Dealing with epidemics in late nineteenth century Dublin - A case study of typhoid fever

Abstract

Epidemics were a regular fact of life in Dublin during the second half of the nineteenth century. There were many infectious diseases to cope with as well as diseases of the respiratory and nervous systems. Death from such diseases was not an unusual occurrence, particularly among the poorer classes, but occasionally annual rates would surge to epidemic levels. Medical knowledge was undergoing a significant advance with an understanding of the role of bacteria displacing the centuries-old theory of miasma but it would be the following century before the role of viruses would be understood. It took some time for miasma to be entirely discounted with bacteria merely replacing the animal poisons previously believed to be the cause of illness. This was just as well as dealing with miasma involved an emphasis on public sanitation and hygiene: effective whether miasma, bacterium or virus. Dublin experienced a typhoid fever epidemic in 1891 and 1893 and the analysis undertaken at the time was unusual for its depth and the quality of geographical information provided. This paper examines that outbreak and explores the importance of geographical factors in explaining its distribution.