444 –10,367

lornajarrettblanchard January 1, 1938

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 10-27-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

— >17,000 Ritchie. Primer of Sanitation. 1920, p. 38.[1] (We note but rely on Census Bureau.)

— 10,367 Bureau of the Census. “Diphtheria and Croup.” Mortality Statistics 1916, p. 36.

— 7,676 ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.[2]

— 188 AL. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 290 CA. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 187 CT. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 33 DC. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 35 HI. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 384 IN. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 96 IA. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 195 KS. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 384 KY. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 52 LA. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 166 MD. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 177 MA. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 486 MI. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 170 MN. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 141 MS. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 33 MT. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 444 NJ. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

–1,518 NY. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 14 OR. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

–1,653 PA. Hull. “Diphtheria…Public Health Standpoint.” PA Med Jou., V23, Aug 1920, 638.[3]

— 125 RI. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 79 SC. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 306 TX. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 23 VT. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 244 VA. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 35 WA. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 213 WI. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

— 5 WY. ASPH. “Diphtheria…Prevalence by States, 1916.” PHS, 32/23, 6-8-1917, 903.

Narrative Information

Diphtheria, CDC: “Diphtheria is a serious disease caused by a toxin (poison) made by bacteria. It causes a thick coating in the back of the nose or throat that makes it hard to breathe or swallow. It can be deadly. The DTaP vaccine protects against diphtheria….Diphtheria starts like a cold, with sore throat, mild fever (101 degrees or less), and chills. Next, the diphtheria toxin makes a thick coating on the back of the nose or throat. It may be blue or grayish green. The coating makes it hard to breathe or swallow…The coating on the throat can get so thick that it blocks the airway, so the person can’t breathe.

“The diphtheria toxin can attack the heart, causing abnormal heart rhythms and even heart failure. It can also attack the nerves, which leads to paralysis (unable to move parts of the body). About 1 out of 10 people who get diphtheria dies. In children younger than 5 years, as many as 1 out of 5 children who get diphtheria dies.

“How does diphtheria spread? Diphtheria spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes. A person can spread the disease for up to 2 weeks after infection.

“What is the DTaP vaccine? The DTaP vaccine is a shot that combines the vaccines for diphtheria and two other serious diseases: tetanus and whooping cough (pertussis). The vaccine helps the body to build up protection against the diphtheria toxin. Most children (about 97 children out of 100) who get all doses of the vaccine will be protected against diphtheria….” (Centers for Disease Control. Vaccines and Immunizations. “Diphtheria – Fact Sheet for Parents.” 7-8-2013 update.)

Ritchie: “Some cases of diphtheria are so severe that death comes in a day or two. Other cases are so light that they are mistaken for colds in the head or for simple sore throats. The disease is most common in children, and there is always an increase in the number of cases when the children come together in school after the long vacation. The incubation period is usually from two to eight days, but may be less.

“….The diphtheria germ is a bacillus. It grows most frequently in the throat, but often it is found in the mouth, nose, and larynx. It may grow also on the lips, on the lining of the eyelids, and in other parts of the body. The diphtheria bacillus does not usually grow outside the human body, except when it gets into milk. In most cases it is killed y drying, but when it is protected by matter about it, the bacillus can live for some time. On slate pencils that had touched the lips of children who were in the early stages of diphtheria, the germs were found to be alive after several days, and in dried ‘membranes’ from the throats of diphtheria patients it is known that the germs can live for months.

“….Diphtheria germs enter the body by way of either the mouth or the nose. They are passed from one person to another in various ways. They many be coughed out into the air and inhaled, or by spitting they may be spread about in a most dangerous manner. They are almost certain to be on the handkerchiefs of the persons who are carrying these germs, and they can easily get on door-knobs, books, or furniture. They have been found on public drinking cups, and they be on pencils, chewing gum, pieces of candy, toys, or any of the other objects that are handled and passed around by children.

“A number of diphtheria epidemics have been caused by mild…and flies may carry the germs about and leave them where they will reach the mouth and throat. Cats suffer from diphtheria and spread the disease,,,

“Difficulties in controlling diphtheria. In spite of quarantining and the use of antitoxin, there were over 17,000 deaths from diphtheria in the United States during 1916. The chief difficulty in stamping it out is that the germs often linger in the throat for four or five weeks, and occasionally for several months, after recovery from an attack of diphtheria. The germ is found also in the throats of a considerable number of healthy persons (often in those who have been in contact with cases of the disease), and in the noses and throats of persons who seem to be suffering only from ordinary colds or from light cases of sore throat. As a fire sometimes bursts forth into flames again after it seems to be dead, so diphtheria, after it seems to have disappeared, often breaks forth anew from these germ carriers. For at any time one of these persons may pass on to others germs that will cause the most severe cases of the disease; or if his resistance to the germs runs low, he himself may be overcome by them. (pp. 35-38.)

Sources

Association of Schools of Public Health. “Diphtheria. Recorded Prevalence by States, 1916.” Public Health Reports, Vol. 32, No. 23, 6-8-1917, p. 903. Accessed 9-2-2013 at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4574534

Bureau of the Census, United States Department of Commerce. Mortality Statistics 1916 (Seventeenth Annual Report). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1918. Accessed 1-21-2020 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsushistorical/mortstatsh_1916.pdf

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccines and Immunizations. “Diphtheria – Fact Sheet for Parents.” 7-8-2013 update. Accessed 8-27-2013 at:

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/diphtheria/fs-parents.html

Hull, Howard L, M.D. (Chief Medical Inspector, Penn. Dept. of Health). “Diphtheria From the Public Health Standpoint.” Pennsylvania Medical Journal, Vol. 23, No. 11, Aug 1920, 638-645. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=CtMyAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Ritchie, John W. Primer of Sanitation: Being a Simple Textbook on Disease Germs and How to Fight Them. Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York: World Book Co., 1920 Revision, 252 pages. Digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=Ml4AAAAAYAAJ

[1] No data is put forth to support this number, which appears to be an estimate, probably using Census registration areas as a base and extrapolating from these numbers into nonregistration areas.

[2] Compilation of deaths noted for 27 States, to which we have added the Hull data for Pennsylvania.

[3] Hull has a 1916 mortality rate of 19.4 per 100,000 pop. The ASPH table notes a PA population of 8,522,017, from which we were able to compute fatalities. The ASPH table also notes that there were 14,191 cases of diphtheria in PA in 1916, second only to NY (19,133) which had more than twice the population. Does not note PA fatalities.