Leprosy Myths

Constant Wonder - Radio Archive, Episode 925

Mar 23, 2021 7:00 pm
52:48 mins

A cure for leprosy was found at the only leprosy colony in the United States. How one doctor deliberately ingested a disease to disprove myths about it.

Episode Segments

Episode Segments

A Prison and a Haven: America's Only Leprosy Colony

33m

Leprosy has long been characterized as a highly contagious, skin-rotting scourge. Turns out the disease is much less infectious that we assume.

Filth Parties Dispelled Disease Myths

20m

Discovering that pellagra, a rampant epidemic in the South a century ago, was not infectious but diet-related.