A History of Epidemics in Britain, Volume 2 (of 2): From the Extinction of Plague to the Present TimeCreighton, Charles
History
A History of Epidemics in Britain, Volume 2 (of 2): From the Extinction of Plague to the Present Time
Creighton, Charles
Epidemics -- Great Britain -- History
In Dublin, the influenza of the first months of 1837 seemed to check the
prevalence of typhus for a time; but the latter increased greatly when the
influenza was over, so that the admissions to the Cork Street Hospital
until the end of 1838 nearly equalled those of the worst epidemics since
the hospital was opened in 1804[493]. Females in typhus were admitted
greatly in excess of males; a large proportion (1847 in two years) were
under fifteen years of age; the fever rarely relapsed, so that it was
mostly typhus, as in England and Scotland at the same time. In twelve
months of the same period (Oct. 1837 to Sept. 1838) there were 1786
admissions for fever at Cork, 1840 at Limerick, and 1706 at Belfast[494].
In Dublin, as in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow, the continued fevers of
the “thirties” were distinctively spotted typhus, which was a new
constitution. Graves, lecturing at Dublin in November, 1836, said: “We are
now at a point of time possessing no common interest for the reflection of
medical observers. It is now nearly two years since my attention was first
arrested by the appearance of maculated fever, of which the first examples
were observed in some hospital cases from the neighbourhood of Kingstown.
This form of fever has lasted ever since, prevailing universally, as if it
had banished all other forms of fever, and being almost the only type
noticed in our wards[495].”
This increase of fever in Ireland, as well as the change in its type,
corresponded closely to the great epidemic outburst in Scotland and
England. The census of Ireland, taken in June, 1841, for the ten years
preceding, gave a somewhat loose return of the causes of death in each
year of the decennial period[496].
The worst years for fever were 1837 and 1840, the best year 1841. The
deaths from fever in ten years were 112,072, being 1 in 10·59 of the
deaths from all causes. The counties with highest fever mortality were
Cavan, Mayo, Galway and Clare; the worst towns were Belfast, Kilkenny,
Dublin, Limerick and Carrickfergus. Of these deaths from typhus-like
fevers, 14,501 occurred in 86 fever-hospitals, which were open, or which
kept records, for more or less of the decennial period. The following
table shows the proportions of rural, urban and hospital fever-deaths in
each of the four provinces:
_Deaths from fever in ten years, 1831-41._
Leinster Munster Ulster Connaught
Rural fever-deaths 16,159 23,718 21,616 19,319
Urban 4,626 4,878 3,183 1,262
Hospital 9,030 5,465 2,439 386
-----------------------------------------------
29,815 34,061 27,238 20,958
Rural population }
in 1841 } 1,531,106 2,009,220 2,160,698 1,338,635
Ratio of do. per }
sq. mile } 247 332 406 386
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account