1880 — Diphtheria, NY, esp. children, esp. NYC & Brooklyn; also elsewhere NY–1805-2303
–2,303 New York City. Grob. The Deadly Truth: A History of Disease in America. 2002, p.205.
–1,805 The State. Blanchard tally based on locality breakouts below.[1]
— 10 Arietta, Hamilton Co., June 28-Oct 19. NY Board of Health. Annual Report 1880, p.107.[2]
— 22 Harmony, Chautauqua Co., June 12-Nov 18. NY Board of Health. An. Rpt. 1880, pp. 138.
— 2 Havana area, Schuyler Co., Nov-Dec 6. NY Board of Health. An. Rpt. 1880, pp. 139-140.
— 4 Johnstown, Fulton Co., Feb 2, June 4 & 9. NY Board of Health. Annual Rpt. 1880, p. 121.
— 11 Morris, Otsego Co., June 23-Oct 23. NY Board of Health. Annual Rpt. 1880, pp. 132-135.
— 5 Northville, Fulton Co., Oct-Nov. NY Board of Health. Annual Rpt. 1880.
— 3 Upper Benson, Hamilton Co., Oct 9-29. NY Board of Health. An. Report 1880, p. 114.[3]
— 2 Waterville, Oneida Co., Sep 15-Oct 6. NY Board of Health. Annual Rpt. 1880, p. 136.
— 2 Wells, Hamilton Co., March 25-Apr 4. NY Board of Health. Annual Report 1880, p. 117.
— 354 Brooklyn, [4] Oct 24-Jan 8, 1881.[5] New York Times. “Diphtheria in Brooklyn.” 12-17-1880.
— 46 “ Oct 24-30 The Medical Record, Vol. XVIII, No. 23, 12-4-1880, p.616.
— 200 “ Nov New York Times. “Diphtheria in Brooklyn.” 12-17-1880.
–57 Oct 31-Nov 6 The Medical Record, Vol. XVIII, No. 23, 12-4-1880, p.616.
–47 Nov 7-13 The Medical Record, Vol. XVIII, No. 23, 12-4-1880, p.616.
— 103 Dec 1-17 New York Times. “Diphtheria in Brooklyn.” 12-17-1880.
— 50 Dec 12-18. Nappanee News, IN. “The News. Domestic.” 12-30-1880, 2.[6]
–1,390 New York City. Year. Billington. Diphtheria: Its Nature and Treatment. 1889, p. 139.[7]
–334 “ Oct 10-Dec 4. New York Times, Oct 17 and Dec 5, 1880.
— 52 “ Oct 10-16. NYT. “Contagious Diseases…Diphtheria,” 10-17-1880.
— 54 “ Oct 30-Nov 6. NY Times. “The Prevalence of Diphtheria.” 12-5-1880.
— 50 “ Nov 7-13. NY Times. “The Prevalence of Diphtheria.” 12-5-1880.
— 52 “ Nov 14-20. NY Times. “The Prevalence of Diphtheria.” 12-5-1880.
— 66 “ Nov 21-27. NY Times. “The Prevalence of Diphtheria.” 12-5-1880.[8]
— 66 “ Nov 28-Dec 4 NY Times. “The Prevalence of Diphtheria.” 12-5-1880.
Narrative Information
Sep 25, NYT: “The notice of the action of the Board of Health on Tuesday [Sep 21], ordering the diphtheria-infected tenements in East Twenty-third-street and Avenue A to be vacated within five days, was received with dismay and consternation both by the inmates of these houses and the agents and owners of the premises. Either on account of carelessness or an endeavor to suppress the fact that malignant diphtheria was rapidly prostrating and destroying the inmates, only a few of the cases were properly reported to the Sanitary Superintendent. It was ascertained that three more cases were reported from No. 441 East Twenty-third-street after the publication in The Times of the article on the subject a week ago on Sunday. The whole number of tenements on this block, between First-avenue and Avenue A, in Twenty-third-street, has been thoroughly inspected by Sanitary Engineer Nealiss. He reported that he found sufficient cause for any amount of disease in the flooding of the cellars by the tide-water. The tide was found to spring up through the cellar-bottom of Nos. 339, 441, and 443 East Twenty-third-street, and two houses around the corner on Avenue A. These two latter tenements are connected with the three others, and are the property of the same individual. ‘After making a careful inspection,’ said Sanitary Engineer Nealiss, ‘it was found that only the most active measures could render these houses fit for human habitation.’ Attention was paid to the condition of the plumbing, and it was ordered that the cellars be filled to a depth of three feet with clean earth, and then thoroughly cemented. This will entail a large expense in each house, and until these measures have been taken these tenements will be dangerous to live in. It is believed that if this filling and cementing is done, the tenements will be suitable for occupancy. The Sanitary Engineer also inspected the tenements on the south side of this street. In spite of the report that there had been no cases of diphtheria except in No. 406 East Twenty-third-street, it was ascertained there had been at least three cases in the adjoining house, No. 404, and two of the persons attacked had died. Yesterday cases were reported in No. 416 East Twenty-third-street. In regard to these latter cases, it was stated that they had been caused undoubtedly by the children coming in contact with others afflicted with diphtheria.
