How are historical epidemiological studies done?
score:3
I don't think there is a separate "historical epidemiology" field.
Sources
Major epidemics are chronicled just like wars - written record is the main source of information. Death records - both papers (when preserved) and cemetery headstones - may provide additional statistical evidence.
For prehistorical deceases, the main sources of information are the genetic analyses of pathogens and the human immune systems. Epidemics in the modern sense did not occur because humans lived in mostly isolated communities.
Research
Recurring epidemics, like flu, are subject to intensive medical research; e.g.:
In June 2010, a team at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine reported the 2009 flu pandemic vaccine provided some cross-protection against the 1918 flu pandemic strain.
Decease transfer by colonizers
As for the Europeans carrying diseases to the Americas, you might want to take a look at Guns, Germs, and Steel.
Basically, the European conquest of America is sufficiently recent for ample written record to exist, including the famous episode when the Europeans attempted to pass smallpox-infected blankets to the Indians (the transfer of blankets was in the summer, the smallpox outbreak among the Indians - in the spring. I am not a physician, but the connection seems tenuous).
Upvote:1
Although it doesn't comprehensively answer your question, the December 2013 issue of the BBC history magazine contains an article in which John Hatcher explores the impact of the Black Death on the Suffolk village of Walsham le Willows
The article touches on some of the ways that epidemics are studied.
More post
- 📝 What was the state of the German rail system in 1944?
- 📝 What did medieval European knights do if they were defeated in battle?
- 📝 Why are there laws that are used to limit how long a house can be in a family?
- 📝 Treatment of h*m*sexuals in Nazi Germany
- 📝 How could West Berlin had access West Germany/world while the wall was up?
- 📝 Why are modern tanks regiments called cavalry?
- 📝 Which attempts to create or revise states resulted in action?
- 📝 What events or situations of WW1 led to a Nazi fascination with Anglo-Saxon powers?
- 📝 What was Artaxerxes I ascension year?
- 📝 How many hours per day did a Sumerian farmer sleep?
- 📝 What was the difference between the Sykes Picot and League of Nations Mandate?
- 📝 Origin of left and right-hand road traffic rules, respectively
- 📝 What uniform is this probably either Lithuanian or Italian man wearing?
- 📝 How did Taganrog escape the devastation of the Stalingrad batlle of WW2?
- 📝 How did NATO handle the military coups and juntas in Greece, Turkey and Portugal?
- 📝 What's so special about the Aerodrome?
- 📝 What Roman Republican legal structures lasted into the Empire and which ones didn't?
- 📝 Was there Western tactical air support during the Battle for Berlin?
- 📝 What post-photographic 19th US century dark skirted stripe embroidered jacket, hard brim and top forage cap, light trousers, sword uniform is this?
- 📝 Did the 1962 comedy album about JFK impact the presidency or US prestige abroad?
- 📝 Why was the standoff on the Ugra river the end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke in Russia?
- 📝 Transatlantic Zeppelin Flight Time
- 📝 Since when and why do some academic publishers use, prefer or enforce endnotes instead of footnotes
- 📝 Is there any country(former colony) in the world that obtained independence and then again tried to join its colonist ruler?
- 📝 Who introduced Yoga to the West?
- 📝 How many Mendeleyevs there were?
- 📝 What was the ancient Egyptian word for "soldier"?
- 📝 Are there famous battles that took place on ice?
- 📝 Why are some New Kingdom dates quotes in pairs two years apart?
- 📝 What is the price of modern warfare compared to medieval in terms of GDP?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How are historical epidemiological studies done?
- 📝 How common are historical instances of mercenary armies reversing and attacking their employing country?
- 📝 How are Julian and Gregorian dates usually represented in historical works?
- 📝 How historical are early Chinese (Shang dynasty and earlier) dynastic records?
- 📝 How is fact checking and referencing done in historical studies?
- 📝 How are historical nutrition data gathered?
- 📝 Are there historical examples of audiences drawn to a work that was "so bad it's good"?
- 📝 What is a major historical event historians are deeply divided over?
- 📝 How would a king's servants prove that they are on a task given by the king?
- 📝 How did the American Civil War help the U.S economy recover from the Panic of 1857 given that civil wars are extremely destructive?
- 📝 Is there a historical explanation as to why the USA people are so litigious compared to the French?
- 📝 Did Aztecs know how many continents there are on earth?
- 📝 Are there historical instances of the capital of a colonising country being temporarily or permanently shifted to one of its colonies?
- 📝 What are good online sources for historical maps?
- 📝 How do historians verify historical claims?
- 📝 Are there historical texts in England querying where Roman structures came from?
- 📝 What are these historical references (from a novel)?
- 📝 Are there historical instances of settlers who were largely uncontacted and undisturbed after settling?
- 📝 Are there ancient historical sources which have been permanently lost?
- 📝 What historical reasons did the Nazis give for hating the Jews? How did they identify non-practicing Jews?
- 📝 What are the most comprehensive historical references for ancient India?
- 📝 How does the amount of equipment carried by various historical infantries compare?
- 📝 How common are major cities not built by abundant water?
- 📝 In Viking combat, how much damage was done using the shield?
- 📝 What are the historical reasons for the conventional map orientation?
- 📝 What are the historical reasons for religious and political negative attitudes towards h*m*sexuality?
- 📝 How do historians deal with Historical Bias?
- 📝 Are there cultures without knowledge of how babies are made?
- 📝 How many pens were used by MacArthur to end the final chapter of World War II and where are they now?
- 📝 Why are the historical large cities in the southern US not the large cities in the South today?