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Topic Options #70610 - 05/20/02 07:46 AM erysipelas Fiberbabe old hand Registered: 01/12/01 Posts: 771 Loc: Portland, Oregon I found this one in a delightful little book of essays about books that should be required reading for *all* members of this forum () - Ex Libris - Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman. Anyway, my dictionary defines this as: n. Pathol. an acute, febrile infectious disease, caused by a specific streptococcus, characterized by diffusely spreading deep-red inflammation of the skin or mucous membranes. [ME erisipila < L erysipelas < Gk = erysi- prob. akin to erythros red + -pelas prob. skin, akin to pelma sole of the foot; cf. L pellis skin] Two questions ~ is this actually cited as a diagnosis, or is the patient more typically told "You have a form of strep"? Also, is the erythros given in the eytmology relative somehow to the name of the penicillin alternative erythromycin? My dictionary gives no etymological justification for that one... Top #70611 - 05/20/02 09:42 AM Re: erysipelas wwh Carpal Tunnel Registered: 01/18/01 Posts: 13858 Erysipelas is indeed a medical diagnosis. Fortunately it is not common today. Better hand washing has helped. And it seems that there are changes in the genetic makeup of bacteria that explain changes in prevalence of various types of streptococcal infection. Top Previous Topic Index Next Topic Preview Hop to: General Topics ------   Information and announcements   Q&A about words   Wordplay and fun   Words and languages in schools   Miscellany   Weekly Themes   Looking for (writers, speakers, ...) (Old) Weekly themes. (have been consolidated into a single forum above) ------   Words from medicine   Beheading words   Meta-words   Words from classical mythology   Animal Safari   Words with unusual etymologies   Eponyms or words derived from people's names.   Loanwords from German   English as a global language Moderator:  Jackie  Print Topic Switch to Threaded Mode View profile Send a PM View homepage Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts Forum Stats 8426 Members 16 Forums 13687 Topics 209795 Posts Max Online: 3341 @ 12/09/11 02:15 PM Newest Members sylviasuper, continent2, a2teacher, teepee, smoothcriminal86 8426 Registered Users Who's Online 2 registered (LukeJavan8, jenny jenny), 33 Guests and 1 Spider online. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod Top Posters (30 Days) LukeJavan8 87 jenny jenny 57 wofahulicodoc 56 endymion6 49 Rhubarb Commando 37 BranShea 33 Buffalo Shrdlu 15 Faldage 14 zmjezhd 13 tsuwm 11 May Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

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