“In all of the tenements on the south side of Twenty-third-street, between First-avenue and Avenue A, it was found that the cellars had been flooded by the tide-water during the heavy north-east storm in the middle of August last. The amount of water entering these cellars had not been as great as was reported to have been the case in the houses on the north side of that street. Nevertheless the flooding had been considerable, and there had been left behind a foul, strongly-smelling deposit that caused noxious gases to pervade the houses. The fact that some of these houses have been kept in a much more cleanly condition than others is believed to have been one reason why there were more virulent cases of diphtheria in some of the houses than others. The Sanitary Engineer said that he must believe that the flooding by the tide induced a condition dangerous to health….
“It was stated to a Times reporter yesterday that the investigations and orders of Sanitary Engineer Nealiss in East Twenty-third street will be a basis for the work to be done in other places where the cellars have been found to be flooded by the tide-water, and the inmates attacked by diphtheria. Cases of this character have been reported from Grand-street, north up on One Hundred and Fifteenth-street. But all the cases of diphtheria in this City have not had the tide-water exhalations as a cause of the attack. Some of the physicians in the upper section of the City have stated that in that portion it has seemed that there has been a decided inclination on the part of most of their cases of sore throat to take on a diphtheritic type or character. In one case reported by Dr. Campbell the Doctor stated that he was unable to observe any membrane in the throat at the beginning of the attack, but later on its character became decidedly manifested, and its contagious nature was evidenced by the fact that two adult members of that household contracted the disease about the same time that the child died….Other physicians in the upper districts have reported recent cases of diphtheria, and all have been of a particularly malignant character.
“The number of cases reported since the outbreak of the present epidemic, about the middle of August last, has steadily decreased, although there are more persons sick with diphtheria now than has been the average in the past. The increased knowledge of the disease enables physicians to take more effective measures in regard to disinfection and other means to destroy disease germs, and at least prevent the spread of the infection by proper isolation. The inmates of the large tenements are not only willing, but anxious, to learn how best to avoid further spread of this dread disease, and the instructions of Sanitary Inspector Wilder, who visits the important cases as soon as possible after they are reported, are carried out promptly and faithfully in nearly all cases. The Inspector stated to the reporter of The Times that the janitors and housekeepers were instructed how to use disinfectants cheaply and to the best advantage. After the cellars have been flooded with tide-water they sweep out the debris with a course broom and disinfect freely by sprinkling the cellars, court-yards, and cellar-stairs with a solution of carbolic acid and sulphate of iron. If a child is prostrated with diphtheria, the mother is instructed to separate the sick one from the others as entirely as possible, and if this cannot be effected it is recommended that the patient be removed to the hospital of the Health Department….
“Diphtheria generally is much more dreaded than small-pox, and yet nothing like the precautions to prevent the spread of the latter are used to control the ravages of the former. A law was passed several years ago creating a special corps to keep the inhabitants of this City properly vaccinated, and money has been well spent, no doubt, in the prevention of small-pox, which has been almost an entire stranger to the City for years. It is believed by many prominent physicians that equally active measures should be employed to prevent and control the other contagious diseases. The water supply should be increased; the sanitary surroundings of many tenements altered and improved; the tide-water prevented from entering cellars of houses inhabited as tenements, leaving a deposit of decaying organic matter; a greater vigilance exercised to investigate the causes of outbreaks of contagious disease and prevent them when possible, and finally to compel the isolation of cases of contagious disease, providing suitable reception hospitals for cases occurring in poor families living in such crowded quarters that isolation is impossible, and a careful medical supervision of the public schools.” (New York Times. “Fighting Dread Disease. The Board of Health and the Diphtheria Outbreak.” 9-25-1880.)
