A recent study of a seventeenth-century burial site in Switzerland reveals that most individuals buried there had engaged in hard manual labor and died before reaching 20 years of age. This site dates back to the last recorded plague outbreak in Switzerland from 1665 to 1670. The findings highlight how the plague disproportionately affected low-income workers who could not afford to isolate themselves during the epidemic, a pattern similar to what was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research underscores the persistent social and economic inequalities that influence health outcomes during pandemics.
QUESTION: How might understanding the impact of past pandemics on different social classes help us address current and future health crises?
Graves reveal plague’s inequitable toll
