Ocaso de la Medicina Social en España: el caso de la leptospirosis

Abstract

This paper focuses on a particular case of the public health administration under Franco which shows its decay in the rural areas. Leptospirosis was fought specially in the rice fields, and I afford to evaluate its similarities and disimilarities to previous health campaigns brought about by the idea of Social Medicine. It became a public health hazard after the Civil War, due to its consequences on delicate moments of rice production such as the harvest, although no organised measures were taken until 1953. It was thanks to the first agreement on technical assistance signed with the WHO, that allowed the arrival of Brenno Babudieri, a world famous Italian microbiologist on the matter, who tested a vaccine in Spain. But public health initiatives regarding leptospirosis were laboratory centered, scattered and apparently dependent on the will of the provincial medical officer.