Oct 17, NYT: “During the week ending at 3 P.M. yesterday the number of cases of contagious diseases reported in this City was as follows: Typhoid fever, 14, scarlet fever 52; cerebro-spinal meningitis, 4; measles 21; diphtheria, 94, and small-pox 2. These figures show an increase in the cases of typhoid fever, scarlet fever, measles, and diphtheria. From the latter disease there were 52 deaths during the week. Thirteen of the twenty-one cases of measles reported were among the children in the Sheltering Arms institution….” (New York Times. “Contagious Diseases. Increase of Typhoid Fever, Diphtheria, and Measles – The Death Record.” 10-17-1880.)
By Nov 13: “During the week ending Saturday, November 13th, there were 139 cases of diphtheria reported to the Brooklyn Health Board, of which number 47 proved fatal. In the week previous there were 109 cases, and 57 deaths; while in the week ending October 30th, 46 deaths from diphtheria were reported. The disease is scattered over various sections of the city, but during the past three weeks it has been most prevalent I the Fifth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twenty-fifth Wards. The highest rate of deaths attained in any ward was in the Tenth, where there were seven fatal cases in one week. The Register of Vital Statistics thinks that the climax of the disease has been reached.” (The Medical Record, “The Diphtheria Epidemic in Brooklyn.” Vol. XVIII, No. 23, 12-4-1880, p. 616.)
Nov 15, NYT: “….Ever since the outbreak of the epidemic of diphtheria, owing to the heavy north-east storm in the middle of August which flooded cellars and burst sewer-pipes on the east and west sides of the City, that disease has prevailed to a great extent, in spite of the most persistent efforts to keep it in check….” (New York Times. “The City’s Sanitary Work… Diphtheria and Scarlatina.” 11-15-1880.)
Dec 3, NYT: “Diphtheria has been for several weeks prevalent in the City, and continues to be, though it is not likely to become epidemic. Its late increase is attributed to the sudden and unseasonable cold, which usually develops it….Diphtheria is apt to be confounded with croup and malignant sore throat, from both of which it is distinct in its symptoms, as well as in the nature and position of the morbid changes on the mucous membrane. In croup there is, indeed, a peculiar membrane, but it is nearly always confined to the air passages and centres in the larynx. In diphtheria it commonly begins in the back of the throat, and often extends down the gullet. Croup is, besides, much more inflammatory than diphtheria. Malignant or ulcerated sore throat is still more unlike diphtheria, in which, in most cases, there is no ulceration, the mucous membrane being simply covered with a tissue, more or less thick, of false membrane. But both affections are marked by enlargement of the glands behind the ear and in the neck, generally in the region of the parts internally influenced. In diphtheria the throat trouble is frequently accompanied by a low, dangerous fever, with great and rapid loss of strength, still further diminished, of course, by the patient’s inability to take food. In some cases, not few in fact, suffocation ensues, and tracheotomy – opening the windpipe – has been resorted to, with occasional success, as the last means to save life. After the acute symptoms and character have passed recovery may be retarded by paralytic signs of various sorts, or by extreme debility, attended with loss of appetite and exhaustion. Whether the disease is or is not contagious is still mooted. Beetonneau thought that it was, and many of our own physicians, after wide and varied experience, agree with him. Others of equal authority are of a contrary opinion; but these seem at present to be in the minority. It is usually admitted to be a specific disease, though divers causes have been assigned to it. Many consider it due to a parasitic fungus – oidium albicans – whose sporuies and mycelium have been discovered on the mucous membrane of the mouth, the fauces, and the alimentary canal. Its irritation induces in the weakened membranes an increased secretion of epithelial scales and exuding corpuscles, which, with the fungus, constitute the membrane of pellicle. It is held by many physicians that the sporuies may, and do, pass from one person to another, and that patients must be isolated for prudence and proper treatment. Diphtheria, largely ascribed to the foul air of sewers and cesspools, prevails most in crowded and ill-kept quarters of cities. It has greatly increased in this country within a few years, and has often proved a scourge.” (New York Times. Editorial [Diphtheria in NYC]. 12-3-1880.)
