The skull of a boy with a proven triple infection of hepatitis B, parvovirus B19 and Mycobacterium leprae.Image credit: Isabelle Jasch-Boley
Posted on 12/27/2022 2:04:02 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Researchers from Kiel University in Germany examined the DNA and skeletal remains of 70 people who were buried in the community cemetery located in Lauchheim Mittelhofen, a town in what is now present-day Germany. All of the burials took place sometime during the Merovingian period (between the fifth and eighth centuries A.D.). The team discovered that more than 30% of the deceased had either hepatitis B(opens in new tab); parvovirus B19(opens in new tab) (which can lead to a rash); variola virus(opens in new tab) (the virus that causes smallpox); or Mycobacterium leprae (one of the two bacteria that causes leprosy(opens in new tab)). Seven of the infected individuals had a combination of two of the illnesses.
Using DNA extracted from the roots of each individual's teeth, the researchers determined what illnesses each person had, if any. They also examined the bones of the deceased, although "only some diseases leave clear traces on the bones," Ben Krause-Kyora(opens in new tab), one of the study's co-authors and a biochemist and archaeologist at Kiel University, told Live Science in an email.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
The skull of a boy with a proven triple infection of hepatitis B, parvovirus B19 and Mycobacterium leprae.Image credit: Isabelle Jasch-Boley
sidebar, underlying source, linked in the Live Science article:
https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-022-02806-8
Pathogen genomics study of an early medieval community in Germany reveals extensive co-infections
Joanna H. Bonczarowska, Julian Susat, Barbara Mühlemann, Isabelle Jasch-Boley, Sebastian Brather, Benjamin Höke, Susanne Brather-Walter, Valerie Schoenenberg, Jonathan Scheschkewitz, Gabriele Graenert, Dirk Krausse, Michael Francken, Terry C. Jones, Joachim Wahl, Almut Nebel & Ben Krause-Kyora
Genome Biology volume 23, Article number: 250 (2022)
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That skull...wow.
They needed more scary masks to flatten the curve.
Wow. Poor kid. 😟
I wonder what percent of the population today has Herpes ?
3.7 billion people have HSV-1 infection around 66.6% of the world’s population aged 0 to 49.
Oh, man, the horrible diseases they suffered in those days! (People will probably say the same about us in a thousand years.)
King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem approves this post.
I wonder if there was a water supply problem (human wasted contamination), or excessive consanguinuity.
“I wonder if there was a water supply problem (human wasted contamination), or excessive consanguinuity.”
I’m going with:
Bad water.
Bad food.
Poor waste disposal practices.
Poor sanitation practices.
L
Hmmm . . . the Dark Ages really were dark ages for quality of life.
I never would have guessed that.
I’m going with best traditional medical practices at the time.
“IT WAS WITCHES! Burn the all!!!”
“If she weighs the same as a duck, then she’s made of wood...”
Snicker, snicker!
“I got better!”
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