Febris Int.

[lelliott19]

Found in medical records, Febris Int. is the surgeon's abbreviation for Febris Intermittens also known as Intermittent Fever. The disease is characterized by periods of fever lasting a few hours, alternating with periods in which the temperature is normal. Temperature rises, holds for a few hours, goes down to normal and rises again.

There are a number of variations that may be found in carded medical records:

• "Febris Int. Quo." or "Febris Quo" is the surgeon's abbreviation for Febris intermittens quotidiana in which the paroxysmuses (periods of fever) occur daily.

• "Febris Int. Ter." or "Febris Ter." is the surgeon's abbreviation for Febris intermittens tertiana in which the paroxysmuses occur every third day.

• "Febris Int. Quar." or "Febris Quar" is the surgeon's abbreviation for Febris intermittens quartana in which the paroxysmuses occur every fourth day.

Here's an example of "Febris Int. Ter." I ran across while looking up some carded records for member @Jeff Baucom

Seymour Warren, Corporal Co A 47th North Carolina Infantry; age 21 at enlistment and by occupation, a farmer.

 

[EJ Zander]

Next time I come down with this kind of fever, going to lay this term on the family and impress them.

 

[lelliott19]

Next time I come down with this kind of fever, going to lay this term on the family and impress them.

Hopefully you won't get this kind!!! Usually means you have malaria!

 

[EJ Zander]

Ew thats not good. Work can take me to those parts of the world though. Def will use it at the next dinner party.

 

[DwayneC]

Hopefully this is the right place to ask; Last known record of my GG Grandfather, Prvt. Henry Caneega Co. H. 28th Ga. I'm unsure of the last word of his diagnosis, Febris Remt? Assuming Febris Remittent. TIA

 

[lelliott19]

Yes, @DwayneC you gg grandfather was diagnosed with Remittent Fever which is where the temperature fluctuates during the day, but stays above normal. Remittent fever is usually resultant of some kind of infectious disease - bacterial or viral. If you've ever noticed, when you have a bacterial infection like strep throat, your temperature is generally above normal all the time but higher in the afternoon? We don't usally notice the variations throughout the day, because today we take fever reducers like aspirin or ibuprofen and antibiotics are prescribed which quickly get the source of the infection under control. But back then, there were no antibiotics or aspirin available.

 

[bankerpapaw]

When I was in Vietnam, this happened to me. High fever that lasted a few hours, then was gone, not to return. The Doctor said that I had "Cat Scratch Fever."

 

[DwayneC]

Yes, @DwayneC you gg grandfather was diagnosed with Remittent Fever which is where the temperature fluctuates during the day, but stays above normal. Remittent fever is usually resultant of some kind of infectious disease - bacterial or viral. If you've ever noticed, when you have a bacterial infection like strep throat, your temperature is generally above normal all the time but higher in the afternoon? We don't usally notice the variations throughout the day, because today we take fever reducers like aspirin or ibuprofen and antibiotics are prescribed which quickly get the source of the infection under control. But back then, there were no antibiotics or aspirin available.

Thanks!

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Did they use quinine for malaria during the Civil War? I'm only asking NOT because of the current discussion out there, great grandfather died of complication of malaria- he'd been down doing something on the Panama Canal and came back with malaria. Dad remembered quinine was used as one of the medicines in those days, no idea when that came into use.

 

[lelliott19]

Here's an example from carded records demonstrating another abbreviation for for Febris intermittens quartana in which the paroxysmuses occur every fourth day. I ran across this record while looking for one of @Bruce Vail 's ancestors.

 

[Gary Morgan]

Did they use quinine for malaria during the Civil War? I'm only asking NOT because of the current discussion out there, great grandfather died of complication of malaria- he'd been down doing something on the Panama Canal and came back with malaria. Dad remembered quinine was used as one of the medicines in those days, no idea when that came into use.

I think it depended largely on where you lived. The Spanish had it by 1700, in large part because their territory included South America, where the cinchona trees grew (quinine is made from their bark). I'm pretty sure it was used in the US by the Civil War.

 

[Michael W.]

I hate Greek words. They still use them today to some degree in the medical field. Just talk plain English...

 

[John Winn]

I hate Greek words. They still use them today to some degree in the medical field. Just talk plain English...

For the record it's Latin, not Greek.

The use of Latin in science (not just medicine) is because it was seen as a sort of neutral language - i.e. not tied to a particular country or culture of the time and no longer subject to change. There was also a certain religious notion that it was the language of god so we should use it to describe his works. In medicine it's used to construct precise terminology by using prefixes and suffixes. While it isn't of much use in common speech it actually works very well in the scientific world. If it didn't we'd have abandoned it some time ago.

Why use English ? It's a mess and spelling isn't consistent. Just sayin'.