The contribution of Eduard Shperk to the study of the social causes of syphilis and leprosy in Eastern Siberia in the 19th century

The article reveals the role of Eduard Shperk in the study of social causes, hygienic living conditions of the indigenous population and the prevalence of syphilis and leprosy in the northeastern districts of the Russian Empire. The personality of a doctor performing his professional duty in the socio-economic, climatographic, epidemiological situation of the north-east of Siberia in the 19th century is not widely reflected in Russian literature. The scientific interests of the doctor were concentrated mainly in the field of syphilidology and dermatology. The purpose of the work was to study the facts of the initial stage of the formation of medical topographic research in the study of the syphilis and leprosy spread among the population, as well as the contribution of the syphilidologist and dermatologist Eduard Shperk. A structural-diachronic analysis of archival and literary sources of the 19th century, characterizing the problem of the syphilis and leprosy prevalence in the northeastern districts of Eastern Siberia, was carried out. The work is based on the study of materials from the Russian State Historical Archive of the Far East. In the conducted historical and medical research, the contribution of Eduard Shperk to the study of syphilis and leprosy that spread in the Yakutsk, Primorsky, Amur regions and in Transbaikalia was analyzed. For the first time, statistical values of the territorial prevalence of various forms of syphilis, the number of deaths among men and women, the clinical picture and the results of medical and police measures taken to limit the epidemic are summarized and shown. Eduard Shperk’s substantiation of the ways of treating syphilis depending on the form of its manifestation is demonstrated. The role of hygienic living conditions in the spread of the disease among the indigenous population is noted. The results and effectiveness of the itinerant nature of the work of Eduard Shperk in the northeastern districts of Siberia are reflected.