Tapeworms, lice and prions: a compendium of unpleasant infections

Infection: the search for its causes

Worms. Ascaris: the giant intestinal roundworm

Tapeworms

Hookworm anaemia

Schistosomiasis (sometimes called Bilharziasis)

Filariasis (elephantiasis)

Arthropods. Lice (pediculosis)

The itch (scabies)

Fungi. Tinea (ringworm, etc.)

Candidiasis (thrush)

Protozoa. Giardiasis

Amoebic dysentery and liver abscess

Malaria

Sleeping sickness (African trypanosomiasis)

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (Oriental sore) and visceral leishmaniasis (kala azar)

Chagas disease (South American trypanosomiasis)

Bacteria. The germ theory of disease

Anthranx

Tuberculosis (consumption)

Leprosy (Hansen's disease)

The golden staphylococcus

The pus-forming streptococcus

The pneumococcus and pneumonia

Gonorrhoea (the clap)

Syphilis (the pox)

The meningococcus and meningitis

Diphtheria

Whooping cough (pertussis)

Cholera

Typhoid fever

Escherichia coli

Bacillary dysentery (shigellosis)

Tetanus (lockjaw)

Plague (the Black Death)

Brucellosis (undulant fever)

Legionnaires' disease

Helicobacter pylori and peptic ulcers

Typhus

Chlamydia, trachoma, and urethritis

Viruses. The discovery of viruses and determination of their nature

Smallpox (variola)

Rabies (hydrophobia)

Yellow fever

Dengue fever (break bone fever)

Poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis)

Measles (rubeola)

German measles (rubella)

Mumps

Varicella (chickenpox and shingles)

Herpes simplex (cold sores and more)

Glandular fever (infectious mononucleosis)

Influenza (the flu)

Viral hepatitis( A,B, and C)

Human immunodeficiency virus and the acquired immune deficiency syndrome

Prions. Kuru, mad cows, and variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease

Unde venis et quo vadis?