One hundred years ago, across the world, people were falling asleep uncontrollably.
Not from a hard day’s work or a late night, but a disease known as ‘sleepy sickness’.
Victims fell into a slumber so deep that those who caught it often didn’t wake for weeks, or even months, at a time. It was also deadly, killing 30 to 40% of those affected, usually from respiratory failure.
An epidemic, it emerged from northern France in 1916, spreading first across Europe, and then to North America, Central America and India, before disappearing almost entirely by 1930.
To this day, no one knows exactly how it spread, what caused it – or if the disease could return.
Called encephalitis lethargica (EL), it first caused flu-like symptoms, including a headache, nausea, joint pain and a fever. From there, it spread to the eyes, which became uncoordinated, leading to double vision. The eyelids then began to droop, and patients were overwhelmed with the need to sleep, day or night.
metro.co.uk/2024/07/03/epidemic-caused-people-fall-asleep-months-still-dont-know-21153781/