Tuberculosis before and after the Black Death (1346-1353 CE) in the Hospital of St John the Evangelist in Cambridge, England.

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  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: Churchill Livingstone Country of Publication: Scotland NLM ID: 100971555 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-281X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14729792 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Tuberculosis (Edinb) Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Original Publication: Edinburgh, New York : Churchill Livingstone, c2001-
    • Subject Terms:
      Plague*/epidemiology ; Plague*/history ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis* ; Tuberculosis*/history; Male ; Humans ; Female ; England/epidemiology ; Hospitals
    • Abstract:
      This research explores how the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) in a medieval hospital was affected by the demographic and social changes that following the Black Death (1346-1353 CE), the initial years of the Second Plague Pandemic. To do this, skeletal remains of individuals buried at the Hospital of St John the Evangelist in Cambridge, England, that could be dated to living before (n = 77) or after (n = 55) the Black Death were assessed for evidence of TB (indicated by destructive lesions of the spine, ribs, large joints, and other recognised criteria). Overall, the odds of females having skeletal lesions caused by TB were over four times higher than males. No significant difference was detected in the prevalence rates in those who lived before and after the Black Death (7.8%, 6/77 before and 11.0%, 6/55 after). However, the odds of females having skeletal evidence of TB were over five times greater after the Black Death than they were before. These findings indicate that women may have been 1) more susceptible to TB, 2) surviving longer post-infection than men, and/or 3) that women with TB were more likely to be admitted to the Hospital especially following the Black Death. It is also possible that impairment due to TB infection may have been a contributing factor for entry into the Hospital for women but not men.
      Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None.
      (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)
    • Grant Information:
      2000368/Z/15/Z United Kingdom WT_ Wellcome Trust
    • Contributed Indexing:
      Keywords: Bioarchaeology; Medieval; Paleopathology; Plague; Second plague pandemic; TB
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20231128 Date Completed: 20231129 Latest Revision: 20240328
    • Publication Date:
      20240329
    • Accession Number:
      10.1016/j.tube.2023.102401
    • Accession Number:
      38012925