Cases Deaths
Department who “pronounced the illness diphtheria.”70 Robert, like many other children,
was quickly and strictly quarantined. Those who had contact with the patient were inoculated with toxin-antitoxin71 in order to prevent their development of the disease.
Robert was safely quarantined with a hired nurse in the library of the house, and after a couple weeks of rest and isolation, he made a full recovery.72 Many others were not so
fortunate.
Diphtheria, like smallpox was also easily preventable, but many ignored the dangers. The same study that demonstrated that mothers had been neglecting their
smallpox vaccinations also showed that nearly 70 percent of mothers neglected diphtheria vaccinations as well. 73 Parents who did not vaccinate their children for one disease
frequently left them vulnerable to others as well. Thankfully for the city and its children, the first supply of serum used in the antitoxin treatment arrived in Milwaukee in
December 1894. 74 Diphtheria was targeted in two ways. Those exposed to the illness
were treated with the antitoxin; it gave immediate, but short-term immunity. Toxin- antitoxin was given to others to prevent the illness and although it had slower effects, it did provide a lifelong immunity. 75 While many parents were neglectful in terms of the
vaccinations, others were happy to see any chance to combat this deadly disease. By
70 William George Bruce, Days with Children, 1921.
71 Researchers working on a vaccination for diphtheria noted that injections of the toxin which had been
almost neutralized by the anti-toxin produced the production of anti-toxin in the experimental subject. This
way health officials could produce an active immunity with longer lasting effects. For more discussion on the battle against diphtheria see, Evelynn Maxine Hammonds, Childhood’s Deadly Scourge (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999).
72 Bruce, Days with Children, 1921.
73 Letter from Ruhland to Harbach, May 17, 1918, Mss 546, Box 18, Health Department 1918-25, Daniel W. Hoan Collection, MCHS.
74 “To Try Antitoxin,” December 3, 1894, Evening Wisconsin, “Epidemics,” Milwaukee Features Microfilm, MCHS.
75 Milwaukee Health Department, “Diphtheria Queries,” Healthologist (August 1931), Mss 2126, Milwaukee Health Department Collection, MCHS.
1931, the deaths attributable to diphtheria had dropped significantly, to only 21 deaths. 76
Through a vigilant campaign of vaccinations, information, and isolation, the city won the battle against diphtheria and had virtually eliminated the disease by the mid-twentieth century.
Isolation and Examination
Numerous other communicable diseases ravaged Milwaukee’s children and would be a constant threat to the health and welfare of the larger community. Measles, whooping cough, infantile paralysis (polio), and scarlet fever each became problems to be solved by health agencies in the city. These illnesses, along with the aforementioned diphtheria and smallpox, also tested the powers of Health Department officials in their attempts to control outbreaks of disease. Through enforcement of isolation policies in tandem with vaccination campaigns, health officials hoped to curb further outbreaks. In addition, the Health Department established program of in-school student inspections to identify and treat any physical problem before it became a more serious issues.
Measles epidemics would visit the city throughout the late nineteenth century, with the largest epidemic occurring in 1929 when 13,198 cases of measles were identified in the city.77 Many officials felt that the “seriousness of measles [was] not generally
recognized,” even though measles had the second highest death rate after diphtheria
76 Milwaukee Health Department, Healthologist, (April 1931), Milwaukee Health Department, Mss 2126, MCHS.
among common contagious diseases.78 Schools and teachers were enlisted to help
combat any measles outbreak that occurred by carefully inspect students for any sign of illness. The Health Department further recommended exclusion for any suspected cases.79
As measles was easily transmitted from person to person, schools were prime incubators for this illness and became the front lines for defense. Figure 11 presents the measles cases, as recorded by the Vital Statistics Office between 1891 and 1930. One can see how measles outbreaks occurred in waves with some years reporting a couple hundred cases, and other years thousands of cases. The measles epidemic of 1929 would have the largest number of cases on record, but gratefully only twenty-five deaths.
78 City Club, “Press Release,” Milwaukee Manuscript Collection AS, Box 13, “Public Health, 1922-28,” City Club of Milwaukee, UWM.
Figure 11: Measles Cases in Milwaukee, 1891-193080
Isolation, similar to what was practiced with smallpox campaigns, became the preferred method of counter attack. Refusing to admit sick children to school, placarding homes, and disinfection campaigns became readily used tools to fight measles. By stopping the disease before it spread further, they hoped to contain it to a few dozen or even hundred cases. In the meantime, officials awaited a hoped-for vaccine to make their jobs even easier. A vaccination for measles, however, would be many years away as the first vaccine would not be widely available until 1963.81 Up to that point the city relied
on pre-emptive exams by health officials, isolation tactics, and public health
informational campaigns to help keep the case numbers and incidents of death as few as
80 City of Milwaukee, Vital Statistics Office. 1891 is the first year that the Vital Statistics Office started documenting measles cases.
81 Centers for Disease Control, “Measles” CDC Update, 1999,
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/diseases/measles/history.htm (accessed August 20, 2007). 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000