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Superstition, contagion and medical rumour

The great generator of confusion, rumours have not spared human health from their chaos. These images from our collection reveal how false information has materialised in print and publication and spread misinformation. From alleged plague-carriers and quacks to superstitions about immunisation and the first ever anti-vaxxers, this topic has a rich visual history.

Words by Sarah Meillon

  • In pictures
A group of women are crowded in a bedroom. There is a large four poster bed with the mother sat inside. One of the women is handing round sweetmeets, a custom which still exists in the Netherlands to mark the baptism of a baby: today the sweetmeats are "beschuit met muisjes" (rusk with mouse, the mouse being aniseed with a sweet coating, pink for a girl and blue for a boy). The women are the "gossips", i.e. Godsiblings or god-parents, who support the parents and the child
A Dutch birth-room, with a maid giving sweetmeats to gossips.. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
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The word ‘gossip’ was originally contracted from “god-sibling”, the term used for the godparent at baptism. In time, the word was extended in usage and applied to any close friend, and, more frequently, for a woman’s closest friends that assisted at the delivery of her baby. However, for royal women childbirth was no private event. A horde of spectators were necessary to prove to the court that the baby was from the royal woman’s womb and not a changeling swapped in a bed warming pan.

This litograph shows a scene with a circus in the distance and shops in the foreground. The work is a self-portrait of Reinhardt who is seated, paralysed in a wheelchair with crutches at the front. The lion has escaped and crowds are fleeing in panic.
“The lion is coming”: crowds at a fair panicking at the rumour that a lion has escaped; representing panic among crowds., KR Reinhardt. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
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This 1860 German lithograph is entitled ‘The Lion is Coming’ and illustrates the chaos caused by rumours. In this case, the rumour that a lion escaped from the local zoo or circus has caused mass panic. In the 19th century, it was argued that panic itself could be the cause for the propagation of diseases .

The image shows a man lying dead on some rocks. Crows fly overhead. The man's fists are still clenched and there is blood on the floor beneath him. He has a white cloth wrapped around his face.
A dying man, stoned on suspicion of spreading the plague, Jenewein, Felix, 1857–1905. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
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Epidemics can be a breeding ground for uncertainty and the proliferation of mass panic. Historian Karel B Mádl commented on this print: “Men... in their frenzy seize anyone, whom they suspect of spreading the poison, and who is unable to afford them help. The Black Death used to be followed by bloodshed. Here lies one victim of it.”

The image shows Alexander the great accompanied by two men. One is his doctor who is reading a manuscript intently. Alexander the great is holding a cup of medicine and looks pensive about drinking it.
Alexander the Great demonstrating his trust in his physician Philip of Acarnania by drinking a medicinal draught prepared by him despite allegations that it was a poison, Benjamin West 1738–1820, Valentine Green 1739–1813.. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
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Having blind faith in physicians is no new phenomena. In this mezzotint from 1772, to prove his faith in his physician, Alexander the Great is seen swallowing his physician’s draught despite allegations that the contents were poisonous.

The print shows a man dressed in a 'cholera preventive costume'. He is wearing many layers of clothing in many different colors. He is also wearing a piece of breathing apparatus and he is carrying to small trees. Behind him is a cart full of equipment.
‘Cholera Preventive Costume’, print published England, 1832. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
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This satirical print from 1832 illustrates the contemporary belief that miasmas, or ‘odours’ caused disease. The man wears a ‘cholera preventive costume’, which involves carrying a range of ‘protective’ odorous equipment, from acacia trees to perfumed teas. The caption warns: “By exactly following these instructions you may be certain that the cholera… will attack you first.”

