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Typhoid Mary

MrRING

MrRING

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Since Mary Mallon's death, the name "Typhoid Mary" has grown into a term disassociated from the person. Anyone who has a contagious illness can be termed, sometimes jokingly, a "Typhoid Mary." If someone changes their jobs frequently, they are sometimes referred to as a "Typhoid Mary." (Mary Mallon changed jobs frequently. Some people believed it to be because she knew she was guilty, but most probably it was because domestic jobs during the time were not long lasting service jobs.)

But why does everyone know about Typhoid Mary? Though Mallon was the first carrier found, she was not the only healthy carrier of typhoid during that time. An estimated 3,000 to 4,500 new cases of typhoid fever were reported in New York City alone and it was estimated that about three percent of those who had typhoid fever become carriers, creating 90-135 new carriers a year.

Mallon was also not the most deadly. Forty-seven illnesses and three deaths were attributed to Mallon while Tony Labella (another healthy carrier) caused 122 people to become ill and five deaths. Labella was isolated for two weeks and then released.

Mallon was not the only healthy carrier who broke the health officials' rules after being told of their contagious status. Alphonse Cotils, a restaurant and bakery owner, was told not to prepare food for other people. When health officials found him back at work, they agreed to let go free when he promised to conduct his business over the phone.

So why is Mary Mallon so infamously remembered as "Typhoid Mary"? Why was she the only healthy carrier isolated for life? These are hard to answer. Judith Leavitt, author of Typhoid Mary, believes that her personal identity contributed to the extreme treatment she received from health officials. Leavitt claims that there was prejudice against Mallon not only for being Irish and a woman, but also for being a domestic servant, not having a family, not being considered a "bread earner," having a temper, and not believing in her carrier status.

During her life, Mary Mallon experienced extreme punishment for something in which she had no control and, for whatever reason, has gone down in history as the evasive and malicious "Typhoid Mary."
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http://history1900s.about.com/library/weekly/aa062900d.htm

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/typhoid/
 
There was a documentary on the unfortunate woman here a few weeks back.

Allegedly, not only did she never recognise any responsibility (and thus kept finding new jobs under new names as her reputation spread), the authorities that held her responsible never made any efforts to find suitable alternative employment or other accommodations.

So really, neither side comes off looking too good. She continued to work in kitchens, despite carrying typhoid, and the authorities put all the blame on the typhoid problem on one woman, when there were many more also (unwittingly) involved.
 
It was a shame that ignorance allowed her to unintentionally spread contagion. You'd have thought the authorities could've employed her as a cook or cleaner in a terminal illness ward or hospice. After all, if they already had typhus she couldn't do much worse!
 
A modern day version?

Hunt for human time-bomb with highly contagious killer disease
First action of its kind brought under public health and control of disease act
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:56 AM on 19th July 2011

A desperate hunt began today for a human time-bomb who is walking the streets suffering from a virulent strain of pulmonary tuberculosis.
A judge agreed to a rare application which will force 46-year-old Gary Clayden to undergo treatment for the condition.
Police now have the power to arrest him and detain him in a
medical isolation unit for a 28 day 'sentence'.
However, the court heard it is feared Clayden has gone into hiding.

One of his friends has just died from the disease and doctors are aware of a cluster of 12 other people who are suffering from it.

The application to District Judge Jeff Brailsford sitting at Blackpool Magistrates Court is believed to be the first of its kind brought under the Public Health and Control of Disease Act.
It means that Clayden can be taken off the streets and can be detained by himself in a quarantine unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Lancashire for 28 days where he can be treated
If he does not agreed to treatment a further 28 day order will be sought.

Elizabeth O'Connor applied for the order on behalf of Wyre Borough Council as Clayden normally lives in its main town of Fleetwood
She told the judge: 'This man has been made aware of the need to co-operate as this disease can be communicated to others.'

Consultant in health protection Dr Sunil ASHRAF told the hearing: 'This man is coughing up germs containing the TB virus.He is an ongoing risk to those he lives with and communicates with.
'He is contagious and people in a household with him are particularly at risk of inhaling the TB organisms which can affect parts of their body like the brain and lungs.
'He should be kept in quarantine in a hospital isolation unit where he can be encouraged to take his medication.
'In the past he might have taken medication one or twice. However it is important to take it over a period that way the TB bacteria does not become resistant to the anti biotics used.'

