jessielefey posted this wonderful and informative “stop making fun of plague doctors, they were ahead of their time and doing the best they could with the primitive equipment they had available” history rant:
Plague Doctors
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The pneumonic form of plague is spread by airborne droplets. Plague doctor outfits are as good as protection got until we developed positive pressurise personnel suits in the 1970s.
Some of the herbs they used were later found to have antimicrobial properties. Not enough to sterilize the air, but enough to help.