The following is a list of deprecated terms for diseases.
Obsolete term | Preferred term | Reference | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Apoplexy | Stroke | [1] | Also a general term for internal bleeding in a specific organ. |
Bends | Decompression sickness | [2] | Referred to the associated musculoskeletal issues of decompression illness. |
Bilious remitting fever | Dengue fever | [3] | Used in reference to a 1780 outbreak in Philadelphia. |
Break-bone fever | Dengue fever | [3] | Used in reference to a 1780 outbreak in Philadelphia. |
Break-heart fever | Dengue fever | [4] | |
Chokes | Decompression sickness | [2] | Referred to the associated breathing issues of decompression illness. |
Consumption | Tuberculosis | [5] | So-called due to the wasting that occurs in the late stages of infection. |
Dandy fever | Dengue fever | [4] | A reference to the mincing walk adopted by those affected. |
Dropsy | Edema | [6] | |
Dum-dum fever | Leishmaniasis | [7] | The term is derived from the city of Dum Dum, the site of an outbreak. |
English disease | Rickets | [8] | So named due to its prevalence in English slums. |
French disease | Syphilis | [9] | Used as an ethnic slur against the French. |
Front-street fever | Dengue fever | [3] | Used in reference to a 1780 outbreak in Philadelphia. |
Gleet | Gonorrhea | [10] | Usually refers to gonorrhea that is in semi-remission. |
Great pox | Syphilis | [9] | Used as a term of comparison to smallpox. |
Grippe | Influenza | [11] | From the French. |
King's evil | Tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis | [12] | From the belief that the disease could be cured by a royal touch. |
Lockjaw | Trismus | [13] | The term is sometimes used as a synonym for tetanus, which usually first manifests as trismus. |
Monkeypox | Mpox | [14] | |
Muerto Canyon disease | Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome | [15] | Named for the area where it was initially identified. "Four Corners disease" is likewise deprecated. |
Norwalk virus | Norovirus | [16] | Named after the town of Norwalk, Ohio, where the disease was first distinctly identified. |
Phthisis | Tuberculosis | [5] | From the Greek word for consumption. |
Quinsy | Peritonsillar abscess | [17] | From the French term esquinancie. |
Saint Vitus Dance | Sydenham's chorea | [18] | Named for Saint Vitus the Martyr |
Spanish fever | Influenza | [19] | Used in reference to the 1918 flu pandemic. |
Squinsy | Peritonsillar abscess | [17] | From the French term esquinancie. |
Staggers | Decompression sickness | [2] | Referred to the associated neurological issues of decompression illness. |
Undulant fever | Brucellosis | [20] | The name is a reference to the rising and falling of the patient's temperature. |
White Plague | Tuberculosis | [5] | The name refers to the pallor of patients with "consumption" (severe tuberculosis). |
Woolsorter's disease | Anthrax | [21] | Refers to people who tended to contract the disease (from the sheep) |
2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) | Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) | [22] | Provisional name for COVID-19. |