Encephalitis lethargica (sleeping sickness) in Türkiye after the First World War

The aim of this study is to reveal the course of encephalitis lethargica, a disease that emerged in Europe during the First World War and refers to a type of central nervous system disorder occurring in the brain caused by infection, in the Ottoman Empire after the war. First appearing as an epidemic in Austria in 1916, the disease was first diagnosed by Dr Economo and spread throughout Europe and even the American continent within a few years. With the end of the war, particularly from the beginning of 1920 onwards, the disease manifested itself in many cities in Anatolia, especially Istanbul, and caused a great stir among the public. Many Turkish psychiatrists of the period, particularly the Health Directorate, attempted to identify and understand the disease and developed various treatment methods for the identified cases. As in other countries at the time, adequate solutions for treatment could not be found, and the disease continued to have devastating effects for many years. This study attempts to scientifically present the cases of encephalitis lethargica in Türkiye between 1920 and 1927, the case and mortality statistics, and the course of the disease, drawing primarily on periodicals of the time

Disease · Encephalitis · First world war · Ottoman empire · Spanish Civil War · Turkish · World War II · History of Medicine Studies · Neurology and Historical Studies · Ottoman and Turkish Studies