In studying the evolution of the concept of disease, Kraupl Taylor argues that the term “disease” emphasizes more the pathological side of the disease itself, while the term “illness” corresponds to clinical signs [13]. From the perspective of the history of medicine, the term “disease” should be used in its widest meaning, because if the label of “disease” is used in the sense of its definitions made by contemporary medical scientists, many disease definitions in the medical history will have to remain unmentioned. However, despite their great differences from their definitions today, the smallpox disease defined by Galen in the 3rd century is a “disease” as is the smallpox defined by Rhazes (Fig. 2-1) in the 10th century. Similarly, in the 1700s, the smallpox disease defined by Jenner is also a “disease”. Remarkably, way back in history, the signs of a disease, considered only a symptom today, were regarded as a disease on their own. Hence, symptoms such as abdominal pain, hemorrhage, diarrhea, vomiting, and fever were cited as diseases in the Hippocratic era, Galen, and/or Razi and Avicenna, the distinguished representatives of the Eastern world [8]. This approach has cultural and in fact, mythological bases, which can be embodied by the example of Febris, the goddess of fever and malaria. She represents fever and febrile diseases. In antiquity, unlike in our times, not much was known about the mechanism of fever in disease and therefore was considered a disease on its own. In periods of medicine with mystical explanations, supernatural forces were blamed. Consequently, it is not surprising that the goddess Febris was held responsible for fever.
Access provided by Autonomous University of Puebla. Download to read the full chapter text
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
References
Al-Razi (~1732–1733) Hamidiye 1013 manuscript. In: Süleymaniye Manuscript Library, I.stanbul, folios 1b, 2a, 124b, 125a, 128a, 139a.
Arda B (1997) Disease Concept of Western Medieval Age (Batı Ortaçag˘ı'nda hastalık kavramı). Günes¸ Kitabevi, Ankara (in Turkish).
Arda B (2001) FMF: some considerations about its historical and demographic features. Türkiye Klinikleri Tip Tarihi 1:106–110.
Arda B, Aksu M (2004) What the Hittites' tablets tell us? A short historical view of deafness on the basic of genetics. Turk J Med Sci 34:357–358.
Bayat AH (2003) History of Medicine. Sade Matbaası, I.zmir, pp 60–61, 65 (in Turkish).
Castiglioni A (1958) A History of Medicine, 2nd edn. Alfred A Knopf, New York, pp 18, 50.
Hoogstraal H (1979) The epidemiology of tick-borne Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in Asia, Europe and Africa. J Med Entomol 15:307–417.
Kahya E, Demirhan Erdemir A (2000) Medicine and health foundations since Ottoman to Republic of Turkey in the light of scientific studies (Bilimsel çalıs¸malar ıs¸ıg˘ında Osmanlı'dan Cumhuriyet'e tıp ve sag˘lık kurumları). Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı Yayınları, Ankara, p 71 (in Turkish).
Kiple K (1996) The History of Disease (in History Medicine). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 16–30.
Klietmann WF, Ruoff KL (2001) Bioterrorism: implications for the clinical microbiologist. Clin Microbiol Rev 14:364–381.
Porter R (1996) Illustrated History Medicine. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 6–15.
Singer C (1944) A Short History of Medicine. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 61–82.
Taylor FK (1979) The Concepts of Illness, Disease and Morbus. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 18–117.
Whitehouse CA (2004) Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. Antiviral Res 64:145–160.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Arda, B., Aciduman, A. (2007). A Historical Perspective of Infectious Diseases with Reference to Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever. In: Ergonul, O., Whitehouse, C.A. (eds) Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6106-6_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6106-6_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-6105-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-6106-6
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)