What are the differences and similarities between plague doctors and modern doctors wearing PPE? Click here to find out.Ĭredit: A physician wearing a 17th century plague preventive. "The flowers on the shoes are just a bit of fun - taking something from an original source and exaggerating it to the point of silliness."Ĭlick here to have a go at drawing your own plague doctor! "I’ve done the cartoon itself with simple poses and lighter cross-hatching as a parody (exaggeration) of a more illustrative style. Plague is a disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. "A recurring theme here will be that things from history might look weird to us but in their day they were tried and tested and modern. I f a beak full of lavender was protection from the plague then surely a bigger beak was more protection! "This illustration reflects the difference between today’s hospital regular doctor and an ICU hospital doctor - a ll the kit but more extreme. In fact, in some places such as a village on an estate in Cambridgeshire. It killed at least 60 per cent of the population in rural and urban areas. The population was reduced from some 80 million to 30 million. Fleas could cling on to the outside of their clothes unnoticed and the plague doctor could end up spreading the plague further! In Europe, it is thought that around 50 million people died as a result of the Black Death over the course of three or four years. Elizabethan plague doctors did not understand this, so they often wore the same outfit day after day without washing it properly. Today we know that personal protective equipment (PPE) needs to be regularly cleaned or properly disposed of. However, plague doctors could also cause the spread of plague. Instead they would poke patients with a stick and prescribe ‘remedies’. The cloak of waxed leather, the long gloves and boots, and the headdress covering their mouth and nose would have made it difficult for fleas to find any skin to bite.Īs an extra precaution, plague doctors rarely came into plague infected homes or touched patients. Although plague doctors did not know this, their elaborate outfits also protected them from the deadly flea bites. We know now that the plague was spread by infected fleas jumping from rats to humans. His clothes and mask might look strange, but he is dressed like this to protect himself from the highly contagious plague.Īccording to 17th century science, the plague was spread by bad air so the long ‘beak’ in the plague doctor’s mask would be stuffed with lavender and other pleasant smelling herbs and plants to ward off the plague. This is an illustration of a plague doctor. A Physician Wearing a 17th Century Plague Preventive
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