Diphtheria
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Johnny 'Chris' Kelleher's account of how he came into a career in newspaper selling starts with a tale of devastating familial loss, and mentions the death of one of his mother's first two sons from diphtheria in 1924.
Content log of this extract (the full transcript can be accessed here in the item entry): tell me a little bit about your family – my mother was married twice – Freddie Murphy was a newspaper ‘shopper’ – he died in 1924, a young man, with TB – better known as consumption – if you got the TB it just consumed you – he died at the age of 24 – left my mother with four children – no welfare – she had to go out selling newspapers to rear the four of them – he died in February ‘24, she buried one of the boys in June 1924 and she buried the other boy in September 1924 – diphtheria and the croup – left with the two girls – met my father – she kept on the papers – till the last day of her life
Diptheria: history and prevention
Diptheria is caused by a bacterium called Corynebacterium diphtheria and is transmitted in respiratory droplets. Diptheria was once a highly significant illness and a major cause of death in children. Diptheria death rates range between about 20% for children under 5 and people over 40, with a slightly lower rate of between 5-10% if the infected person is aged between 5-40. Symptoms include loss of appetite, sore throat and fever. In 1948, 521 cases of diphtheria were reported in Ireland and due to the introduction of the combination diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (DTP) vaccine in 1952/1953, the case numbers declined progressively until none were reported in 1968. After a gap of nearly 50 years, one case was reported in 2015 and another in 2016.
References
Anon (2021). Diphtheria - Health Protection Surveillance Centre. [online] Available at: <https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/vaccinepreventable/diphtheria/> [Accessed 10 May 2021].
Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, 11th Edition (The Pink Book). National Immunization Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pinkbook: Diphtheria | CDC (2021). Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/dip.html (Accessed: 10 May 2021).
Resources
UCC Historian Michael Dwyer has extensively researched the history of diphtheria in Ireland, and his book, Strangling Angel: Diphtheria and Childhood Immunization in Ireland, argues that it was likely to have been more common that was reported, and traces childhood vaccination initiatives in the Irish state.
Dwyer, M. (2018) Strangling Angel: Diphtheria and Childhood Immunization in Ireland. Reappraisals in Irish History. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.