The first patient, it is stated, was delivered on the 20th of
March. "On the 19th Dr. C. made the autopsy of a man who had died
suddenly, sick only forty-eight hours; had oedema of the thigh
and gangrene extending from a little above the ankle into the
cavity of the abdomen." Dr. C. wounded himself very slightly in
the right hand during the autopsy. The hand was quite painful the
night following, during his attendance on the patient No. 1. He
did not see this patient after the 20th, being confined to the
house, and very sick from the wound just mentioned, from this
time until the 3d of April.
Several cases of erysipelas occurred in the house where the
autopsy mentioned above took place, soon after the examination.
There were also many cases of erysipelas in town at the time of
the fatal puerperal cases which have been mentioned.
The nurse who laid out the body of the patient No. 3 was taken on
the evening of the same day with sore throat and erysipelas, and
died in ten days from the first attack.
The nurse who laid out the body of the patient No. 4 was taken on
the day following with symptoms like those of this patient, and
died in a week, without any external marks of erysipelas.
"No other cases of similar character with those of Dr. C.
occurred in the practice of any of the physicians in the town or
vicinity at the time. Deaths following confinement have occurred
in the practice of other physicians during the past year, but
they were not cases of puerperal fever. No post-mortem
examinations were held in any of these puerperal cases."
Some additional statements in this letter are deserving of
insertion:
"A physician attended a woman in the immediate neighborhood of
the cases numbered 2, 3, and 4. This patient was confined the
morning of March 1st, and died on the night of Match 7th. It is
doubtful whether this should be considered a case of puerperal
fever. She had suffered from canker, indigestion, and diarrhoea
for a year previous to her delivery. Her complaints were much
aggravated for two or three months previous to delivery; she had
become greatly emaciated, and weakened to such an extent that it
had not been expected that she would long survive her
confinement, if indeed she reached that period. Her labor was
easy enough; she flowed a good deal, seemed exceedingly
prostrated, had ringing in her ears, and other symptoms of
exhaustion; the pulse was quick and small. On the second and
third day there was some tenderness and tumefaction of the
abdomen, which increased somewhat on the fourth and fifth. He had
cases in midwifery before and after this, which presented nothing
peculiar.
It is also mentioned in the same letter that another physician
had a case during the last summer and another last fall, both of
which recovered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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