Lord Byron's death: a case of late malarial relapse?

The study examines the pathological circumstances related to Byron's death, the primary issue being malaria. Lord Byron died during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire, in Messolonghi on 19 April 1824. Byron's medical profile consists of recurrent onsets of fever, which gave rise to the issue of malaria relapses. According to Byron's letters he reported crises of fever in Greece (1810), Malta (1811), Italy (1817-1819) and England. Evidence from Byron's autopsy, specifically the absence of hepatosplenomegaly, does not support a hypothetical diagnosis of malaria. Nonetheless, the relapsing fevers cannot be ignored and the same applies to the possibility of malaria relapse or re-infection in line with the endemic nature of the Messolonghi area. Our research on the chronologies of Byron's reported fevers found that new attacks occurred at intervals of 540 days on average. Moreover, the most outstanding feature of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium ovale is their ability to form dormant forms of hypnozoites in the liver which, when reactivated (110-777 days), cause true relapses of clinical disease. Of course, an ex post facto diagnosis is under debate, because the diagnosis is not clinical but microscopic. Byron's example raises alarm over a current medical problem, i.e. the diagnosis of unexplained fevers, and the need for a detailed travel or immigration history, which will include malaria in the differential diagnosis.

Biological Warfare Plan in the 17th Century­the Siege of Candia, 1648­1669.

A little-known effort to conduct biological warfare occurred during the 17th century. The incident transpired during the Venetian­Ottoman War, when the city of Candia (now Heraklion, Greece) was under siege by the Ottomans (1648­1669). The data we describe, obtained from the Archives of the Venetian State, are related to an operation organized by the Venetian Intelligence Services, which aimed at lifting the siege by infecting the Ottoman soldiers with plague by attacking them with a liquid made from the spleens and buboes of plague victims. Although the plan was perfectly organized, and the deadly mixture was ready to use, the attack was ultimately never carried out. The conception and the detailed cynical planning of the attack on Candia illustrate a dangerous way of thinking about the use of biological weapons and the absence of reservations when potential users, within their religious framework, cast their enemies as undeserving of humanitarian consideration.

The Venetian lazarettos of Candia and the Great Plague (1592 - 1595).

The present study highlights the history of lazarettos in Candia (modern Heraklion, Crete, Greece), which was the most important Venetian possession in the Mediterranean at the time, while at the same time it recounts the terrible plague which went down in history as the Great Plague of Candia (1592-1595). The study will also attempt to give a satisfactory answer to the epidemiological questions raised by the worst epidemic that Crete had experienced since the era of the Black Death in the 14th century. The city was about to lose more than a half of its population (51.3%), although it was saved from complete annihilation by the composure, courage and inventiveness of its Venetian commander, Filippo Pasqualigo, whose report to the Venetian Senate makes an invaluable source of information regarding the events of this dramatic period. Candia would also witness the emergence of typical human reactions in cases of epidemics and mass deaths, such as running away along with the feeling of self-preservation, dissolute life and ephemeral pleasures, as well as lawlessness and criminality. The lazaretto proved inefficient in the face of a disaster of such scale, whereas the epidemic functioned as a "crash-test" for the Venetian health system. Eventually, in an era when the microbial nature of the disease was unknown, it seems that it was practically impossible to handle emergency situations of large-scale epidemics successfully, despite strict laws and well-organized precautionary health systems.