About According to Dr. Jerry Michael Foster MD some 620,000 soldiers died during the four-year Civil War conflict. The North lost 360,000 souls while the South gave up 260,000. However, says Dr. Jerry Michael Foster, MD, not all the deaths were caused by injuries sustained in battle. Nearly one-half of the deaths during the Civil War were caused by disease and infections. Dr. Jerry Michael Foster, MD lists several types of these ailments. These include typhoid fever, dysentery, diarrhea and infection from Staphylococcus Aureus and Streptococcus Pyogenes. Dr. Foster says most of the diseases were brought about by very poor camp conditions and that filth encouraged these types of diseases to grow and decimate whole units.
Dr. Jerry Michael Foster, MD suggests that perhaps one of the biggest killers was Typhoid. He says that although Typhoid is nearly non-existent in the modern Western world, it was a rampant killer during the 19th century. No one, insists Dr. Jerry Michael Foster, MD, was safe from the crippling and often fatal effects from Typhoid. Typhoid was spread by salmonella that was present in contaminated food and water. Dr. Jerry Michael Foster, MD has found that a significant number of non-combatant deaths on the Confederate side were caused by this terrible disease. The only treatment for Typhoid Fever at the time was rest and fresh food and water that was often in short supply, according to Dr. Jerry Michael Foster, MD.
British researchers have proven that Typhoid is a water-borne disease. Dr. Jerry Michael Foster, MD maintains that most physicians from the Civil War did not appreciate this link. . So Typhoid, says Dr. Foster, manifested itself in the young, old, rich, poor, officer or enlisted. Dr. Jerry Michael Foster MD points out that the disease practiced a non-discriminatory approach. He says that the worse part of having a patient with Typhoid at that time was the feeling of helplessness as physicians watched their patients die in droves.
About Dr. Jerry Michael Foster, MD
Dr. Jerry Michael Foster MD is a Tennessee Board Certified physician in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology. In 1971, North Carolina State University conferred a degree for undergraduate work to Dr. Foster. The completion of Dr. Jerry Michael Foster MD’s doctoral program was at Duke University Medical School and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Jerry Michael Foster, MD is married to wife Patty and is a long time enthusiast of United States History and collecting Civil War memorabilia.