Iranian Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine

Mendeley  

Zotero  

Panahi A, Ghanbari M. The Impact of Geographical Factors on the Prevalence of Pervasive Diseases in Guilan, Qajar Era in Perspective of European Tourists. IJMEHM 2020; 13 :47-63
URL: http://ijme.tums.ac.ir/article-1-6240-en.html

European tourists in their reports from Guilan in the Qajar era, also have addressed the issue of health and deadly diseases affecting lives of people, such as rice fever, malaria, cholera, and plague in addition to pointing out the numerous social tragedies. From these tourists’s point of view, the weather conditions, geographical location, livelihood and some living and social habits and behaviors of the people of this land were directly related to the prevalence and spread of these diseases. The epidemic of malaria, cholera, and plague has had a profound effect on the spread of poverty, public discontent, and demographic composition in the Qajar era. The authors seek to answer these questions; from the point of view of tourists and foreign visitors, what factors have caused the spread of epidemics in Guilan during the Qajar era? and what have been the consequences of the pervasive diseases on the human and economic situation of Guilan? The research findings show that the climate of Guilan, abundance of rivers, swamps, food culture, and some other natural factors caused some infectious diseases such as malaria and paddy fields in this province to be much higher than other parts of Iran. In addition to malaria, some epidemic diseases such as cholera and plague have played an important role in the economy and population of Guilan. According to the limited and scattered reports of tourists, in addition to the geographical factor in the spread of these diseases, people's lifestyles and the government's lack of attention to public health and welfare played an important role in the prevalence and spread of these diseases. Economic and social bankruptcy and the government's inability to support the people in Guilan's social movements, such as constitutionalism and the forest have made their mark. The research method in the present study is performed using historical method and descriptive-analytical studies.