Shell Shock Victim - 1918
Warning: May Be Disturbing to Some Viewers
A man being x-rayed for signs of Secondary Tuberculosis
Spanish Flu Ward - 1918, Fort Riley, Kansas
During WWI, the trenches weren’t just home to cramped and cold soldiers with guns and munitions. It also housed many diseases, all very infectious, and made a living hell for people in the trenches. Some made soldiers bedridden and unable to help at the front lines, while others gave them no chance of survival. While many infections and viruses and bacteria went through the trenches, here are perhaps the most distinctive illnesses from the Great War.
Disease in the Great War
Influenza nowadays is often the seasonal kind that comes with the cold weather. In World War One, it was a much more serious variety. Type A Influenza, while also seasonal, can develop into awful strains that is highly contagious and highly lethal. This flu, called the Spanish Flu, killed between 30,000 and 50,000 Canadians alone, and millions more around the globe. It is a respiratory illness, spreading through sneezing and coughing, as well as objects touched by the contagion. Some symptoms include fever, cough, headache, runny nose, body aches and pains, and tiredness. This combined with close quarters made it travel quickly through the lines. It was believed that soldiers returning home with this illness after WWI caused the outbreak. While other influenza strains affects the young and old the most, the Spanish Flu infected the perfectly healthy in deadly ways.
Trench foot was a very common fungal infection that affected many Canadian soldiers, with almost 5,000 casualties. It is caused by cold, wet conditions like that of the trenches they were so often in. While a change of dry socks and shoes would have worked, these were often not available. Mild symptoms included blisters and redness, and a swollen, tingly feeling. But it was almost never often mild. The infection would spread from parts of the foot to the entire foot. This would usually lead to permanent nerve damage and, more often than not, amputations.
Another respiratory illness that commonly went undetected due to rushed medical exams was tuberculosis. Primary TB is often symptom-less, spontaneously healing and never recurs. Sometimes, however, the Tuberculosis would recur as Secondary Tuberculosis. Signs of a manifestation of Secondary TB includes coughing, bloody spit, fever and weight loss. With no cure or treatment plan for TB and often long times before a return to their home is conceivable, many die at these Tuberculosis camps, and only a few pull through.
Such close quarters and cramped living conditions creates a perfect environment for a particular vermin; lice. Lice ran rampant throughout the trenches, infecting many with Trench Fever. While not life-threatening, it certainly made life much more painful, with large headaches, swollen eyes, bone and muscle aches and relapsing fevers. It was given the nickname “Five Day Fever” since fevers often lasted for five days, went away, then came back for another five days. Many soldiers got over this disease, but some suffered relapses afterwards, with some up to ten years after their first infection. This disease put many in hospital on order of bed rest since they could not function in combat, but some may say that it is better than being in the trenches with the lice.
Shell shock is perhaps the most common and most difficult illness to treat in WWI. Shell shock was more of a blanket term, referring to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when it was less understood. It’s name derives from the state some soldiers become when a shell exploded nearby. They enter a twitchy, fidgety state that dazes them, and they often remain this way for days, weeks, and often indefinitely. Doctors tried to treat them, but as mentioned before, this was a time where mental disorders were less understood. While some were rehabilitated, both mentally and physically, others were given experimental treatments such as electrical shock therapy, which had a higher rate of returning soldiers to the field than counselling did. The number that relapsed after this dangerous and completely painful treatment is unknown.
Influenza
Tuberculosis
Trench Foot
Trench Fever
Shell Shock (PTSD)
A poster released by the Army reminding soldiers to wear dry boots, change your socks regularly, and coat your feet in whale oil to keep them dry and prevent Trench Foot
An anti-Tick poster released by the Army warning soldiers about the diseases a tick may carry with it, especially Bartonella, the Trench Fever inducing bacteria
