An epidemic of measles usually ran its
course in
three or four weeks, and while a person
living under
normal circumstances
would usually recover with no lasting
effects, in
army camps the childhood disease often
proved to be
fatal. Improper
care and poor sanitation would lead to
complications such as pneumonia.
Surgeons often prescribed whiskey, but a
combination
of rest, proper care, and time was the
only true
treatment for the
disease.
When volunteers mustered for service in
Civil War armies, vast numbers of them
were
immediately struck down by
communicable diseases. The first of the
epidemics
to sweep through the ranks was usually
measles.
Measles would have
a devastating effect on an army. In one
Confederate
camp of 10,000 men, 4,000 soldiers were
stricken
with measles, and
the savage onset of the disease was
something that
astonished everyone, even the surgeons.
The disease
was so common
and disruptive that new units were held
back from
active service until they had been "put
through the
measles". Because
men from urban areas were more likely
to have been
exposed to the disease at an early age,
measles
caused the most
serious problem in units raised from
rural
areas.
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Measles was more prevalent
and more
fatal among black units than in white
units.