The Sweating Sickness

Book excerpt: This book was written by John Caius, an English physician, and second founder of the present Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Here, he lays out his findings regarding the sweating sickness - a mysterious and contagious disease that struck England and later continental Europe in a series of epidemics beginning in 1485. The last outbreak occurred in 1551, after which the disease apparently vanished. The onset of symptoms was sudden, with death often occurring within hours. Sweating sickness epidemics were unique compared to other disease outbreaks of the time: whereas other epidemics were typically urban and long-lasting, cases of sweating sickness spiked and receded very quickly, and heavily affected rural populations.