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The death of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the age of 35 may have been caused by complications stemming from strep throat, according to a Dutch study published on Monday. Since the composer's death in 1791, there have been various theories about the cause of his untimely end, from intentional poisoning, to rheumatic fever, to trichinosis, a parasitic disease caused by eating raw or undercooked pork.
On his death certificate it was officially recorded that the cause of death was hitziges Frieselfieber, or "heated miliary fever," referring to a rash that looks like millet seeds.
But researchers from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands said studies on his death have generally been based on less-than-reliable evidence, like accounts from people who witnessed Mozart's final days, written decades after his death.
Their new study, reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine, was based on information from official death registers for Vienna in the winter of 1791 that places Mozart's death in a wider context. He died in Vienna.
"Our findings suggest that Mozart fell victim to an epidemic of strep throat infection that was contracted by many Viennese people in Mozart's month of death, and that Mozart was one of several persons in that epidemic that developed a deadly kidney complication," researcher Richard Zegers, of the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, told the reporters.
Zegers and his colleagues said this "minor epidemic" of step throat, or streptococcal pharyngitis, may have begun in the city's military hospital.
According to witness accounts, Mozart fell ill with an "inflammatory fever," which is consistent with strep throat, Zegers and his colleagues wrote in their report.
The composer, who wrote more than 600 works during his life, eventually developed severe swelling, "malaise," back pain and a rash, consistent with a strep infection leading to kidney inflammation known as glomerulonephritis.
Zegers said it was also possible that Mozart had scarlet fever, which, like strep throat, can be caused by infection with streptococcal bacteria, but this was less likely because witnesses said Mozart developed a rash near the end of his illness and with scarlet fever, the rash appears early on.
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(Agencies)
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著名作曲家沃尔夫冈•阿玛迪乌斯•莫扎特于35岁去世。本周一公布的一项荷兰研究显示，他可能死于由脓毒性咽喉炎引起的并发症。自从这位作曲家于1791年去世后，有关他英年早逝的原因众说纷纭，如遭人投毒、风湿热以及因生吃或未煮熟猪肉而导致的寄生虫病等。
根据莫扎特死亡证明上的官方记录，他死于“急性粟粒热”，即一种粟粒状的皮疹。
但荷兰阿姆斯特丹大学的研究人员称，此前支持莫扎特死因研究的证据大多比较牵强，比如陪伴莫扎特度过最后日子的一些人的描述，这是在他逝世几十年后记录下来的。
这项在《内科医学年鉴》上发表的最新研究成果主要基于1791年冬季维也纳官方死亡登记簿上的信息，这将莫扎特之死置于一个更大的背景下进行研究。莫扎特在维也纳逝世。
荷兰阿姆斯特丹大学的研究人员理查德•席格斯在接受记者采访时说：“我们的研究成果表明，莫扎特当时感染了流行性脓毒咽喉炎，在莫扎特去世当月，维也纳有很多人得了这种病，有几人死于其引发的一种致命的肾脏并发症，莫扎特就是其中之一。”
席格斯及其同事称，这次脓毒性咽喉炎（或称为链球菌咽喉炎）的“小规模流行”可能起源于该市的军队医院。
席格斯和同事在研究报告中写道，根据目击者的描述，莫扎特患病时伴有“炎症性高烧”，这与脓毒性喉炎的症状相符。
莫扎特的病症最终发展为严重水肿，并伴有“酸痛乏力”，背部疼痛以及皮疹，这与链球菌感染的症状相符，而正是这一感染引发了一种被称为“肾小球肾炎”的肾部炎症。莫扎特一生共创作了六百多部作品。
席格斯称，莫扎特也可能是患上了猩红热。猩红热和脓毒性咽喉炎一样，也可能由链球菌感染引发。但这种可能性较小，因为目击者称莫扎特在最后阶段患上了皮疹，但如果是猩红热，皮疹一般出现于早期。
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（英语点津许雅宁 姗姗编辑）
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