Nationalism, Carrión's disease and medical geography in the Peruvian Andes.

During the turn of the 20th century medical geography in Peru concentrated in the study of a native disease (bartonellosis, also known as Carrión's disease and Verruga Peruana) and reinforced the relationship between the country's 'natural' regions (coast, highlands and Amazon) and different patterns of disease. Expert knowledge on these themes was portrayed as important not only for the practice of medicine but also for the development of the country. This knowledge was instrumental for an emergent local medical tradition and for legitimizing the authority, power and prestige of Lima's medical elite. The city was the capital of a country whose population was mainly Indian and rural, and lived in the highlands. This article studies the development of medical geography in Peru emphasizing the role played by Ernesto Odriozola, an influential clinician from Lima trained in Paris.