Specialist TB nurse Richard Cardwell told the court that he had texted Clayden to make sure he knew the court proceedings were taking place.
He said that he had even had to try and treat Clayden on the streets of Fleetwood.
'He will disappear and not make contact then when he is feeling ill he will come to hospital only to discharge himself.
'I know he was deeply shocked by the death of a colleague from TB.'

Granting the order Judge Brailsford said: 'I am satisfied that this man is a risk to the public and his human rights are not an issue at this time.
'This is the first time I have come across such an application and grant it because of the harm he poses to others.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... z1SXwQBrBt
 
That's alright then, he'll get picked up in the cull.
 
Stormkhan said:
It was a shame that ignorance allowed her to unintentionally spread contagion. You'd have thought the authorities could've employed her as a cook or cleaner in a terminal illness ward or hospice. After all, if they already had typhus she couldn't do much worse!
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I don't think ignorance sums it up, at least not after the first time she was apprehended. It would appear that, despite repeated explanation, she refused to accept cause and effect. It's possible she was of a mindset otr education level that simply couldn;t understand, but from the descriptoions of the case I've read sheer stubborness and indifference to the consequences would describe her behaviour better.
 
I don't think we can say that either ignorance or a lack of concern for others motivated Mary Mallon to continue seeking work as a cook. Let's not forget the era: pre-WWI in the USA, which would have had negligible (if any) welfare. She was a single woman whose only experience was as a domestic worker. What was she to do to earn a living? In retrospect, we can say 'Bad Mary!', but there was noone to help her survive if she didn't work. If I had a choice between starving to death (or becoming a prostitute) and continuing to work, I too would choose the latter.

At least once she was imprisoned (for life), she had a permanent home.

I also think that the Typhoid Mary case should be remembered in these times of cutbacks to essenital social services in so many countries. Now that unemployment insurance, welfare and public health services are fast becoming a thing of the past, we can expect similar 'selfish' behaviour amongst the working poor. As it is now, especially in the USA where many people are not even given 'sick days', we will see some very sick people continuing to work while spreading all sorts of diseases.
 
I just googled for this update on GC:

19 July 2011 Last updated at 14:23
TB treatment man Gary Clayden at Blackpool hospital

A man who failed to attend medical treatment sessions for tuberculosis (TB) has turned himself in at a Lancashire hospital.
Wyre Council was contacted by the Health Protection Agency after concerns that Gary Clayden, of no fixed abode, had not been having regular treatment.
Mr Clayden has had TB for 12 months, but had not been turning up.

A judge granted an application forcing Mr Clayden to have treatment as he may have caused a public health risk.
He has since voluntarily gone to Blackpool Victoria Hospital where he is being treated, a Wyre Council spokeswoman said.

In a statement released by the council it said: "Under Section 45G of the Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act 1984 the council was granted a court order that required him to be removed to Blackpool Victoria Hospital, detained there and kept in isolation or quarantine for 28 days.
"Without the treatment the possibility of him becoming resistant to treatment increases, which in turn could pose a significant risk to public health."
The Health Protection Agency said the order was not used because the patient had gone into hospital voluntarily.

Anybody who has been in prolonged contact with someone with TB should contact specialised community nurses who can arrange for routine screening if required.
TB is a serious, slow-developing bacterial infection caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
It most commonly affects the lungs, but can affect almost any part of the body.
It can be spread when someone with the infection coughs, sneezes or talks and another person breathes in the bacteria.
However, prolonged contact is usually needed for infection to occur.

TB treatments are effective in the majority of cases and most TB patients make a complete recovery but it is important for the entire course, which takes six months, to be completed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-la ... e-14202170
 
poozler said:
In retrospect, we can say 'Bad Mary!', but there was noone to help her survive if she didn't work. If I had a choice between starving to death (or becoming a prostitute) and continuing to work, I too would choose the latter.

At least once she was imprisoned (for life), she had a permanent home.

