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August 18, 2009
Mozart Died From Strep Throat....or scarlet fever...or kidney failure...
File in the 'totally pointless stories written about someone famous to garner a headline (and subsequently a blog post)' bin:Thanks genius! Your guesses about how Mozart died closed the case on a 200+ year mystery!"Our findings suggest that Mozart fell victim to an epidemic of strep throat infection that was contracted by many Viennese people in Mozart's month of death, and that Mozart was one of several persons in that epidemic that developed a deadly kidney complication," researcher Richard Zegers, of the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, told Reuters Health.
Zegers and his colleagues said this "minor epidemic" of step throat, or streptococcal pharyngitis, may have begun in the city's military hospital.
According to witness accounts, Mozart fell ill with an "inflammatory fever," which is consistent with strep throat, Zegers and his colleagues wrote in their report.
The composer, who wrote more than 600 works during his life, eventually developed severe swelling, "malaise," back pain and a rash, consistent with a strep infection leading to kidney inflammation known as glomerulonephritis.
Zegers said it was also possible that Mozart had scarlet fever, which, like strep throat, can be caused by infection with streptococcal bacteria, but this was less likely because witnesses said Mozart developed a rash near the end of his illness and with scarlet fever, the rash appears early on.
Our favorite theory about how Mozart died? Mutant zombies from outer space...
Originally from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Aug 18, 2009 at 04:30 PM