Searching for Syphilis

Searching for Syphilis

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What was the Great Pox?

Discussions to whether the symptoms described by medieval medical records really were the signs of syphilis. Could Columbus and his crew really have started the spread of the disease in Europe?

The bones of Rivenhall women

Dr Simon Mays discovers a 600 year old diseased skeleton from a church yard in Essex. Will the bones of Rivenhall women show signs that treponemal disease was in Europe prior to the voyage of Columbus?

Extracting DNA from ancient bone

Dr Piers Mitchell an orthopaedic surgeon and medical historian looks at which types of diseases Rivenhall women was likely to be carrying. Meanwhile Ms Abi Bouwman an biomolecular archaeologist is looking at new ways of detecting treponemal DNA in ancient bone.

Treatment for syphilis

Dr Sheila Lukehart talks about how syphilis has shown little resistance to the basic antibiotics we use to fight it, mainly penicillin.