisão tomada e como diferentes formas de conhecimento podem ser conciliadas no âmbito de procedimentos democráticos. Além disso, explora a relevância da participação cidadã na formulação de políticas de saúde, incluindo aquela que emerge de relações conflitantes.


Subject(s)
Humans , Female , Infant , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Community Participation/history , Dissent and Disputes/history , Emergency Medical Services/history , Health Policy/history , Hospital Units/history , Maternal-Child Health Services/history , Perinatal Care/history , Emergency Medical Services/organization & administration , Infant Mortality/trends , Perinatal Care/organization & administration , Portugal/epidemiology , Pregnancy
16.
Hist. ciênc. saúde-Manguinhos ; Hist. ciênc. saúde-Manguinhos;22(3): 687-704, jul.-set. 2015.
Article in Portuguese | LILACS | ID: lil-756460

ABSTRACT

O artigo descreve o debate sobre as teorias de propagação da febre amarela na imprensa paulista. Nosso recorte temporal foi definido entre 1895 e 1903, período de grande incidência da enfermidade no Brasil e de crescente influência da bacteriologia nas teorias sobre as doenças. Realizou-se pesquisa documental em jornais de grande circulação de São Paulo e periódicos médicos da época. Os dados empíricos foram coletados no Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo e na biblioteca da Faculdade de Saúde Pública da Universidade de São Paulo. Foi identificado confronto entre as teorias de propagação da febre amarela, revelador de disputa simbólica por espaço na constituição do campo científico.


This article describes the debate over theories about the propagation of yellow fever in the São Paulo press. Our time span was defined as the period between 1895 and 1903, a time that saw high indices of the disease in Brazil. Documentary research involved mass circulation newspapers in São Paulo and medical journals of the period. The empirical data was collected from the Public Archives of the State of São Paulo and from the library of the Faculdade de Saúde Pública at Universidade de São Paulo. It was observed a clash between theories as to the propagation of yellow fever that revealed a symbolic dispute for influence in the formation of the scientific field.


Subject(s)
Humans , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Dissent and Disputes/history , Newspapers as Topic/history , Yellow Fever/history , Brazil , Disease Transmission, Infectious/history , History of Medicine , Yellow Fever/transmission
17.
Agora USB ; 15(2): 343-362, jul.-dic. 2015.
Article in Spanish | LILACS | ID: lil-777767

ABSTRACT

Una marcada tendencia en América Latina ha sido la de construir conocimiento sobre la premisa del desarrollo histórico con una dirección más o menos precisa, emancipatoriay valórica. Pero el siglo XX nos legó una historia caprichosa, incierta, fuertemente indeterminada, sin garantía. En este sentido, más que una comprensión pesimista, lahistoria del siglo XX exige encarnar desafíos sustantivos. Enfrentamos enormes exigencias en lo que se refiere a desarrollar nuestra capacidad de pensar como latinoamericanos; yesto, atañe a la formación de sujetos capaces de ver y pensar realidades inéditas y viables, para lo cual es imprescindible replantear las formas de construir conocimiento; entendiendoque éste debería ser de naturaleza histórica más que teórica de cara a ampliar los límites de lo posible, en perspectiva de futuro.


A marked trend in Latin America has been the one of constructing knowledge on the premise of the historical development with a more or less precise, emancipatory, and valueddirection. But the twentieth century gave us a capricious, uncertain, highly indeterminate, and unsecured history. In this sense, rather than a pessimistic understanding, the historyof the twentieth century requires embodying substantive challenges. We face enormous demands in regards to developing our ability to think as Latin Americans; and this relatesto the formation of subjects able to see and to think new and viable realities, which is essential to rethink the ways to construct knowledge; understanding that this should be historical in nature rather than theoretical in the face to expand limits as possible, in perspective for the future.


