–17,966 Census. “Table VII. Mortality of the US from Disease…June 1, 1880.” 1885, p. 48.^[1]

— 510 AL Census. “Table VII. Mortality…State…Specified Disease.” 1885, pp. 55, 59, 63.

— 0 AZ “ “ p. 67.

— 495 AR “ “ pp. 71, 75. –PA 1,005 pp. 387, 391.

— 80 CA “ “ pp. 79, 82. –RI 40 p. 395.

— 33 CO “ “ pp. 87, 91. –SC 261 pp. 399, 403, 407.

— 138 CT “ “ pp. 95, 99. –TN 1,010 pp. 411, 415, 419.

(East and West TN hard hit.)

— 41 DK “ “ pp. 103, 107, 111.

— 31 DE “ “ p. 115. –TX 641 pp. 427, 431, 435.

— 7 DC “ “ p. 119. –UT 71 p. 439.

— 43 FL “ “ p. 123. –VT 60 p. 443.

— 721 GA “ “ pp. 127, 131, 135. –VA 468 pp. 447, 451, 455.

— 4 ID “ “ p. 139. –WA 14 pp. 459, 463.

–1,006 IL “ “ pp. 142, 146, 150. –WV 277 pp. 467, 471.

— 636 IN “ “ pp. 155, 159, 163. –WI 340 pp. 475, 479, 483, 487.

— 618 IA “ “ pp. 167, 171, 175. –WY 5 pp. 491, 495

— 526 KS “ “ pp. 179, 183.

— 747 KY “ “ pp. 187, 191, 195, 199. (Eastern KY hard hit.)

— 192 LA “ “ pp. 203, 207, 211.

— 145 ME “ “ pp. 215, 219.

— 184 MD “ “ pp. 223, 227.

— 316 MA “ “ pp. 231, 235.

— 625^[2] “ Sec. of Commonwealth. Thirty-Ninth Report…Year Ending Dec 31, 1880. P. 81.^[3]

— 374 MI Census. “Table VII. Mortality…State…Specified Disease.” 1885, pp. 239, 243.

— 188 MN “ “ pp. 247, 251, 255.

— 375 MS “ “ pp. 263, 267.

— 917 MO “ “ pp. 271, 275, 279, 283.

— 2 MT “ “ pp. 287, 291.

— 247 NE “ “ pp. 294, 299, 303. (Eastern NE hard hit.)

— 7 NV “ “ p. 307.

— 72 NH “ “ pp. 311, 315.

— 193 NJ “ “ pp. 319, 323.

— 13 NM “ “ pp. 327, 331.

— 569 NY “ “ pp. 335, 339, 343, 347, 351.

— 611 NC “ “ pp. 355, 359, 363. (Western NC hard hit.)

— 533 OH “ “ pp. 367, 371, 375.

Narrative Information — General

Census: “The majority of the leading medical authorities of the present day are disposed to consider diphtheria and croup as being, in the main, merely different names for the same affection according as it affects more especially the mouth, throat, and nose, or the larynx and windpipe; membranous croup being considered to be, in a great majority of cases, at all events, a true diphtheritic affection of the larynx. It has been thought best, however, to tabulate the figures as returned by the enumerators and physicians, although the statistics of the two should be studied and considered together.

“The total number of deaths reported to have been caused by these diseases during the census year was, for diphtheria, 38,143; and for croup, 17,966. Diphtheria caused 5,039 deaths out of each 100,000 deaths from all causes, as against 1,280 in 1870, and 422 in 1860. Croup caused 2,374 deaths of every 100,000 deaths from all causes, as against 2,172 in 1870, and 422 in 1860, and 3,314 in 1850. The great increase in the proportion of deaths from diphtheria in 1880 over those reported in the preceding census years may be partly due to the fact that physicians now report as diphtheria cases which twenty or thirty years ago would have been returned as croup, as indicated by the fact that the proportion of deaths from croup for the last two censuses ahs been considerably less than it was for the two preceding ones….

“The mean age at death of those reported as dying of diphtheria during the census year was 6, and of croup 2….” (p. xxxix)

“The mortality from both croup and diphtheria is greater in the rural districts than in the large cities, in the whites than in the colored, in those of German than in those of Irish descent….” (xl)

“…in the 31 registration cities a very large majority of the deaths from croup occur during the months of October, November, December, January, February, March, and April…” (p. xlv.)

(U.S. Dept. of Interior, Census Office. Report on the Mortality and Vital Statistics of the United States as Returned at the Tenth Census (June 1, 1880)…Part II. 1886, pp. xl and xliii.

Massachusetts

“Diphtheria appeared first in our death-returns under that name for the first time in 1858, although it prevailed earlier in our State, and has been known to the world for at least twenty centuries. Many authorities consider it as the severe form of what has been known for many years as the disease ‘membranous croup.’ The two diseases are at least confused in practice.

“Table 75 [omitted here] shows two severe epidemics from 1860 to 1866, and from 1874 onward; an extremely high death-rate from that cause having been maintained for six years without any present indications of a marked decline.

“Its fatality for the year 1880 was greatest (in order by counties) in Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk, Hampden, Middlesex, Worcester, Bristol, Hampshire, Franklin, Barnstable, Berkshire, Dukes, and Nantucket, relatively to the population….

“Sixty-five per cent of the deaths were of children under 5 years of age, and 26 per cent between the ages of 5 and 10; 91 per cent of the deaths were of children under 10 years of age….95 per cent under the age of 15, the decline from that age onward being progressive and quite marked….

