Morbus Skerljevo--an unknown disease among Slovenians in the first half of the 19th century.
During the first decades of the 19th century a disease appeared in the regions of Inner Carniola and Carst which was, due to its unusual course, at first considered a new entity. It spread among the population in an asexual, extragenital and endemic way and was conditioned by poor economic and hygienic circumstances. Since the clinical picture of the disease resembled sporadic syphilis, some doctors thought that it was a combination of syphilis and some other contagious disease, while others likened it to sporadic syphilis. The government in Vienna responded to the epidemic by the introduction of extensive social and health measures. Compulsory medical examination of all the inhabitants in the affected areas was decreed, treatment of patients was initiated and preventive measures recommended. The action was organised by Baron Dr. Stifft. In the summer of 1818 a new specialised hospital for Skerljevo's patients was opened in Postojna (Adelsberg). When the epidemic declined a decade later the hospital was closed down. Extensive preventive and curative actions, and the efforts of local authorities and clergy to improve living conditions of the Slovenian peasant population and make them more aware of the seriousness and causes of the disease contributed to the decline of the epidemic. The example set by organisation of the official measures taken in the case of Skerljevo disease can serve as a basis for a comparative medico-historical study regarding new epidemic diseases (AIDS, and diseases caused by slow viruses).
Slavec
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Institute for the History of Medicine, Medical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D017524:Slovenia; D013587:Syphilis / Q000266:history*