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Strep throat may have killed Mozart: study - Reuters

(World health - EU Monitor 18/08/2009)

The death of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the age of 35 may have been caused by complications stemming from strep throat, according to a Dutch study published on Monday. Since the composer's death in 1791, there have been various theories about the cause of his untimely end, from intentional poisoning, to rheumatic fever, to trichinosis, a parasitic disease caused by eating raw or undercooked pork.

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Victorian diseases: Back from the dead

(The Independent 21/04/2009)

Charles Dickens knew more than he would have wished about scarlet fever. His son, Charley, was afflicted by it... Now, 160 years later, it is making a comeback. Almost 3,000 cases were recorded in 2008, the highest total for a decade, and doctors fear a dangerous strain of the infection is becoming more widespread. It is not the only 19th century disease to make a comeback. Mumps and measles are on the rise, whooping cough notifications are up and cases of typhoid are increasing

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The return of scarlet fever

(The Independent 29/03/2009)

Government advisers are to review crucial defences against some of Britain's "forgotten" diseases after doctors reported steep rises in the number of people suffering from scarlet fever and whooping cough. Ministers have ordered their medical experts to resurrect a proposal to introduce a "booster" vaccine for whooping cough (pertussis) following the disclosure that incidents of the potentially fatal illness had nearly doubled in a year. The Joint Committee on Vaccination

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Scarlet fever, scourge of the 19th century, is coming back

(The Independent 16/02/2009)

Scarlet Fever, the disease which killed thousands during the 19th century, is making a comeback, public health specialists have warned. Almost 3,000 cases of the disease were recorded in 2008 in England and Wales, the highest number for a decade.

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