The year is 1656. Your body is wracked by violent chills. Your head pounds, your muscles are too weak to sit up, and you feel like rancid, hard-boiled eggs are squeezing out of your neck and armpits. In your feverish state, you see a strange-looking man approach, his face obscured by a beak-like mask, his body covered from head to toe. He examines you and even without seeing his face, you know the diagnosis: you have the plague.
Godina je 1656. Telo ti se trese od jake jeze. U glavi ti odzvanja, mišići su ti preslabi da bi seo i osećaš kao da smrdljiva, tvrdo kuvana jaja polako izlaze iz tvog vrata i pazuha. U svojoj groznici, vidiš čoveka čudnog izgleda kako prilazi lica sakrivenog maskom koja liči na kljun, tela prekrivenog od glave do pete. Pregleda te, a iako mu ne vidiš lice znaš dijagnozu: imaš kugu.
The plague stands out as one of the most terrifying and destructive diseases in human history. It swept across large parts of Afro- Eurasia in three separate pandemics starting in the 6th, 14th, and 19th centuries; killed tens of millions of people, and had— in the best of cases— about a 40% survival rate.
Kuga je jedna od najstrašnijih i najdestruktivnijih bolesti koje poznaje ljudska istorija. Proširila se na velike delove Afro-Evroazije u tri različite pandemije, koje su počele u VI, XIV i XIX veku, ubila je desetine miliona ljudi i imala - u najboljem slučaju - procenat preživelih oko 40%.
The European plague doctor, with his beaked mask and wizard-like robes, is one of the images most popularly associated with plague today. He’s often found in books and films about the 14th century pandemic known as the Black Death. The only problem is that’s about as accurate as placing a modern surgeon at the court of Louis the 14th in Versailles. The confusion is understandable though— the Black Death had several aftershocks, including a series of devastating outbreaks in Western Europe during the 17th century. This is when the iconic plague doctor actually emerged on the scene.
Evropski doktor za kugu, sa svojom maskom u obliku kljuna i čarobnjačkim plaštom je danas jedna od slika koja se najčešće povezuje sa kugom. Često se može naći u knjigama i filmovima o pandemiji iz XIV veka poznatoj kao Crna smrt. Jedini problem s tim je što je to otprilike jednako precizno kao staviti modernog hirurga na dvor Luja XIV u Versaju Ova konfuzija je razumljiva- Crna smrt je izbila još nekoliko puta uključujući i seriju razornih izbijanja u Zapadnoj Evropi u XVII veku. Tada se legendarni doktor za kugu zapravo i pojavio.
First described in the early 17th century, the outfit consisted of a hood with crystal eyepieces and a beak filled with a pungent combination of herbs and compounds. This could include cinnamon, pepper, turpentine, roast copper, and powdered viper flesh. This recipe was inspired by the famed 2nd century Greco-Roman physician Galen, and was thought to ward off poisoned air known as miasma. People believed this bad air spread plague after emanating from swamps and sources of decay, such as dead plants or animal carcasses. In earlier centuries, doctors across Europe carried metal pomanders filled with similar mixtures, and it’s possible that the beak evolved as a hands-free alternative.
Prvi put opisan u ranom XVII veku, nosio je odelo koje je sadržalo kapuljaču sa kristalnim sočivima i kljun punjen aromatičnom kombinacijom biljaka i različitih jedinjenja. Ona su mogla da ukjlučuju cimet, biber, terpentin, pečeni bakar i zmijsko tkivo u prahu. Ovaj recept je inspirisan poznatim grčko-rimskim doktorom iz II veka, Galenom i mislilo se da odbija otrovan vazduh znan kao mijazma, Ljudi su verovali da ovaj loš vazduh širi kugu nakon što se proširi iz močvara i mesta truljenja, kao što su mrtve biljke ili leševi životinja. U ranijim vekovima, doktori širom Evrope nosili su metalne kugle pune sličnih mešavina, i moguće je da je kljun nastao da ne bi morale da se koriste ruke.
The rest of the costume, which included an oiled leather robe, boots and gloves, acted as kind of an early hazmat suit, likely designed to block miasma from entering through the skin’s pores. While this shows some basic understanding that plague spread from one place to another, these doctors couldn’t know that, in most cases, the true culprit was a tiny flea transmitting the bacteria, Yersinia pestis, from one person or animal to another. It’s possible that the plague doctor’s outfit may have provided some unintentional protection from flea bites. However, not enough information survives to know whether the costumed doctors fared any better than their ordinarily robed counterparts.
