Tuberculosis or Vampires?!: Deadly Disease or Killer Creatures?

Welcome To The Oddity Shop, Where The Bizarre is Always on Sale.  This week, your curator Kara has a sickening tale of tuberculosis and possible vampirism.

As we open the shop this week, we have the serious topic of tuberculosis (TB). We break down the progression of this infectious disease—from the early primary infection with flu-like symptoms to the silent menace of latent TB, and finally, the severe manifestations of active TB. Extra pulmonary TB, where the infection spreads to organs beyond the lungs, is also discussed with some compelling personal anecdotes. We clear up historical misconceptions about TB, debunking myths that have long surrounded its spread and impact on society.

Prepare for chills as we venture into the spine-tingling 19th-century vampire panic, focusing on the eerie Mercy Brown incident in Rhode Island. Discover the tragic tale of the Brown family, who were devastated by tuberculosis, and the macabre rituals that emerged from fear and superstition. We detail how Mercy’s case might have influenced Bram Stoker’s "Dracula" and discuss the strange yet significant role of emojis in our storytelling. Ending on a playful note, we remind everyone to "creep it real" and leave those crucial emojis in the comments.

Reference Shout Outs: 

• https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-great-new-england-vampire-panic-36482878/

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_vampire_panic

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercy_Brown_vampire_incident

• https://curiosity.lib.harvard.edu/contagion/feature/tuberculosis-in-europe-and-north-america-1800-1922

• https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tuberculosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351250

• https://www.princeton.edu/~accion/chupa15.html#:~:text=The%20word%20vampire%20has%20its,of%20an%20otherwise%20unexplained%20phenomena.

• https://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/new-england-vampire-panic.htm#:~:text=New%20Englanders%20in%20late%2018th,prevent%20vampires%20from%20rising%20again. 

• https://ashland.kctcs.edu/blog/posts/untitled.aspx#:~:text=The%20vampire%20postd

Each Week at the Oddity Shop, Your Curators Kara and Zach will bring you stories from Cryptids to Conspiracies, Cults to Curiosities, Myths to Mysteries, and so much more!

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