Outbreak of cholera among convicts : an etiological study of the influence of dwelling, food, drinking-water, occupation, age, state of health, and intercourse upon the course of cholera in a community living in precisely the same circumstances / by Max von Petternkofer.

  • Pettenkofer Max von, 1818-1901.
Date:
1876
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Outbreak of cholera among convicts : an etiological study of the influence of dwelling, food, drinking-water, occupation, age, state of health, and intercourse upon the course of cholera in a community living in precisely the same circumstances / by Max von Petternkofer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    had got over its epidemic at least for this year and the coming winter, although a circumstance occurred during its progress in August and September, which deserves attention as evidencing the fact, that Munich could not in reality have fully received its absolution this time. The most low-lying parts of the town in which the epidemics of 1836 and 1854 had wrought most havoc, were but very little or not at all affected and this always appeared to me a suspicious circumstance, leading me to expect a further outbreak in September and October; as this however had not yet presented itself even up to the beginning of November, I looked upon it as certain, that there would be no more cases of an epidemic character during the winter, although individual cases like those in October might perhaps be continued throughout the whole winter. I was lulled into this at last certainly treacherous feeling of security principally by two facts. In the first place no case was known to me in the whole history of cholera in North and South Germany, where a place of some importance had exhibited two perfectly distinct epidemics in one and the same year, of which the one had occurred in summer, the other in winter and the winter epidemic had been worse than the summer epidemic. Epidemics extending over a long period have certainly been known, as for instance that at Erfurt in the year 1849, which lasted from May till the beginning of November (Pfeiffer), or epidemics which have visited a town two years ruuniug, as for example Halle 1849 and 1850 (Delbriick), but the cold season was always free from them and no summer epidemic had preceded in those places, where the cholera was not developed until the colder season of the year (Munich 1836). Relying moreover upon the prevalent notions, I attached also great importance to the fact, that there had been no revival of the epidemic in October, although one circumstance led me to anticipate it. House leases are generally taken for half a year in Munich and dwellings are principally changed only at the two so-called terns, Easter (April 24) and Michaelmas (September 29th). This was also the case at Michaelmas 1873. About 5000 families changed their dwellings. Reckoning a family at only 3 persons, this change of dwelling represents a removal of 15000 persons of the population of Munich. Two kinds of forces must now frequently obtain here, both supposed to favour the distribution of cholera: first people moved out of infected districts into districts which had hitherto remained free, where therefore they could introduce the disease and then people moved out of districts, which had hitherto remained free, into infected districts and could therefore be attacked there. The question might have been seriously discussed, whether a sanitary state such as that in which Munich found itself towards the end of September, did not justify the change of habitation being suspended on this occasion and postponed to a later period, when there could no longer be any doubt that it could be carried out without any danger of disseminating the cholera. At all events such a regulation would have been as justifiable as other quarantine regulations, which are directed against cholera. But every interference of this kind in human domestic matters is attended with so much difficulty and has such wide-spreading consequences, that on mature consideration we are soon obliged to refrain from it and leave the affair to take its own course, even at the risk of the mischief being actually brought about by our non-interference. The result of the change of dwellings in Munich which took place quite in the ordinary way at the Michaelmas quarter 1873 showed however that the apprehension was unfounded and that all the sacrifices which would have been made, would have been undergone without profit. The < pidemic did not immediately break out again after the removal, but declined more and more on the contrary until the middle of November. The following change of quarters (Easter), which again exactly coincided with the conclusion of the winter epidemic that had broken out in the meantime, may also be drawn within the circle of this consideration, for the cholera which broke out again in the second half of November 1873 continued until April 28th 1874 and the very considerable change of habitation which took place at Easter 1874 prevented just as little the complete extinction of the disease which now at length resulted, immediately after it as that at Michaelmas 1873 had effected its revival.