The image shows a room full of angry looking men. A juror is protesting that the subject of a coroner's inquest is alive; showing the danger of blind faith in doctors. There is the feet of a dead man peeking out the end of the bed in the right of the room and on the other side there is a large blazen fireplace.
A juror protesting that the subject of a coroner's inquest is alive; showing the danger of blind faith in doctors, Thos. McLean, 1826. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
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Satirical imagery was an outlet for expressing mistrust in physicians and criticisms of the medical authority before the post-truth era of fake news and social media. This print from 1826 warns people against blind faith in doctors. Here, a juror informs the coroner that the alleged deceased is in fact still alive, to which the coroner answers that, since the doctor already proclaimed him dead, “he must remain dead.”

The image is an excerpt from a publication called 'The Alchemist and Druggist'. The main image is an etching of the facade of shop which is a bleeder, apothecary, tooth drawer and barber. Through the door of the shop you can see a man having his tooth pulled by a dentist and the windows are full of jars. A woman and a man talk outside the shop. The banner above reads 'Dickey Gossips the man'
An exterior of a the shop of a tooth-drawer, barber, apothecary and bleeder. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
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A quack doctor dupes his customers into believing his credentials and the ‘remedies’ he sells. The ‘Gossip’ sign on the façade of the establishment suggests his products are only rumoured to work. The song at the bottom of the print confirms this: “I once gave a patient whose health was precarious a terrible dose of my best shaving powder”.

The image shows a procession of people protesting the introduction of vaccines in 19th century France. One man rides a horse and plays a trumpet. One woman rides a chariot. They carry banners and flags about the vaccines.
A procession of health officials ironically proclaiming the coming of vaccination. Coloured etching. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
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Following the development of the smallpox vaccine in 1796, rumours spread through 19th century France that the vaccine was an expensive form of British quackery. This satirical print shows a procession of health workers promoting the vaccine. They carry a poster on which the word ‘dindonnade’ is written, which relates to both the French word for turkey (dindon) and to dupe. The Depeuille publishing house published many similar satirical prints which reflect general wariness surrounding vaccination.

The Image shows seven members of the french committee on vaccination shouting at a man called Tapp, who is a health officer that resists the new discovery. They lean over a table and all shout at him angrily. They are all wearing 19th century french attire. Tapp holds a poster that reads 'L'origne de la vaccine'
Seven members of the French committee on vaccination rail at Tapp, a health officer who resists the new discovery. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
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Countering rumours has always been a challenge. In this illustration, seven members of the French committee on vaccination are shown shouting at a health officer. The health officer maintains that vaccines are “une pure charlatanerie”, in other words, quackery in its purest form. This etching shows him defending himself from the committee members by holding in front of them a print from the Depeuille publishing house, while another one is hung on the wall in the background.

The Image is a poster featuring a group of people under a tree in Ethiopia. They are waiting to have their children vaccinated. Health workers are pictured vaccinating the children and weighing them.
A nurse vaccinating children in the open air in Ethiopia, Ministry of Health Education Center, 2001. Source: Ministry of Health.
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This poster was released by the Ethiopian Ministry of Health in 1993 to combat societal opposition to vaccination. It urges for child vaccination to become integrated into Ethiopian culture. In 2018, the Wellcome Global Monitor report revealed that 79 per cent of people believe that vaccines are safe and 84 per cent agree that they are effective.

The poster shows a tree growing five dollar bills alongside the leaves. The poster reads “forget the fiction, get the facts” as the headline. The bottom right hand corner had a segment that reads “AIDS at work - Facts not fiction”.
A tree with five-dollar notes representing an advertisement for a leaflet on facts on AIDS at Work by the Department of Health, New Zealand, Department of Health Te Tari Ora, 1990. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
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In the 1980s the AIDS crisis served as a hotbed for medical misinformation owing to lack of knowledge surrounding the virus and its modes of transmission. Posters attempted to better inform people about the disease by directly addressing these rumours.

About the author

Sarah Meillon

Sarah is a Research Development intern at the Wellcome Trust. She studies Social Anthropology at LSE. Her interests include ethics of care and welfare, narratives of illness, and community medicine.