About Malaria in the Civil War

Malaria was a common but generally misunderstood disease during the period of the American Civil War. It was believed in that time that malaria was a sickness caused by breathing poisonous swamp gases, and although breakouts of malaria would occur during times of widespread mosquito attacks, the two occurrences were never considered to be related. As deadly as malaria is today, it was a killer of even more during the Civil War, when the art of medicine was a barbaric and generally unreliable practice.

History of

The disease that is now called malaria has been a plague for humanity since long before men began to record history. It has been known by many names, such as ague or marsh fever, suggesting that the general location of its source was known, but the carrier of the disease was not identified until much more recent times. Malaria is a parasitic blood disease that is carried by female Anopheles mosquitoes throughout the tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

The Facts

During the Civil War, disease was the killer of three out of five Federal casualties, while it was believed to have killed two out of three Confederates. The percentage of deaths caused by malaria compared to other diseases is unknown because the disease itself was commonly misdiagnosed, but it is estimated that malaria was responsible for killing a full quarter of all servicemen during this time.

Identification

The symptoms of malaria were the same during the time of the Civil War as the symptoms are now, and though today's medicine can help ease the deadly symptoms, no cure has yet been found for the disease. Signs of infection with malaria include shivering, shakes, intense joint pain, fever, vomiting, anemia, and convulsions. Beginning signs of infection are often a tingling sensation in the skin followed by chills and fever that lasts around four to six hours. This process recurs at regular intervals ranging from 36 hours to two days.

Expert Insight

Malaria was typically treated with a substance called quinine in the time period of the Civil War. The use of this drug would remain popular until the 1940's, when more effective treatments were discovered. Quinine was always presented as a salt, though it could be manipulated into various weights and types of salts, which often resulted in improper dosing. Side effects of quinine ranged from cinchonism to rare cases of death, but the popularity of the drug largely overcame its risks for sufferers of malaria.

The Facts

Civil War medical practitioners would sadly never come to the realization that malaria was transmitted through mosquitoes. Despite the beliefs of the time that linked malaria to stagnant swamps and their poisonous gases, entire contingents of soldiers would often be positioned near such swamps, and the deadly fevers that resulted would kill more men altogether than the savage minie ball projectile was responsible for. Malaria has killed uncounted millions since long before history would begin to record it, and it is still a deadly plague to humanity today.