# Sweating Sickness: Getting Sweaty This Way was Never a Good Thing

- Link: https://stayathomemum.com.au/wellbeing/body/sweating-sickness-getting-sweaty-this-way-was-never-a-good-thing/
- Published: 2016-04-15T08:00:08+10:00
- Author: Caroline Duncan

## _You’ve probably heard of the Bubonic Plague that killed millions of people in Europe during the Middle Ages. But have you heard of the other equally deadly disease that terrified people in that era, known as “the Sweating Sickness”?_

This mysterious  and highly contagious disease ran rampant in England in particular
in the Tudor era with the first recorded instance in 1485 and reappeared at different
intervals, claiming many lives. Death could come quite quickly once symptoms were
present – with the time between onset and death being as little as just a few hours.
It sounds like something out of a horror flick!

## **Symptoms**

[⌊Old woman resting in bed during a heatwave feeling unwell and sweaty⌉⌊Old woman
resting in bed during a heatwave feeling unwell and sweaty⌉[

via independent.co.uk

The Sweating Sickness started out suddenly with headache, rigors, giddiness and 
severe prostration, a sense of apprehension, cold shivers, and pains in the neck,
shoulders and limbs. This cold stage could last from half an hour to three hours
and was then followed by a stage of violent, drenching sweating with severe headaches,
delirium and a rapid pulse. It was often fatal, with death occuring between 3 to
18 hours after this stage.

If you caught the Sweating Sickness once, that didn’t guarantee you immunity. Bad
enough you had it once and survived, you could still catch it multiple times! Some
people went through several bouts of it before it eventually killed them.

## **Causes and mystery**

[⌊Old wooden water barrel with water splashing inside⌉⌊Old wooden water barrel with
water splashing inside⌉[

Via cookit E2bn Org

The cause of this disease and what it was remains mysterious. Historians believe
that it is possible the general dirt and sewage conditions of the time were responsible
for the disease.

Each epidemic took place in late spring or in summer and it is thought perhaps it
was spread by insects and lice that were active at that time of year. Every single
Sweating Sickness epidemic vanished when winter started.

Rich people were often more affected by it than the poor, and young healthy people
more so.

Influenza and typhus have been ruled out as the modern-day explanation for this 
mysterious illness, and some scholars think that it may have been caused by hanta
virus a disease a bit like Ebola.

## Next Page: When Did It Start?

![author avatar](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b860f553e8ded813ef1efe9dc0c295aaafb562c488421df4566fb8f71d3e1347?
s=300&d=mm&r=pg)

 Caroline Duncan

 Caroline Duncan is a freelance journalist and photographer with almost 20 years'
media experience in radio, magazines and online. She is also a mother of three daughters,
and when she's not writing or taking pictures, she's extremely busy operating a 
taxi service running them around to various activities. She can't sew and hates 
housework.

 [See Full Bio](https://stayathomemum.com.au/author/carolinedun/) [  ](https://stayathomemum.com.au/author/carolinedun/)