I also think that the Typhoid Mary case should be remembered in these times of cutbacks to essenital social services in so many countries. Now that unemployment insurance, welfare and public health services are fast becoming a thing of the past, we can expect similar 'selfish' behaviour amongst the working poor. As it is now, especially in the USA where many people are not even given 'sick days', we will see some very sick people continuing to work while spreading all sorts of diseases.
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You would continue to work even though you were killing people? And would you continue to ignore hygene advice as well? (One of the issues with Mary Mallon was she could not understand any need to wash her hands after using the loo even though she was involved in food preparation).

I can't speak to other countries, but the problem in the UK is overpopulation, not cuts (or to put it a kinder way, vastly more people than available jobs) . If there aren't enough employed people to pay the taxes, then a welfare state cannot be maintained. Public sector jobs unfortunatly achieve nothing in such a case since they are paid for by taxes in the first place, and so taxes paid by such employees are simply a book transfer and add nothing to the overall take. As you point out, however, the situation is ultimately self-regulating.
 
Man kept in hospital for three months over infection fears
A man with a highly contagious disease has been kept isolated in hospital for three months under the terms of a rare court order.
By Martin Beckford, Health Correspondent
6:30AM BST 24 Oct 2011

Gary Clayden, 46, developed a strain of pulmonary tuberculosis that is hard to treat because he failed to keep up with his medication.
One of his friends in Fleetwood, Lancs, is believed to have died from the lung infection, which leaves sufferers coughing up blood, while a further 12 have been affected.
Amid fears that Mr Clayden posed a risk to public health, he was ordered to be kept alone in a hospital room so he could complete his course of treatment.

Earlier this month the order was renewed, and he has now been in his room at Blackpool Victoria Hospital since July and is likely to remain there until the end of the year.

A spokesman for the Health Protection Agency said: “We had a person with TB who was non-compliant with treatment. We did feel that he posed a public health risk, so in partnership with the Primary Care Trust who run the TB service and Wyre Borough Council who have the power to apply for these orders, we applied for one, for the person to be detained while he posed a potential risk to the public.
“Hopefully as the treatment progresses that risk will recede.”

Mr Clayden, who is homeless, is thought to have had TB, the bacterial infection that most commonly affects the lungs, for well over a year now.
He was being treated in the community but stopped taking the medication that can cure the disease. This can lead to a drug-resistant form developing that poses a bigger risk for those who come into close contact with him.

In July, the HPA contact Wyre Council to express its concerns that he posed a risk to others. The local authority went to Blackpool Magistrates Court to request a rare order under Section 45G of the Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act 1984 so that Mr Clayden could be “removed to Blackpool Victoria Hospital, detained there and kept in isolation or quarantine for 28 days”.

At the time, District Judge Jeff Brailsford said: “This is the first time I have come across such an application and grant it because of the harm he poses to others.”
However it is believed that a similar order was sought in other court about five years ago.

In August the order was renewed as the authorities feared that without it, Mr Clayden would leave the ward and fail to complete his treatment.

But the HPA reassured the public that his disease was not “easy to catch”, and that it would require a sufferer to be near someone coughing up germs for several hours to transmit it.

Earlier in October the order was renewed for another 28 days, and it is thought likely Mr Clayden will be required to stay in a hospital room by himself until the six-month course of treatment is up.

He has not had legal representation at the court hearings that have deprived him of his liberty, and is believed to have only learned about them by text messages sent by health workers. But sources say he has not contested the orders.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healt ... fears.html
 
My friend had TB, he was very sick, and it took a long time for it to be clear.

Best stay away from badgers and aeroplanes, is my advice.
 
Typhoid Mary tends to be confused with "Bloody Mary" of urban mythology in some media.
 

'Typhoid Mary' Mystery May Have Been Solved At Last, Scientists Say

How exactly was the Irish immigrant known as Typhoid Mary able to infect about 50 people in New York City in the early 1900s without succumbing to the illness herself? Scientists say they are now close to cracking the case.

In a new study, they were able to solve the mystery of how a dangerous bacterial pathogen can, in some people, manage to persist without causing symptoms and find a way to survive for decades.

For the salmonella bacteria that causes typhoid fever, the researchers said it manages to hide in immune cells known as macrophages and "hacks" their metabolism to their own benefit. If the germs are successful in pulling that off, then an infected person can unknowingly spread the pathogen without falling ill herself -- like in Typhoid Mary, whose real name was Mary Mallon. Just watch the video above.

