Genealogy Chat

What is this, someone died from it on one of my certs. Have googled but nothing comes up that actually says what it is. Thanks!

Idiopathic Means an illness where the cause is not known
Erysipelas

* Will usually be a contagious skin disease, due to bacterial (streptococcal) infection in the skin and subcutaneous tissues. It can be fatal. Contaminated milk may rarely be the source
* Saint Anthony’s Fire (although this is a different illness entirely)


This is as close as I could find on an archaic medical terms site

Linda

Thankyou, much appreciated.

Hi

I'm not sure how much I can help but I hate messages being left unanswered! Perhaps someone can give you a better answer but this is what I found.

OK ...

Idiopathic is an adjective used primarily in medicine meaning arising spontaneously or from an obscure or unknown cause. From Greek ἴδιος, idios (one's own) + παθος, pathos (suffering), it means approximately "a disease of its own kind."

It is technically a term from nosology, the classification of disease. For most medical conditions, one or more causes are somewhat understood, but in a certain percentage of people with the condition, the cause may not be readily apparent or characterized. In these cases, the origin of the condition is said to be "idiopathic."


erysipelas
1. infection with Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae; occurs rarely in cattle and sheep, principally as an arthritis and laminitis, occasionally as a systemic infection. It is a common and serious infection in pigs and turkeys. In pigs it may be a septicemia with characteristic diamond-shaped skin lesions, or a chronic disease manifested principally as arthritis, sometimes as endocarditis. Turkeys are the only bird species affected at a significant level. In them the disease is manifested as a septicemia with no diagnostic signs.
2. An erythematous-edematous lesion, commonly on the hand, resulting from contact with infected meat, hides or bones; the usual lesion in humans and is called erysipeloid.

Was your ancestor a farmer or someone who worked with animals?

Ah, I see Linda beat me to it (and with a shorter, more concise answer :-)

Thankyou Jo, thats very helpful, and Ive saved it. It was a lady who died, in 1866; her husband was a shoemaker. x