At the beginning of the twentieth century, not only the First World War was raging on our planet, but also the so-called Spanish flu. According to various sources, this dangerous disease has claimed the lives of 50 to 100 million people. Therefore, it is not surprising that another epidemic went almost unnoticed by doctors. Although from another, "sleepy" disease, about 5 million patients were affected. However, the Austrian neurologist Konstantin von Economo still described lethargic encephalitis, but he did not manage to reveal all the secrets of this ailment.
In fact, the first patients with "sleepy" encephalitis were discovered back in 1916. Most of them turned out to be military personnel, so at first the doctors decided that it was all about chemical warfare agents. However, soon the hospitals began to receive patients with the same symptoms as the soldiers, but from among the civilian population. Meanwhile, doctors had no time to deal with "strange" patients closely: the fight against the "Spanish flu" did not leave them a minute of free time.
Nevertheless, the Austrian neurologist Konstantin von Economo set about studying the unknown "sleeping" disease. It was von Economo who first described the dangerous disease and gave it the name - lethargic encephalitis. According to the neurologist, the first symptoms of this type of encephalitis were general ill health, headaches, fever, runny nose, and a constant feeling of fatigue. After some time, the patient fell into a state of drowsiness, which soon turned into a coma or catatonic stupor. Similar manifestations of this ailment can be seen in Penny Marshall's 1990 film Awakening, starring Robert De Niro and Robin Williams.
By the way, this picture was shot based on the book of memoirs by Dr. Oliver Sachs, who for many years studied similar diseases, including lethargic encephalitis. It is interesting that, according to Sachs, while some of the patients suffering from this ailment "fell asleep", others, on the contrary, were awake for several days in a row and were in a state of constant excitement and movement. Moreover, even the strongest sedatives or hypnotics did not work on the latter. But about a third of both the first and second patients invariably died within two weeks from the day the first symptoms were discovered.
In total, during the epidemic of "sleeping" disease, about 5 million people died or were left disabled. Among them, the overwhelming majority were patients aged 15 to 35 years. Many of those fortunate enough to survive became such "ghosts" or "zombies" as Oliver Sachs dubbed them. From morning to evening, patients with lethargic encephalitis did nothing but sit in their chairs, staring into the distance. They were not in a stupor, but they did not show any interest in life and did not show any desires. Even the survivors had no appetite as such. It was Dr. Sachs who was involved in the "awakening" of such patients.
In his work, Oliver Sachs relied both on his own research and on the findings of the previously mentioned Konstantin von Economo. After all, von Economo did not stop at describing lethargic encephalitis. The Austrian neurologist was able to identify the cause of the "sleepy" symptoms of the disease. As indicated in the book by Tatyana Dyakonova, Yevgeny Kurasov and Roman Remizevich, "Medical and psychological aspects of healthy sleep," after opening the bodies of several patients, Economo found that each of them had the same parts of the brain affected: the posterior wall of the third ventricle and the wall of the Sylvian aqueduct …
Most likely, these changes were caused by some kind of virus, which, however, has not been identified. Therefore, to this day, the "sleep epidemic" of the 1920s remains one of the unsolvable mysteries of mankind. Moreover, this epidemic ended as suddenly as it began. Since 1927, no cases of mass morbidity of lethargic encephalitis have been recorded.
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However, many scientists argue that there is no need to calm down. The virus continues to "travel" through cities and towns. So, during the years of the Second World War, a small outbreak of lethargic encephalitis occurred in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. And in the mid-1980s, four patients with symptoms of "sleeping" disease were treated in a hospital in London. Several patients were hospitalized later in Japan. And there are quite a few such isolated cases that have occurred in various parts of our planet.
Precisely because patients with lethargic encephalitis continue to appear with enviable regularity, Oliver Sachs believes that there is no reason to assert that the mysterious virus has died. According to Sachs, epidemics can be expected anywhere, anytime. The main thing, the doctor says, is not to be caught off guard. In this regard, virologist John Oxford declares that it is necessary to identify the causative agent of the disease, otherwise a new epidemic will again claim the lives of millions of people.
Author: Julia Popova