Hunter P R
Public Health Laboratory, City Hospital, Chester, United Kingdom.
Rev Infect Dis. 1991 Mar-Apr;13(2):303-6. doi: 10.1093/clinids/13.2.303.
During the 15th and 16th centuries in England, there were five epidemics of a disease characterized by fever and profuse sweating and associated with high mortality. This disease became known as the English sweating sickness. The first epidemic occurred during 1485 at around the time of Henry Tudor's victory at Bosworth Field, and the last took place during the reign of Edward VI in 1551. The disease tended to occur during the summer and early autumn. The relatively affluent male adult population, particularly the clergy, seemed to suffer the highest attack rates, and, except in one epidemic, the disease appears to have attacked only individuals native to England. Despite the reputation of the English sweating sickness as a disease with a high fatality rate, records of burials and wills in Chester suggest that the 1551 epidemic did not have a marked effect on the demographics of the population. The etiologic agent is still unknown, although an enterovirus seems to this author to be the most likely pathogen.
在15世纪和16世纪的英格兰，出现了五次以发热、大量出汗为特征且死亡率很高的疾病流行。这种疾病被称为英国汗热病。第一次流行发生在1485年左右，正值亨利·都铎在博斯沃思原野获胜之时，最后一次发生在1551年爱德华六世统治期间。这种疾病往往在夏季和初秋出现。相对富裕的成年男性群体，尤其是神职人员，似乎发病率最高，而且，除了一次流行外，这种疾病似乎只侵袭英格兰本土的人。尽管英国汗热病以高死亡率著称，但切斯特的埋葬和遗嘱记录表明，1551年的那次流行对人口统计学并未产生显著影响。病原体仍然未知，不过在作者看来，肠道病毒似乎是最有可能的病原体。
