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The virus defeating Madam Mim

2017; Elsevier BV; Volume: 45; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.ajic.2017.07.017

1527-3296

Antonio Perciaccante, Alessia Coralli,

Literature Analysis and Criticism

Animated film can provide surprising information about medical knowledge and social impact of a disease, especially as conveyed by and to nonphysicians. The Sword in the Stone is a famous animated musical fantasy comedy produced by Walt Disney. Based on the homonymous novel by T.H. White (1906-1964), it tells about the life of the young Arthur and his educational path planned by Merlin. During one of their lessons, Arthur is transformed into a sparrow and attacked by a hawk and accidentally meets Madam Mim, a witch representing the Merlin's nemesis: her trickery opposes Merlin's scientific skills. To save Arthur, Merlin intervenes by challenging Madam Mim. The challenge is characterized by numerous magical transformations, and finally, Merlin defeats Madam Mim by transforming himself into a fictional germ called malignalitaloptereosis that infects her. Merlin says, “I am a germ…I am called malignalitaloptereosis…First, you break out into spots, followed by hot and cold flashes.” Based on the symptoms reported by Madam Mim, we hypothesize that she could be affected by an exanthematous disease like measles. The animated comedy The Sword in the Stone was first released to theaters on December 1963. In 1956-1960, an incidence of 542,000 cases of measles and a mortality of about 1 death per 1,000 cases were reported annually in the United States.1Orenstein W.A. Papania M.J. Wharton M.E. Measles elimination in the United States.J Infect Dis. 2014; 189: S1-3Google Scholar Moreover, respiratory complications and encephalitis were reported, respectively, in 150,000 and 4,000 patients each year, and 48,000 persons with measles were hospitalized annually.2Bloch A.B. Orenstein W.A. Stetler H.C. Wassilak S.G. Amler R.W. Bart K.J. et al.Health impact of measles vaccination in the United States.Pediatrics. 1985; 76: 524-532Crossref PubMed Google Scholar Therefore, at that time, measles was an important social health problem. In 1963, Dr John Franklin Enders (1897-1985) developed a measles vaccine,3Hilleman M.R. Past, present, and future of measles, mumps, and rubella virus vaccines.Pediatrics. 1992; 90: 149-153Crossref PubMed Google Scholar and 3 years later, it started the first of 3 efforts to eradicate measles in United States.4Sencer D.J. Dull H.B. Langmuir A.D. Epidemiologic basis for eradication of measles in 1967.Public Health Rep. 1967; 82: 253-256Crossref PubMed Scopus (63) Google Scholar In conclusion, the choice to defeat Madam Mim by a viral infection is indicative of the knowledge of the risks related to viral diseases. In those years, measles represented a great social health problem and a fervid research activity there was to counteract it. Therefore, we emphasize that an animated comedy can conceal important information about the social health state of that time. Moreover, it could provide a reflection about the utility of the vaccine, particularly in this time, where some people in many countries were opposed to their use. We remember that Merlin (symbol of wisdom) used a virus (probably measles virus) to defeat Madam Mim. Maybe an eventual vaccine could save Madam Mim. The heroic microbeAmerican Journal of Infection ControlVol. 45Issue 12PreviewWe read with interest the article by Perciaccante and Coralli1 on a probable viral infection reported in the animated comedy The Sword in the Stone (1963). The authors supposed that Madam Mim might have contracted measles during the wizard's duel with Merlin. In their opinion, the high incidence of this disease in the United States during 1956-1960 could have influenced screenwriters to choose measles as the contagious illness that defeats the evil witch in the animated movie.1 Actually, as the authors mention,1 in the film it is a sole fictional germ, malignalitaloptereosis, that causes an apparently benign infection in the sorceress (Merlin says: “Oh, it's not too serious, madam. Full-Text PDF