Accompanied by Professor Renaud Piarroux, head of department at Pitié Salpêtrière (AP-HP), specialist in infectious diseases, we delve into the history of epidemics, from prehistory to the end of Antiquity. Today, we head to the Egypt of the Pharaohs to understand the health repercussions of a sedentary lifestyle.
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The team: Charlotte Baris (presentation and writing), Léa Bertrand (editing) and Jules Krot (direction).
Credits: INA, HBO, Studiocanal, France 24, City of Science and Industry
Music and design: Emmanuel Herschon/Studio Torrent
Image credits: AFP/MOHAMED EL-SHAHED
Logo: Anne-Laure Chapelain/Benjamin Chazal
How to listen to a podcast? follow the leader.
Charlotte Baris: The Black Death, the Spanish Flu, Cholera and even Covid. Epidemics have marked our history, often reduced to medieval representations. However, they allow us to understand the pandemics we can face today. Through five major historical periods of Antiquity, we take you to discover the birth of epidemics.
Yesterday, we tried to understand what diseases our prehistoric ancestors might have encountered. Keep in mind all the knowledge from this previous episode, it will definitely be useful to us for the rest. And we now arrive at a period where the main character of our story – man – has changed: he stops being nomadic and settles in one place. This sedentarization is a real turning point in our evolution, but also in terms of health…
This is where we meet Professor Renaud Piarroux, epidemiologist and head of department at the Pitié Salpêtrière in Paris. To continue our discussion, I asked him what changes were brought about by this shift to a sedentary lifestyle.
For further
Cholera, the forgotten threat that is approaching French soil
First death from cholera in Mayotte: 5 questions on the surge in cases worldwide
Operation “Wuambushu” in Mayotte: a shanty town being demolished