1763 — Winter, Throat Distemper Epidemic (Diphtheria), Philadelphia, PA — >10

—>10  Blanchard, based on Rush noting that “many children” died of malignant sore throat.[1]

 

Narrative Information

 

Duffy: “Philadelphia, which had remained relatively free of the infection [throat distemper][2] for a number of years, experienced a large-scale epidemic in 1763 — the first major outbreak in the colonies since 1755. The observer, Benjamin Rush, a competent eighteenth-century medical practitioner, stated that a ‘malignant sore-throat’ carried off many children in the winter of 1763.”[3] (Duffy. Epidemics in Colonial America. 1953, reprinted 1979, p. 127.)

 

Schultz: “Diphtheria. Known by a host of other names, including quinsy, bladders of the windpipe, throat distemper, and putrid sore throat, diphtheria was recognized as a plague among the children. It was more often reported among the New England colonies than the middle or southern, but two epidemics appear to have struck Philadelphia in 1746 and 1763….” (Schultz. “Epidemics in Colonial Philadelphia…1699-1799…” Early America Review, Wtr./Spring 2007.)

 

Sources

 

Duffy, John. Epidemics in Colonial America. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1953, reprinted 1979.

 

Schultz, Suzanne M. “Epidemics in Colonial Philadelphia from 1699-1799 and The Risk of Dying.” Early America Review, Winter/Spring 2007. Accessed 1-9-2018 at:  https://www.varsitytutors.com/earlyamerica/early-america-review/volume-11/early-american-epidemics

Also at: http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2007_winter_spring/epidemics.html

 

 

 

 

 

[1] We have found no numbers, data or statistics. In other diphtheria epidemics elsewhere, even in villages and small towns, diphtheria epidemics would kill many more than ten children. Philadelphia was no small town. Thus, in order to recognize that there was an epidemic and to contribute to a tally, we assume at least ten lives deaths.

[2] Diphtheria and Scarlet Fever chapter in Duffy’s book.

[3] Cites, in footnote 27: Rush. Medical Inquiries, 2d ed., IV, 372.