Dec 4, NYT: “Thirty deaths from diphtheria during the present week were recorded at the Brooklyn Board of Health up to noon yesterday. One of these deaths occurred in Raymond-Street Jail, the victim being a child named John Murtha, aged 2 years. The boy’s mother was convicted of larceny some time ago and remanded to jail for sentence. She took with her to the jail her three children, two of whom, one aged 4 years and the other aged 3 months, survive. The mother and her three children were confined in the same cell in the female ward of the old jail. When the disease was discovered mother and children were taken to a top room in the building, and the cell which they had occupied was fumigated. Mrs. Murtha says the death of her child was owing to the extreme coldness of the cell. A good deal of alarm having been occasioned among the prisoners, the whole building was fumigated yesterday and every precaution was taken to prevent the further spread of the disease. No action has yet been taken by the Aldermanic committee, appointed at the Mayor’s solicitation, to ascertain the cause of the rapid increase of diphtheria in Brooklyn.” (New York Times. “Diphtheria in Brooklyn.” 12-4-1880.)
Dec 17, NYT: “Diphtheria still continues to claim a good many victims in Brooklyn, although the Board of Health of that city have adopted every means within reach to prevent the spread of the disease. During the month of November 591 cases were reported, 220 of which terminated fatally. Up to date, during the present month, 345 cases have been reported, 103 of which have had a fatal termination. Defective plumbing, it I believed, has much to do with the continued prevalence of the disease. A report made to the Board of Health by the Board of City Works yesterday morning assigns this, in the opinion of Sanitary Superintendent Raymond, to be the principal cause for the epidemic. The fact is stated that out of 12,229 manhole covers in the city 9,858 have solid covers. The sewers are therefore not properly ventilated, and when the tide rises the poisonous gases, which should escape through the perforated manhole covers into the open air, are forced into the connections of the private houses….The Health authorities are of opinion that diphtheria will speedily vanish if the solid iron covers of the manholes are replaced by perforated covers.” (New York Times. “Diphtheria in Brooklyn.” 12-17-1880.)
Dec 30: “Of 150 cases of diphtheria in Brooklyn, N.Y., during the week ended on the 18th fifty were fatal.” (Nappanee News, IN. 12-30-1880, p. 2.)
Dec 30: “New York Commercial. A lady living in Williamsburg sent the following remedy for diphtheria to the Brooklyn board of health yesterday, adding that she used it with success with her six children: ‘Take a slice of fat bacon—side meat—the older the better; sew it on a soft piece of flannel; then saturate with coal (petroleum) oil. Place it on the neck, having the meat reach from ear to ear. After pounding several raw onions into a poultice place enough of the same into the patient’s stockings to cover the soles of the feet, and have the patient put the stockings on. The poultice must be warm in order not to chill the patient. The throat should then be gargled with some tomato catsup, strong with red pepper, salt and vinegar, or pepper, salt and
vinegar shaken well together will do. If the patient is too young to gargle wet the throat with a few drops. If vomiting occurs, lime water purchased at a drug store with directions should be given. Be sure to cause an irritation on the neck.’” (Burlington Weekly Hawkeye, IA, “A Remedy for Diphtheria.” 12-30-1880, p. 9.)
Dec 30, OH Democrat: “There are a large number of cases of diphtheria reported in Buffalo and in one section the public schools have been closed…. [col. 3]
“Speaking of diphtheria, Dr. Van Giesen said: ‘I have studied this disease for more than thirty years. I have read many volumes devoted to it, and I have had a great many cases of diphtheria in my practice. Sometimes I have said to myself, ‘Well, at last I know what diphtheria is.’ But if you were to ask me now to describe the etiology of this disease, I should answer, ‘I give it up.’ Fortunately, however, we are able to treat it successfully in a great many cases. My method of treatment is told in just one word – sustain. There are physicians who assert that they have never lost a case of diphtheria. Those physicians are either humbugs or else they have never had many cases of diphtheria. I have sometimes treated as many as thirty cases successfully; and then I have lost half a dozen, one right after the other. It is a disease that has different degrees of malignancy. One year its attacks may be very mild, and at its next visit it may kill almost every one who becomes infected with it. As for the present epidemic of diphtheria, I am afraid that we have only seen the beginning of it. When I see a diphtheria patient, I can generally make up my mind whether he can be save or not. But the treatment is the same for all – food and stimulants.’– N.Y. Sun.” (The Ohio Democrat, New Philadelphia, OH. “A Doctor’s Devotion.” 12-30-1880, p. 1, col. 4.)