Ostatak kostima, koji je uključivao nauljenu kožnu odoru, čizme i rukavice je bio neka vrsta ranog zaštitnog odela, stvorenog da blokira mijazmu od ulaska kroz kožne pore. Iako ovo pokazuje neko osnovno razumevanje da se kuga širi s jednog na drugo mesto, ovi doktori nisu mogli da znaju da je, u većini slučajeva, pravi krivac sićušna buva koja je prenosila bakteriju, zvanu Yersinia pestis, sa jedne na drugu osobu ili životinju. Moguće je da je odeća doktora za kugu pružala izvesnu nenamernu zaštitu od ujeda buve. Međutim, nemamo dovoljno preživelih informacija da bismo znali da li su doktori u odori bolje prolazili od njihovih standardno obučenih kolega.
It's no surprise that this bizarre getup has captured popular imagination, despite the fact that its use was limited to a few places in Italy and France during the 17th and early 18th centuries. Even at the time, it was viewed with macabre fascination and occasionally used to mock the ineffective and corrupt practices of some physicians.
Nije čudno što je ova bizarna odeća ostala u mašti širokih narodnih masa, iako se koristila samo u nekoliko delova Italije i Francuske tokom XVII i ranog XVIII veka. Čak i tada, gledalo se na nju kao na nešto morbidno fascinantno i povremeno se koristila da bi se ismejale neefikasne i korumpirane radnje nekih doktora.
Until the 20th century, there was no effective treatment for the plague, but that didn’t stop doctors— costumed or not— from trying. They consulted the works of earlier physicians for guidance, did what they could to fend off miasma, and prescribed a variety of concoctions and antidotes. They also relied on pre-modern medical mainstays. These could include bloodletting, which involved draining (sometimes concerningly large amounts of) blood in an attempt to remove poison or restore the body’s natural balance. Or cupping, where the rim of a heated glass was placed over swollen lymph nodes in hopes of making them burst sooner— a sign, when it occurred naturally, that a plague patient was on the mend. Or— perhaps most painfully— cautery, which involved lancing the lymph nodes with a red-hot poker to release the blackened pus within.
Do XX veka nije bilo efikasnog leka za kugu, ali to nije sprečilo doktore- kostimirane ili ne- da pokušaju. Koristili su radove ranijih doktora kao smernice, radili su šta su mogli da odbiju mijazmu i prepisivali su različite mešavine i protivotrove. Takođe su se oslanjali na često korišćene metode u staro vreme. Na primer: puštanje krvi što je uključivalo ceđenje (nekad i zabrinjavajuće velikih količina) krvi da bi se uklonio otrov ili vratila prirodna ravnoteža tela. Metoda je bila i stavljanje ivice zagrejane čaše preko nateklih limfnih čvorova, u nadi da će ranije pući- što je, kada se dešavalo prirodno, bio znak da je pacijent sve bolje. Možda najbolnija metoda je bila kauterizacija, spaljivanje limfnih čvorova užarenim žaračem, da bi se otpustio pocrneli gnoj iz njih.
A lot has changed since their times. Modern medicine has given us the means to quickly identify bacterial as well as viral threats and to effectively mobilize against them. We also have access to technologies like test kits, masks to deter the spread of respiratory viruses, and vaccines; and we conduct robust trials to make sure they’re safe and effective. But some things don’t change: we still depend on the courage and compassion of medical professionals who voluntarily risk their lives against an invisible attacker to help and comfort those who need it most.
Mnogo toga se promenilo od tad. Moderna medicina nam dozvoljava da brzo identifikujemo bakterijske i virusne pretnje, i da krenemo u napad na njih. Imamo pristup tehnologijama kao što su testovi, maske da sprečimo širenje respiratornih virusa, i vakcine; i sprovodimo zahtevna istraživanja da bismo bili sigurni da rade i da su bezbedne. Međutim, neke stvari se ne menjaju. I dalje zavisimo od hrabrosti i posvećenosti medicinskih radnika koji svojevoljno rizikuju svoje živote u borbi sa nevidljivim neprijateljem da bi pružili pomoć i utehu kome je potrebna.