The Mass Campaign to Eradicate Ringworm Among the Jewish Community in Eastern Europe, 1921–1938

Bibliographic Data

ID11030475
AuthorsSHIFRA SHVARTS (0000-0002-1400-8156, Shifra Shvarts is with the Moshe Prywes Center of Medical Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, and the Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Tel Hashomer, Israel. Pnina Romem is with the Recanati School of Health Professions, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Yitzhak Romem is with Clalit Health Services and the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Mordechai Shani is with the School of Public Health,...), Pnina Romem (Shifra Shvarts is with the Moshe Prywes Center of Medical Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, and the Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Tel Hashomer, Israel. Pnina Romem is with the Recanati School of Health Professions, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Yitzhak Romem is with Clalit Health Services and the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Mordechai Shani is with the School of Public Health,...), Yitzhak Romem (Shifra Shvarts is with the Moshe Prywes Center of Medical Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, and the Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Tel Hashomer, Israel. Pnina Romem is with the Recanati School of Health Professions, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Yitzhak Romem is with Clalit Health Services and the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Mordechai Shani is with the School of Public Health,...), Mordechai Shani (Shifra Shvarts is with the Moshe Prywes Center of Medical Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, and the Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Tel Hashomer, Israel. Pnina Romem is with the Recanati School of Health Professions, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Yitzhak Romem is with Clalit Health Services and the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Mordechai Shani is with the School of Public Health,...)
Year2013
Volume103
Issue4
Pagese56-e66
Publication date2013-04-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2012.301020
PMID23409897
PMCIDPMC3673251
OpenAlexW2116509152
LanguageEN
References cited2

Between the years 1921 and 1938, 27 600 children were irradiated during a mass campaign to eradicate ringworm among the Jewish community in East Europe. The ringworm campaign was the initiative of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee together with the Jewish health maintenance organization OZE (The Society for the Protection of Jewish Health). We describe this campaign that used x-rays to eradicate ringworm and its mission to enhance public health among Jewish communities in Eastern Europe during the period between the world wars. We discuss the concepts behind the campaign, the primary health agents that participated in it, and the latent medical ramifications that were found among children treated for ringworm, many years after treatment—pathologies that can be linked to the irradiation they received as children. Our research is based on historical archival materials in the United States, Europe, and Israel

Archaeology · Environmental health · Family medicine · Judaism · Pathology · Public health · Sociology · Demography · History · History of Medicine and Tropical Health · Medical History and Research · Medicine · Medicine and Dermatology Studies History · Gerontology

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