Iron in Two Seventeenth-Century Plague Epidemics

Abstract

Iron in Two Seventeenth-Century Plague Epidemics The epidemiology of medieval plague is a matter of considerable controversy. Many local studies have been accomplished, but few have led to ageand sex-specific death rates. Some authors, scholars of both medieval and modern history, have considered children and women to be the most likely victims. At the other extreme are those who have placed the peak of mortality among elderly males. In modern times, plague has shown a definite propensity for healthy, young adult males. In general, males are twice as likely to become infected and five times as likely to die of plague as females. This bias is true in adulthood. Among children no sex differential has been demonstrated.1