01663nas a2200253   4500000000100000008004100001260002300042653001300065653003700078653002200115653002400137653003400161653002600195100001400221700001500235700001600250700001300266700001400279700001300293245013700306300000800443520093300451022002501384       2024                            d  bInforma UK Limited10aTrachoma10ahistory of Chlamydia trachomatis10acolonial diseases10ainfectious diseases10aItalian immigrants in America10a19th and 20th Century1 aMartini M1 aRiccardi N1 aSimonetti O1 aOrsini D1 aSamassa F1 aParodi A00a“The blinding disease”. The history of trachoma in Italians between the 19th and 20th centuries: colonial or national blindness?  a1-63 a<p>Trachoma is one of the oldest known causes of blindness in humans and it is caused by the intracellular Gram-negative bacterium&nbsp;<em>Chlamydia trachomatis</em>&nbsp;serovars A, B, Ba and C. Its transmission has historically been related to poorness, overcrowded housing and scarce hygiene. We have traced the history of trachoma in Italy in the 19th and 20th centuries, among people living in Italy, those who immigrated to America and the population in the colonies, with a focus on Libya (1912–1943). Trachoma knowledge and perception in Italy and in its colonies was ambiguous during the 19th and 20th centuries. Trachoma was responsible for a great morbidity on both sides of the Mediterranean, in Italy as well as in Libya. Trachoma is still one of the leading infectious causes of preventable blindness worldwide and it was widespread in Italy and the Italian colonies in the first half of the last century.</p>
  a2047-7724, 2047-7732