From Greek miasma = bad, poisonous air. This theory of origin and transmission of diseases (see Pettenkofer) was still believed in the nineteenth century explaining the origin of spreading diseases (e.g., cholera, malaria, yellow fever etc.) by existence of “poisonous” air waves originating from rottening material. As curative measurements were used imports of fresh air, deportation of rottening material, or leaving the actual living sites. However, the discovery of the agents of the diseases malaria (Ross), cholera (Koch), or yellow fever (Finlay) showed that they were based on bacteria respectively viruses being transmitted either by oral uptake, inhaling, or - depending on the species – by injection of vectors such as mosquitoes.
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Further Reading
Grüntzig J, Mehlhorn H (2010a) Expeditions into the empire of plaques. Düsseldorf University Press, Düsseldorf
Grüntzig J, Mehlhorn H (2010b) Robert Koch, Seuchenjäger und Nobelpreisträger. Springer Spektrum, Heidelberg
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Mehlhorn, H. (2015). Miasma Theory. In: Mehlhorn, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Parasitology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_4064-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_4064-1
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