Back in the blog in August called “My pandemic is worse than your pandemic” I mentioned I might do a future blog on the ancient disease called Cocoliztli, which I had never heard of before… well for once I’ve remembered I said I would do a particular topic and here it is!
 
So I’ve delve into my historical medical books (and Google!) to look further into the unknown pandemic of Cocoliztli.
 
It is well known that imported infections from Europe with the Spanish Conquistadors caused many deaths; Smallpox for example was imported in about 1520 and killed about 8 million people. In fact during the 16th Century about 90% of the native population of Mexico was wiped out by disease. But as if Smallpox wasn’t enough, this was followed in 1545 by the first Cocoliztli epidemic which killed a further 15 million people. Local people called this disease Cocoliztli or “pest” and as pandemics go this one seems pretty bad! A further Cocoliztli epidemic in 1576 killed another 50% of the population, so by this time more than 90% of the natives had been killed in just over 50 years!

Did you know that guinea pigs cough? I didn’t… but then I’ve never had a pet guinea pig… In fact I’ve discovered that all mammals cough, who knew?! Guinea pigs apparently have a cough pathway (from something stimulating a cough through neural networks and chemical signals to the actual cough) that is the same as humans so they are a great animal model for studying coughs in humans…??

One of life’s unsolved mysteries is “how did life on Earth begin?” Did it start here spontaneously as “God created us” or did Darwin get it right with his “evolution theory”? And are we alone in our universe? Let’s skip the God versus Darwin bit and jump straight to the question “did life arrive from outer space” and “can life survive in space?”
 
When times get “trying” here on planet Earth ECIC wishes she was on Pluto with her cats, her rules and no people! But she may not be alone!! The newest research suggests that bacteria can survive in the hostile environment of space; maybe the dream of living on Pluto with remote “homeworking” for a Consultant Microbiologist might be a reality (our hospital computer system is called Enterprise after all!)
 
No, No, No, stick with me!!! It’s true, those pesky microorganisms have been found to survive on the outside of the ISS (International Space Station). There’s even a named theory… the theory that living organisms can survive and transfer through space is known as “panspermia”. 

“I have a patient with facial cellulitis but they’re not responding to antibiotics, my Consultant has asked me to find out if there is a stronger antibiotic we can give” said the oncall doctor.
 
The Microbiologist rolled his eyes; why do people persist in thinking about antibiotics in terms of “stronger” when what they really mean is “broader spectrum”!
 
“Why don’t you start by telling me something about the patient?” said the Microbiologist through gritted teeth.
 
“Oh, okay” said the Doctor, thinking this was just going to waste more of his precious time.
 
“She has just returned from trekking in Bolivia where they stayed in mud huts. The patient thinks they might have been bitten on the face as there were quite a lot of big beetles around. She now has a swollen right eye and we’ve been giving IV Teicoplanin but it hasn’t made any difference so we want to give her something… stronger.”
 
His curiosity piqued, the Microbiologist let the latest “stronger” slip past.
 
“Are both upper and lower eyelids swollen? What did the insects look like exactly?”