Skin disease and military conflicts: Lessons from the Crimean War (1854–56)

Abstract

In the Crimean War (1854–56), infamous for its high death rate from disease at 212 per thousand British troops annually – one third of which was due to cholera or dysentery – skin disease was common, accounting for 13% of all admissions and 4.2% of all deaths. Excluding typhus, skin disease caused 252 per thousand annual admissions and 8.8 per thousand annual deaths, with an overall case fatality of 3.4%. The commonest skin diseases were: localised cellulitis/abscess, ulcer, venereal disease, frostbite, scurvy, eruptive rashes and scabies. The biggest number of skin disease-related deaths were from frostbite and scurvy. Cutaneous afflictions with the highest case fatality were erysipelas (27%), gangrene (25%), smallpox (21%) and frostbite (19%). Problems from frostbite lessened during the better provisioned second winter. The experience of skin disease in the Crimea highlights the importance of public health and personal sanitation to skin health in the military context, and shows that skin-related infections and nutritional deficiencies easily develop if environmental conditions deteriorate.