Dysentery Disaster
What was the main cause of dysentery in camps?
Drinking dirty water
How does typhoid spread?
Coming into contact with contaminated food/water
What visible symptom makes measles easy to identify?
Rash/Red dots
Mosquitos
What infection often developed in untreated battlefield wounds?
Gangrene
What simple habit could have prevented most dysentery cases?
Name ANY symptom of typhoid.
Fever, fatigue, weakness, muscle aches, headache, nausea, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, rash
Why did measles spread quickly among young soldiers?
They lacked immunity
What classic malaria symptom comes in repeating cycles?
Fever spikes
What major mistake did surgeons make that spread infections?
Not sterilizing tools
What gross food sometimes made dysentery worse?
Hardtack with maggots
What dangerous symptom made typhoid hard to treat?
How did soldiers try to cure measles?
By putting onions under their pillows
What type of terrain around battlefields helped malaria spread?
Swamps and marshes
What color does infected tissue often turn?
Black
Soldiers called dysentery "the quickstep." Why?
They had to run to the latrine
What did soldiers believe caused typhoid?
Bad air
What key medical tool didn't exist yet to prevent measles?
Vaccines
What modern tools would have protected soldiers from malaria?
Mosquito nets or insect repellant
What life-saving medicine didn't exist yet to treat wound infections?
Antibiotics
Why did dysentery kill so many soliders?
Dehydration & lack of sanitation
What modern invention could have prevented most typhoid cases?
Water treatment/sewage systems
What body system does measles weaken, making other infections more likely?
The immune system
What bitter medicine did soldiers take for malaria?
Quinine, AKA "the bitter death"
What is one joke soldiers used to make about their dire conditions?
Hospital tents -> "The butchery"
Amputees were "half the man"
Go to the surgeon's tent to "meet your ancestors"