Dec 31, Burlington Hawk-Eye: “Dr. James M. Kerr, of Pittsburg, has published an article on the cause and cure of diphtheria, which is attracting wide attention. He declares that the disease is not a result of sewer gas. He says it is local in its first stage, and constitutional in the next, as a result of blood poisoning, and recommends treatment of a simple and effective kind. So effective is this treatment that out of forty cases he has lost but one, ant that one through the negligence of the patient’s attendants in regard to diet. The false membrane to the throat attendant upon the disease can be removed by local applications. For this a rather powerful lotion of hydrochloric acid and glycerine is recommended. But the moment the membrane forms the patient is threatened with another and far more dangerous malady. While this process is going on in the tonsils a virulent poison is distilled in the neighborhood, a very small portion of which, if it passes into the stomach, produces acute gastritis and thus poisons the blood. The system becomes much depressed, the action of the heart and brain is lowered, ordinarily to the verge and sometimes to the worst condition of paralysis, and the patient dies, not, as is supposed, from asphyxia, but from the presence of virulent poison in the blood. After removing the false membrane, Dr. Kerr puts into the stomach a simple [next three words unclear] magnesia, to combe and neutralize the diphtheritic poisons and gently remove them through the proper channels. Meantime he supports the patient with nutritious, non-irritant food until the crisis arrives, when wine, or if necessary whisky and brandy, are copiously used to aid in throwing off the clutch that threatens to choke the life out of the heart and brain. This of the disease in its commonest form, Malignant diphtheria is incurable.
“A reporter of the Eagle has interviewed a number of eminent Brooklyn physicians, and is glad to learn that ‘something like unanimity has at length begun to prevail as to the main characteristics of the disorder.’ He finds that the sewer gas theory has been abandoned. The dangerous pneumonia attending the disease are attributed to blood poisoning. The system is inoculated by some specific virus, whether bacteria, or something else whose tendency is to promote putrefaction of the tissues, they do not profess to know. The mode of treatment, therefore, has become more nearly uniform. The parts first and most tangibly affected, namely, the throat, fauces[9] and nares,[10] are locally treated, either by external application or by washes laid on with a brush, to destroy the false membrane. How the poison is introduced from the throat into the system, if, indeed, it is, there is a difference of opinion; but one of the best authorities interviewed, Dr. Childs, who has had great experience in the matter, gives it as his opinion that Dr. Kerr has hit upon an accurate solution of the process, and that the course of treatment recommended by him seems very plausible. It differs in essentials in no way from that suggested by the Brooklyn doctors, namely, to check the membranous growth with strong antiseptics, to administer antidotes to the poison in the stomach and remove it naturally, and by tonics and stimulants to fortify the system and assist it to throw off the poison that has already found its way into the circulation.” (Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “What Diphtheria Is.” 12-31-1880, p. 1.)
Jan 1, Palo Alto Reporter: “There were 168 case of diphtheria reported in Brooklyn last week.” (Palo Alto Reporter, Emmetsburg, IA. “In a Nutshell.” 1-1-1881, p. 2.)
Jan 10, Chester Daily Times: “Forty-one deaths from diphtheria were reported in Brooklyn last week. The disease is slightly abating in that city, but seems to be increasing in New York.” (Chester Daily Times, PA. “Latest News.” 1-10-1881, p. 1.)