“After the epidemic of diphtheria and croup, which reached its highest point in 1863, the deaths from that cause declined steadily from 18.17 per cent of the total mortality to 2.5 in 1870, rising slightly to 2.7 in 1871. In 1875 the annual increase was great; and in the next two years the epidemic was at its greatest height, from which time there has been a steady decline to 6.78 per cent.

“By Tables 78 and 70 [not shown here] the total mortality thus far (ten years) has amounted to 18,714, and 210 more of females than of males (9,459) to 9,249).

“The least number of deaths was in August, from which month the rise was quite rapid to November and December;^[4] the decline extending more slowly from December to August….

“The excessive mortality from diphtheria and croup among the very young is even more striking when the deaths are compared with the population at the several ages, showing, for instance, a fatality a hundred times as great among children under five years of age as between the ages of 30 and 40.” (pp. 81-84) ….

“The analysis of the deaths from diphtheria (including croup), for the ten years ending in 1880, indicates a sudden rise in the mortality in 1874, chiefly in Berkshire and Franklin Counties, corresponding to the beginning of the severe epidemic in the north-western part of the State, with independent lesser foci in Bristol, Middlesex, and Hampden; while the deaths from that cause were less than the average of the previous three years in Barnstable, Essex, Dukes and Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, and Worcester. In 1875 the epidemic in Berkshire and Franklin Counties continued; and there was a marked rise in every other county in the State, except the islands, where no deaths were reported from diphtheria or croup. In 1876 the epidemic had decidedly moderated in Franklin County, and less so in Barnstable, remained about stationary in Berkshire, while the increase in the rest of the State, except the islands, was very great, causing 3,294 deaths, or 116 more than in the next year; from which time there has been a decline, Suffolk County alone having a greater number of deaths in 1880 than in any previous year.

“Following the different towns in the list, it may be seen that the mortality varied greatly from year to year in some; that in many it could hardly be said that there was any real epidemic; that the excessive mortality occurred in one season as in Florida, in two as in Nantucket, or scattered over any or nearly all of the ten years, and that contiguous towns were often visited by the disease with very different degrees of fatality. In the northern part of Berkshire County the epidemic was much more severe than in the southern part, while the opposite fact is true of the towns forming the Connecticut Valley. The extremely small towns of Florida and Conway had the highest death-rates in Berkshire and Franklin Counties,^[5] Easton (population, 3,898) in Bristol, Haverhill (14,628) in Essex, Holyoke (16,260) in Hampshire, Ware (4,142) in Hampshire, Pepperell (1,927) in Middlesex, Sharon (1,330) in Norfolk, Plympton (755) in Plymouth, Chelsea (20,737) in Suffolk, Spencer (5,451) in Worcester.” (p. 100)

(Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth. Thirty-Ninth Report to the Legislature of [MA] Relating to…Deaths in the Commonwealth…Year Ending December 31, 1880. 1881, pp. 81-110.)

Michigan

Deaths from Croup and diphtheria by month:

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

133 104 120 136 86 101 133 149 183 223 246 245

(Michigan Secretary of State. Fourteenth Annual Report Relating to the Registry and Return of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, in Michigan for the Year 1880… 1884. p. 267.)

Sources

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth. Thirty-Ninth Report to the Legislature of Massachusetts Relating to the Registry and Return of Births, Marriages, and Deaths in the Commonwealth, for the Year Ending December 31, 1880 (Public Document No. 1). Boston: Rand, Aberg & Co., Printers to the Commonwealth, 1881, pp. 81-110. Google digitized at:

http://books.google.com/books?id=aTgWAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Michigan Secretary of State. Fourteenth Annual Report Relating to the Registry and Return of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, in Michigan for the Year 1880 by the Secretary of State of the State of Michigan. Lansing: W. W. George & Co., State Printers and Binders, 1884. p. 267. Google digitized: http://books.google.com/books?id=JzziAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

U.S. Dept. of Interior, Census Office. Report on the Mortality and Vital Statistics of the United States as Returned at the Tenth Census (June 1, 1880), Part I. Washington: GPO, 1885. At: http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html

[1] “Table VII. Mortality of the United States and of Each State Group, From Each Specified Disease and Class of Diseases…During the Census Year Ending June 1, 1880.” In: U.S. Dept. of Interior, Census Office. Report on the Mortality and Vital Statistics of the United States as Returned at the Tenth Census (June 1, 1880), Part I. 1885.

[2] The Census figures are for 12-month time-frame of June 1879 through May, 1880.

[3] Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth. Thirty-Ninth Report to the Legislature of Massachusetts Relating to the Registry and Return of…Deaths in the Commonwealth, for the Year Ending December 31, 1880. 1881.

[4] Table 78. “Deaths from Diphtheria and Croup, by Age, Sex, and Seasons, 1871-1880,” p. 83, shows 328 deaths for November and 353 for December – more than an average of ten deaths daily for approximately 60 days.

[5] Table 81, “Death-Rates from Diphtheria and Croup in order, 1871-80,” on p. 101, shows the population of Florida as 572 and a death-rate of 34.96 from diphtheria and croup. This table has Spencer with a population of 5,451 and a death rate of 29.90.

1879 — June-May, 1880, Croup, esp. IL/1K, PA/1K, TN/1K, KY/747, NC/611, NE/247-17,966