Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, The Henry Wellcome Building, Fitzwilliam Street, Cambridge CB2 1QH, UK.
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Vautierstraat 29, 1000Brussels, Belgium.
Parasitology. 2020 Nov;147(13):1443-1451. doi: 10.1017/S0031182020001298. Epub 2020 Aug 3.
The aim of this study is to determine the species of parasite that infected the population of Brussels during the Medieval and Renaissance periods, and determine if there was notable variation between different households within the city. We compared multiple sediment layers from cesspits beneath three different latrines dating from the 14th-17th centuries. Helminths and protozoa were detected using microscopy and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We identified Ascaris sp., Capillaria sp., Dicrocoelium dendriticum, Entamoeba histolytica, Fasciola hepatica, Giardia duodenalis, Taenia sp. and Trichuris sp. in Medieval samples, and continuing presence of Ascaris sp., D. dendriticum, F. hepatica, G. duodenalis and Trichuris sp. into the Renaissance. While some variation existed between households, there was a broadly consistent pattern with the domination of species spread by fecal contamination of food and drink (whipworm, roundworm and protozoa that cause dysentery). These data allow us to explore diet and hygiene, together with routes for the spread of fecal-oral parasites. Key factors explaining our findings are manuring practices with human excrement in market gardens, and flooding of the polluted River Senne during the 14th-17th centuries.
本研究旨在确定中世纪和文艺复兴时期布鲁塞尔人群中感染的寄生虫种类，并确定城市内不同家庭之间是否存在显著差异。我们比较了来自三个不同厕所的三个不同时期（14 世纪至 17 世纪）的多个化粪池沉积物层。使用显微镜和酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）检测了寄生虫和原生动物。我们在中世纪样本中鉴定出了蛔虫、毛首线虫、肝片形吸虫、溶组织内阿米巴、有钩棘口吸虫、十二指肠贾第鞭毛虫、带绦虫和鞭虫，而在文艺复兴时期仍存在蛔虫、肝片形吸虫、有钩棘口吸虫、十二指肠贾第鞭毛虫和鞭虫。虽然家庭之间存在一些差异，但存在一种广泛一致的模式，即由食物和饮料粪便污染传播的物种占主导地位（鞭虫、蛔虫和引起痢疾的原生动物）。这些数据使我们能够探讨饮食和卫生习惯，以及粪便-口腔寄生虫的传播途径。解释我们发现的关键因素是在市场花园中用人粪施肥，以及在 14 世纪至 17 世纪期间污染的森内河洪水泛滥。
