Monday, August 30, 2010

An intresting story about 'Miss Marry Mallon' aka 'Typhoid Marry' and 'Typhoid Fever'.

Between 1986 & 1906 Marry Mallon worked as a cook in 7 homes in New York city. Twenty eight cases of Typhoid Fever occured in these homes while she worked in them.
As a result the New York city health deptartment arrested Marry n admitted to an isolation hospital on North Brother island, New York. 
''The world is going mad at an accelerating rate and television is the Typhoid Marry of this madness''-Edward Robb Ellis
Examination of Marry's stool showed that she was shedding large numbers of Typhoid bacteria (Salmonella Typhi) though she exhibited no external symptoms of the disease.An article published in 1908 in the Journal of American Medical Association referred to her as 'Typhoid Marry', an epithet by which she is still known today. She released from isolation after she pledged not to cook for others or serve food to them.Then Marry changed her name and began to work as a cook again. For 5 yrs she managed to avoid capture while continuing to spred Typhoid fever. Eventually the authorities tracked her down.She was held in custody for 23 years until she died in 1938. As a lifetime carrier,Marry Mallon was positively linked with 10 outbreaks of Typhoid Fever,53 cases and 3 deaths.