“To all outward appearances, she was perfectly healthy,” study co-author Dr. Denise Monack, associate professor of immunology and microbiology at Stanford University, said in a written statement.

Monack and her research team infected mice with a strain of salmonella, and found that, the bacteria were able to "wait out" the body's aggressive immune response before they then positioned themselves in the immune cells that became less aggressive at later stages of infection.
Click to expand...

More at the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/1 ... 62822.html
 
How fascinating. :D

Recently I heard something on R4 about a man who wanted to be a doctor but was turned down because he'd contracted and recovered from an infectious illness and might still be a carrier. Not sure what it was, can't remember, but I thought at the time that he'd been treated unfairly. Seems not!
 
Article about Typhoid Mary in the BBC today, seemingly prompted by the possibility that people may be spreading Covid while not realising they have it. Seems she continued to actively persue cooking jobs even after promising not to and even though other work was available to her.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-52291327

She tried working in the lowlier job of laundry maid but eventually returned to cooking under a string of assumed names. She even, unforgivably, took a job in the kitchens of a hospital.

The now familiar trail of death and sickness pursued her. It's impossible to know how many deaths she was responsible for. There were certainly at least three but more lurid accounts suggest there might be as many as 50.

When authorities tracked her down again in 1915 there was no newspaper campaign and no sympathy.

Mary was sent back into isolation and lived in confinement for 23 years until her death in 1938. Her legacy perhaps is a lesson about following medical advice even when you don't really understand it.
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Min Bannister said:
Article about Typhoid Mary in the BBC today, seemingly prompted by the possibility that people may be spreading Covid while not realising they have it. Seems she continued to actively persue cooking jobs even after promising not to and even though other work was available to her.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-52291327
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I believe Typhoid Fever is spread by fecal matter, so the current hand washing advice would have worked for her ( being a cook you would have thought she would have better hygiene, but apparently not ).
 
Not in this case, as she herself was the source of the typhus.
 
tuco said:
I believe Typhoid Fever is spread by fecal matter, so the current hand washing advice would have worked for her ( being a cook you would have thought she would have better hygiene, but apparently not ).
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Yes, it wasn't in the article I quoted but I read in one of the others posted above that she did not believe in washing her hands. :yuck:
 
There was a BBC Newsnight programme in 2008 on asymptomatic typhoid carriers being held in isolation indefinitely under various legislation (the most recent incarnation being 1984 Public Health Act). One of my college Professors worked for Public Health in the 60's and his particular interest was in the Long Grove asylum in Epsom that closed in 1992. Although medical records were destroyed, the patient cards were still strewn about the ruins. The scandal being that effective antibiotics have been available since the 1950s and yet the patients (all women) were still being detained. Newsnight tried to trace one patient from Long Grove who had been held in isolation for more than 20 years. She was not allowed visitors, even from her family, the only human contact was with nurses in full infection control gear. By the time the asylum closed she had become so institutionised that the only option was to transfer her to a NHS mental facility where she eventually died.
The Dept of Health deny this and in the absence of medical records, investigations cannot be carried further. The legislation is still in place however to detain anyone suffering from a 'notifiable' disease for the Public Good. It is tempting to consider whether Covid 19 will ever be classified as 'notifiable'.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-...riers-detained-for-life-in-asylum-879113.html
 
Min Bannister said:
Yes, it wasn't in the article I quoted but I read in one of the others posted above that she did not believe in washing her hands. :yuck:
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A colleague of mine stated just before the lockdown that the whole pandemic business was nonsense, it was just the flu, and he'd carry on washing his hands just once at the end of each shift as usual. He's probably dead now. Or his granny is.
 
escargot said:
A colleague of mine stated just before the lockdown that the whole pandemic business was nonsense, it was just the flu, and he'd carry on washing his hands just once at the end of each shift as usual. He's probably dead now. Or his granny is.
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There is just no reasoning with such folk.:(
Bad Bungle said:
Newsnight tried to trace one patient from Long Grove who had been held in isolation for more than 20 years. She was not allowed visitors, even from her family, the only human contact was with nurses in full infection control gear. By the time the asylum closed she had become so institutionised that the only option was to transfer her to a NHS mental facility where she eventually died.
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That is so sad. I am glad I didn't see the programme.
 
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