Landscapes of Disease

Malaria existed in Greece since prehistoric times. Its prevalence fluctuated depending on climatic, socioeconomic and political changes. The book focuses on the factors that contributed to the spreading of the disease in the years between independent statehood in 1830 and the elimination of malaria in the 1970s. In fact, by the nineteenth century, Greece was the most malarious country in Europe and the one most heavily infected with its lethal form, falciparum malaria. Owing to pressures on the environment from economic development, agrarian colonisation and heightened mobility, the situation became so serious that malaria evolved as part of every day life for practically all Greek families. Wars further exacerbated an already grave state of affairs. Furthermore, the country's  highly fragmented geography and its variable rainfall distribution shaped an unstable disease landscape, which, in turn, affected the tolerance of the population to malaria. In their struggle with physical suffering and death, the Greeks developed a culture of avid quinine consumption and were likewise eager to embrace the DDT spraying campaign of the immediate post WWII years.