Dioxin, diet and disease on St Kilda

The inhabitants of St Kilda are well known for their susceptibility to infection. Low herd immunity, limited genetic biodiversity, malnutrition and poor social conditions have been incriminated as the major predisposing factors, but the clinical evidence for the effect of malnutrition and the clinical relevance of the more recent discovery of heavy metal and dioxin pollution on infectious diseases have not been scrutinised from a medical perspective.

Keywords Chloracne, dioxin, infectious diseases, malnutrition, St Kilda, vitamin C