Sources
Boston Daily Globe. “Abbreviated Despatches, 1-11-1881, p. 3. Accessed 5-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-jan-11-1881-p-5/
Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye, IA. “What Diphtheria Is.” 12-31-1880, p. 1, col. 9. Accessed 5-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/burlington-hawk-eye-dec-31-1880-p-1/
Burlington Weekly Hawkeye, IA, “A Remedy for Diphtheria.” 12-30-1880, p. 9, col. 5. Accessed 5-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/burlington-weekly-hawk-eye-dec-30-1880-p-18/
Chester Daily Times, PA. “Latest News.” 1-10-1881, p. 1, col. 3. Accessed 5-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/chester-daily-times-jan-10-1881-p-3/
Grob, Gerald N. The Deadly Truth: A History of Disease in America. Cambridge, MA: President and Fellows of Harvard College, Harvard University Press, 2002. Partially Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=U1H5rq3IQUAC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Nappanee News, IN. “The News. Domestic.” 12-30-1880, p. 2, col. 2. Accessed 5-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/nappanee-news-dec-30-1880-p-2/
New York State Board of Health. First Annual Report of the State Board of Health of New York (Transmitted to the Governor December 1, 1880). Albany: Weed, Parson and Co., Printers, 1881. Google preview accessed 5-28-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=TGPUmyX6_UgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
New York Times. “Contagious Diseases. Increase of Typhoid Fever, Diphtheria, and Measles – The Death Record.” 10-17-1880. Accessed 5-28-2018 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F70814FB3A5A1A738DDDAE0994D8415B8084F0D3
New York Times. “Diphtheria in Brooklyn.” 12-4-1880. Accessed 5-28-2018 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F10613FB3E5F15738DDDAD0894DA415B8084F0D3
New York Times. “Diphtheria in Brooklyn. Six Hundred Cases in a Month.” 12-17-1880. Accessed 5-28-2018 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FB0614FB395B1B7A93C5A81789D95F448884F9
New York Times. Editorial [Diphtheria in NYC]. 12-3-1880. Accessed 5-28-2018 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F60C1EFC395B1B7A93C1A91789D95F448884F9
New York Times. “Fighting Dread Disease. The Board of Health and the Diphtheria Outbreak.” 9-25-1880. Accessed 5-28-2018 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=980DE6DE163AEF33A25756C2A96F9C94619FD7CF
New York Times. “The City’s Sanitary Work. Inside and Outside Nuisances Considered… Contagious Diseases in Tenement-Houses — Diphtheria and Scarlatina.” 11-15-1880. Accessed 5-28-2018 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1880/11/15/98640049.pdf
New York Times. “The Prevalence of Diphtheria.” 12-5-1880. Accessed 5-28-2018 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F50E16FD395B1B7A93C7A91789D95F448884F9
Palo Alto Reporter, Emmetsburg, IA. “In a Nutshell.” 1-1-1881, p. 2, col. 5. Accessed 5-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/palo-alto-reporter-jan-01-1881-p-2/
The Medical Record, “The Diphtheria Epidemic in Brooklyn.” Vol. XVIII, No. 23, 12-4-1880, p. 616. Google preview accessed 5-28-2018 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=tAlYAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
The Ohio Democrat, New Philadelphia, OH. “A Doctor’s Devotion.” 12-30-1880, p. 1, cols. 3 & 4. Accessed 5-28-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-philadelphia-ohio-democrat-dec-30-1880-p-5/
United States Census Office, Department of the Interior. Report on the Mortality and Vital Statistics of the United States as Returned at the Tenth Census (June 1, 1880)…Part II. Washington: GPO, 1886. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=wfNYAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[1] Do not know why our tally differs by almost 500 deaths from the number noted by Grob. We do know that our Brooklyn numbers only apply to Oct through early Jan, when there was a recognized “epidemic” there. Perhaps one of Grob’s sources included material updated from the 1888 data from the NYC Board of Health which Billington relies upon and includes Brooklyn for the entire year, as well as other, later, Boroughs?
[2] Population 153 (33 families); 43 cases (all children).
[3] All children (Godfrey family), out of 10 cases.
[4] Brooklyn did not become the Borough of Brooklyn, one of five boroughs of New York City, until 1898.
[5] Brooklyn outbreak began in Aug in three tenements, but did not become epidemic until October.
[6] “Of 150 cases of diphtheria in Brooklyn, N.Y., during the week ended on the 18th fifty were fatal.”
[7] Deaths were out of 3,307 cases, making for 42.03% mortality. Cites Board of Health returns via courtesy of Dr. John T. Nagle, New York City Bureau of Vital Statistics. Since Brooklyn was not a part of NYC until 1898 we assume this number does not include Brooklyn fatalities.
[8] An average of 9.4 diphtheria deaths daily.
[9] “The narrow passage from the mouth to the pharynx between the soft palate and the base of the tongue.” (Merriam-Webster.com)
[10] Nostrils.