Socio-Health Reactions Derived from the Fear of Death during the First Cholera Epidemic of the 19th Century

Abstract

From its endemic origin in the deltas of the Ganges and the Indo the cholera spread in a pandemic way during successive waves throughout the 19th century. His arrival was preceded by a widespread fear for various factors, apparatusity of symptoms, the unpredictable sense of his departure, but above all for his etiological and therapeutic ignorance. The following work tries to analyze the fear during the first appearance of the disease in Spain. More specifically, the imaginary ones are analyzed in the matter of health of the individuals or collectivities, conformers of the predominant health culture in the society and the understanding from them, of the behaviors, in this case of the caregivers and authorities. For this, a historical-sociocultural study is designed, using various ethnographic sources on which the method of speech typology is applied.