This is a bit specialized -- I hope that a public health expert, Chinese epidemiologist, infectious disease specialist, or Chinese studies historian can tell me definitively:
Was Noma endemic (or did it even exist) in southern China in the late 1800s/early 1900s?
Thanks.
For those who are curious: Noma is a bacterial disease, which affects almost exclusively malnourished children in developing countries. It begins usually in the cheek's mucous membrane with ulcers and destroys the affected tissue ... it's also known as "the face-eating disease." Without treatment, the child usually dies. These days, it is most often found in Africa.
Was Noma endemic (or did it even exist) in southern China in the late 1800s/early 1900s?
Thanks.
For those who are curious: Noma is a bacterial disease, which affects almost exclusively malnourished children in developing countries. It begins usually in the cheek's mucous membrane with ulcers and destroys the affected tissue ... it's also known as "the face-eating disease." Without treatment, the child usually dies. These days, it is most often found in Africa.