Swine ‘flu is making a bit of a comeback at the moment and we have had two patients admitted to the hospital recently with this infection. But where does the name “influenza” come from?
It’s derived from the Italian word for “influence”. This is because mediaeval physicians believed that this was a disease which was caused by inauspicious astrological circumstances: influenza della stella “under the influence of the stars”. Later medics ditched the theory that diseases were linked to astrology and began to have more sensible ideas, for example, that cold weather was associated with the disease: influenza del freddo.
An astrological chart - not the best way of predicting a flu epidemic (Credit commons.wikimedia.org)
Influenza has also had several other names including the grippe. This is not to be confused with The Devil’s Grippe which sounds like a very nasty disease indeed. This is an infection caused by Coxsackie B virus. Patients with this illness – also known as Bornholm Disease – can have very severe pain in the rib cage, which can be so bad that they are unable to take deep breaths. Although this is alarming for the patient, the good news is that they will make a complete recovery.