Subject(s)
Conflict, Psychological , Dissent and Disputes , Dissent and Disputes/economics , Dissent and Disputes/history , Dissent and Disputes/legislation & jurisprudence
18.
Agora USB ; 15(2): 401-417, jul.-dic. 2015. tab
Article in Spanish | LILACS | ID: lil-777771

ABSTRACT

El tema que aborda este trabajo es la construcción de subjetividades a través de una razón dialógica en la elaboración de políticas públicas por parte del Estado de Chile, en el ámbito de la interculturalidad y la expresión que ello tiene en la enseñanza de la historia,específicamente en la educación básica en las zonas de alta concentración de estudiantes de origen étnico aymara. Metodológicamente se aplica un análisis estructural con la finalidadde dar cuenta de las percepciones de los actores principales de una escuela, con el fin de indagar en la inconsistencia que se pueden estar generando con el Convenio 169 de la OIT.


The topic which deals with this paper is the construction of subjectivities through a dialogic reason in the elaboration of public policies by Chile, in the field of interculturality and theexpression that it has in the teaching of history, specifically on basic education in the areas of high concentration of students from Aymará ethnic groups. Methodologically a structuralanalysis is applied in order to give an account of the perceptions of the main actors in a school, and thus investigate the inconsistency that can be generated with the InternationalLabor Organization (ILO) Convention N°169.


Subject(s)
Conflict, Psychological , Dissent and Disputes , Dissent and Disputes/economics , Dissent and Disputes/history , Dissent and Disputes/legislation & jurisprudence
19.
Hist Cienc Saude Manguinhos ; 22(2): 641-9, 2015.
Article in Portuguese | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26038866

ABSTRACT

In order to observe the influence wielded by forensic medicine in the development of the field of psychiatry in Brazil, this research note analyzes the debates that took place from May to July 1918 within the Brazilian Society of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Forensic Medicine over the use of forensic medical examinations as course material in the study of Public Medicine at the Rio de Janeiro School of Medicine. The focus is on how the controversy unfolded within the Society and how this scientific organization influenced the institution of the theoretical and practical training of medical experts.


Subject(s)
Dissent and Disputes/history , Forensic Medicine/history , Psychiatry/history , Societies, Medical/history , Brazil , Education, Medical/history , Forensic Medicine/education , History, 20th Century , Humans , Neurology/history , Psychiatry/education
20.
Med Hist ; 58(1): 27-45, 2014 Jan.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-24331213

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses how the Colombian medical elites made sense of typhoid fever before and during the inception of bacteriological ideas and practices in the second half of the nineteenth century. Assuming that the identity of typhoid fever has to be understood within the broader concerns of the medical community in question, I show how doctors first identified Bogotá's epidemics as typhoid fever during the 1850s, and how they also attached specificity to the fever amongst other continuous fevers, such as its European and North American counterparts. I also found that, in contrast with the discussions amongst their colleagues from other countries, debates about typhoid fever in 1860-70 among doctors in Colombia were framed within the medico-geographical scheme and strongly shaped by the fear of typhoid fever appearing alongside 'paludic' fevers in the highlands. By arguing in medico-geographical and clinical terms that typhoid fever had specificity in Colombia, and by denying the medico-geographical law of antagonism between typhoid and paludic fevers proposed by the Frenchman Charles Boudin, Colombian doctors managed to question European knowledge and claimed that typhoid fever had distinct features in Colombia. The focus on paludic and typhoid fevers in the highlands might explain why the bacteriological aetiology of typhoid fever was ignored and even contested during the 1880s. Anti-Pasteurian arguments were raised against its germ identity and some physicians even supported the idea of spontaneous origin of the disease. By the 1890s, Pasteurian knowledge had come to shape clinical and hygienic practices.


Subject(s)
Bacteriology/history , Geography, Medical/history , Physicians/history , Typhoid Fever/history , Colombia , Dissent and Disputes/history , Fever/history , History, 19th Century , Humans , Physicians/psychology , Typhoid Fever/etiology
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