Urban space, war and social diseases: the case of infantile trachoma in Valencia, 1936-1937

Abstract

From late 1937 on, there was a resurgence in Spain of endemic diseases such as trachoma. This disease had been controlled since the beginning of the twentieth century, especially during the Second Republic (1931-1936); however, the decline in living conditions and the population displacements during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) facilitated the resurgence of endemic trachoma. This article seeks to analyze the consequences of the Civil War on the struggle against infantile trachoma in Valencia, a city in the rearguard of the Republican zone in which poverty and overcrowding appeared suddenly, an ideal scenario for an outbreak of trachoma.