[Anno 1529 - the "English Sweating Sickness" in Vienna, the Turkish troops around Vienna]. / Anno 1529 ­ der "Englische Schweiß" in Wien, die Türken um Wien.

After the battle of Bosworth in 1485 London was frightened by a severe epidemic of Sweating Disease. Until 1551 four more followed of which only the 1525 epidemic invaded Central and Northern Europe harassing Vienna during its "First Turkish Siege".People abruptly fell ill with headache, tachycardia, fever and secretion of stinking sweat. They were afflicted with anxiety, deliria and somnolence. The illness mostly lasted for 24 h, but death although could occur earlier. At the beginning of epidemics the lethality was particularly high. The treatment with distinct medicaments had to be started instantly. The patients must be kept warm and sleepless ("Dutch Regiment"). The thus caused high lethality was lowered by omitting the hyperthermia ("English Regiment").I suppose that the Sweating Disease was an "Emerging Disease" of the 15th/16th century, as nowadays AIDS, Ebola, SARS, MERS and influenza variants are.

The English Sweating Sickness: Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

In this paper we aim to add additional knowledge regarding the occurrence, origin and epidemiological features of the English sweating sickness. The English sweating sickness raged in five devastating epidemics with mortality rates between 30 and 50% between 1485 and 1551 throughout England, and on one occasion also affected mainland Europe, in 1529. The Picardy sweat, generally considered as the English sweating sickness' lesser deadly successor, flared up in France in 1718 and caused 196 localized outbreaks with varying severity all over France and neighboring countries up to 1861. The English sweating sickness has been the subject of numerous attempts to define its origin, but so far all efforts have failed due to lack of material, DNA or RNA, that - using modern techniques and knowledge - could shed light on its cause. Although the time frame in which the English sweating sickness occurred and the geographical spread of the outbreaks is generally known, we will demonstrate here that there was more to it than meets the eye. We found reports of cases of sweating sickness in years before, after and between the 1485, 1508, 1517, 1529 and 1551 epidemics, as well as reports of sweating sickness in Italy and Spain. CONCLUSION: In spite of the fact that the English sweating sickness apparently has not caused casualties for a more than a century now, we suggest that -given the right circumstances- the possibility of re-emergence might still exist. The fact that up until today we have no indication concerning the causal pathogen of the English sweating sickness is certainly not re-assuring.

Were the English sweating sickness and the Picardy sweat caused by hantaviruses?

The English sweating sickness caused five devastating epidemics between 1485 and 1551, England was hit hardest, but on one occasion also mainland Europe, with mortality rates between 30% and 50%. The Picardy sweat emerged about 150 years after the English sweat disappeared, in 1718, in France. It caused 196 localized outbreaks and apparently in its turn disappeared in 1861. Both diseases have been the subject of numerous attempts to define their origin, but so far all efforts were in vain. Although both diseases occurred in different time frames and were geographically not overlapping, a common denominator could be what we know today as hantavirus infections. This review aims to shed light on the characteristics of both diseases from contemporary as well as current knowledge and suggests hantavirus infection as the most likely cause for the English sweating sickness as well as for the Picardy sweat.

[The English Sweating Sickness' of 1529 in Augsburg: a challenge to body and soul and the printer]. / "Englischer Schweiss" 1529 in Augsburg: "Suchet man leybsärtzney, warumb sucht man nit artzney der seelen"?

In 1529, Sudor anglicus, the 'English Sweating Sickness', spread from England to Germany reaching the city of Augsburg. Its exact nature is unclear: the symptoms were profuse sweating, uncontrollable thirst, and headaches, with death occurring within hours of infection. Those who survived the first twenty-four hours returned to health. According to one source the fever arrived in Autumn 1529 and in September there were 800 deaths; another source gives November as the onset with 600 deaths. While these death rates were in fact relatively low compared with the plague, for instance, people were particularly frightened by the sudden appearance of an unknown fever and the speed of death. Augsburg was aware that the 'English Sweating Sickness' was spreading in Germany. What is remarkable was the quick reaction of the printing trade. Two related types of handbooks so on appeared; whichwill serve as the subject of this paper. Firstly, handbooks dealing with the fever as a medical issue, and secondly, those dealing with the fever as an issue of theology. An illustrative example of each handbook is discussed here. Authored at speed and quickly published, they reflect the urgent response to the outbreak. What is demonstrated is the need to attend both to body and soul, that the 'English Sweating Sickness' was a challenge not just to physicians but also to theologians. The printing trade seized the opportunity to meet both needs.

[What causes English sweats?].

English sweating disease also known as Sudor Anglicus is one of the least familiar epidemics of the Middle Ages, striking England 5 times during the 15th and 16th centuries before fading. This article will discuss the knowledge available to us about this fascinating epidemic, its characteristics and causes.

Anthrax and the etiology of the English sweating sickness.

In 2001, spores of Bacillus anthracis were deliberately sent through the United States postal system, resulting in five deaths from inhalational anthrax. Rarely observed clinical symptoms associated with these cases led to a hypothesis about the etiology of the English Sweating Sickness. The disease appeared sporadically in England between 1485 and 1551. Numerous viruses have been proposed as possible causes of the "English Sweat". Anthrax has not previously been considered because, documented cases of inhalational anthrax have been rare and pronounced sweating was not a noted symptom of the more common cutaneous and gastrointestinal forms of anthrax. Victims of the English Sweating Sickness have recently been identified in undisturbed tombs. It may be possible to examine those bodies and coffins for the presence of resilient anthrax spores and DNA using modern genomic tools.

The English 'sweate' (Sudor Anglicus) and Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

A rapidly fatal viral infectious disease appeared in England in 1485, persisted for the summer months and disappeared as winter approached. This pattern of infection re-appeared in 1508, 1517, 1528, and finally 1551. The epidemic never returned. It had no respect for wealth or rank, and predominantly attacked males between the ages of 15 and 45 years. The incubation period was frighteningly short and the outcome normally fatal. The symptoms of acute respiratory disease and copious sweating were characteristic, providing the name 'the English sweating disease'. It was never in the big league of killer epidemics, such as plague and influenza, but its pockets of instant lethality in communities gave it a special ranking of horror. The infective cause of this disease remained a total mystery until it was compared with Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in 1994. The strength of this theory is examined in this paper, and it is concluded that, although there is a close resemblance, HPS does not match the English sweating disease completely and positive identification of a possible rodent carrier for the latter was not established.