Which diseases were the worst in WW1?
Interesting question. Aside from trench foot (or deterioration / degeneration of the muscle tissue on the foot and lower legs), there was also something widely known as ‘trench Fever’ which affected troops of all armies. In the British Army, there was no official diagnosis of ‘trrench fever’ as such. Rather, most cases were categorised either as ‘PUO’ or ICT. PUO stood for Pyrexia [fever] of Unknown Origin, and was something of an umbrella term for sickeness casualties with high temperature, respiratory affective symptoms, and so on. ICT stood for Inflammation of the Connective Tissue, and was again something of a catch-all term for any sickness casualties with symptoms relating to the musculoskeletal or soft tissue areas of the body. As an aside, something which is very rarely acknowledged in histories of the First World War is the prevalence of wasp stings. Relatively deep trenches, in which the conditions were frequently damp if not soaking, tended to attract large numbers of wasps.
