Karolina Turcza

A poison as a drug or methods of cholera treatment in the 19th century Krakow
2018-02-02

DOI: 10.32383/farmpol/120040

In the 19th century, cases of an unknown disease of Asian origin called cholera started to be encountered in Europe. Krakow was one of the most often afflicted Polish cities. The world first heard about cholera on a larger scale in 1817 from reports of European travelers on an epidemic in India. Having been transmitted along trade routes, in 1831 cholera reached the borders of the Russian Empire from where it spread all over Europe. In Krakow, the first case of cholera was recorded in June 1831 while the next epidemics struck Krakow in 1836/37, 1849, 1855, 1866, 1873, 1892–1894. The first articles and guides describing cholera protection and treatment measures were published on Polish soil just after the first epidemic in 1831. Physicians and scientists together with municipal authorities tried to develop one concise cholera prevention system. Unfortunately, opinions on cholera prophylaxis and treatment were divided. Epidemics raged over the city while frightened and helpless citizens reached for specific therapeutic methods, including strong poisons which belonged to the most often used medicines although people were unaware of their harmful effects. These were the solution from the strychnine tree which is an Asian plant the seeds of which contain strychnine used in rat poisons, and the extract from Veratrum album (false helleborine), a strongly poisonous plant. Over time cholera treatment methods changed particularly thanks to the studies carried out by the German physician Dr R. Koch contributing to the discovery of Vibrio cholerae and thus to improvement of therapeutic methods.

Keywords: cholera, epidemic, Krakow, 19th century, history of medicine.