Girolamo Fracastoro and the invention of syphilis

Ano: 2010 | Volume: 17 | Número: 4

Autores: Virginia Iommi Echeverría

Palavras-chave: Girolamo Fracastoro (1478-1553), syphilis, contagion, air propagation.

Resumo Inglês:

Girolamo Fracastoro wrote two works
on syphilis: his famous poem, in which
he gave a name to the disease, and a
prose treatise. From the comparison of
these works, in this paper we have
identified the combination of several
approaches as the main characteristic
of his description. On the one hand
Fracastoro followed the classical
medical explanation that emphasized
the corruption of the air in order to
explain the origins of the disease. On
the other hand, when referring to the
forms of contagion, he stated clearly
that the disease is contracted by direct
contact with an infected person. It is
possible then to talk of the ‘invention’
of syphilis by Fracastoro since he
combined the information empirically
collected, with the renaissance medical
traditional perspective.