Diphtheria and Australian public health: Bacteriology and its complex applications, c. 1890-1930

Medical History

Volumn 46, Issue 1, 2002, Pages 41-64

  Hooker, Claire ^a   Bashford, Alison ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DIPHTHERIA ANTIBODY;

ARTICLE; AUSTRALIA; BACTERIOLOGY; CONTACT EXAMINATION; DIPHTHERIA; HISTORY; HUMAN; IMMUNIZATION; INFECTION CONTROL; PUBLIC HEALTH; VACCINATION;

AUSTRALIA; BACTERIOLOGY; CONTACT TRACING; DIPHTHERIA; DIPHTHERIA ANTITOXIN; DISEASE NOTIFICATION; HISTORY, 19TH CENTURY; HISTORY, 20TH CENTURY; HUMANS; IMMUNIZATION; PUBLIC HEALTH; VACCINATION;

EID: 0036359089     PISSN: 00257273     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0025727300068733     Document Type: Review

References (170)

1. This point is made in Evelynn Hammonds' recent exploration of diphtheria in New York, where much of the research into its bacteriology was carried out in the late 1880s and 1890s. Evelynn Hammonds, Childhood's deadly scourge: the campaign to control diphtheria in New York City, 1880-1930, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999. Historical literature on diphtheria is otherwise fairly sparse in comparison with other infectious diseases. See Anne Hardy, Epidemic streets: infectious disease and the rise of preventive medicine, 1856-1900, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993, pp. 81-109; Jane Lewis, 'The prevention of diphtheria in Canada and Britain 1914-1945', J. Soc. Hist., 1986, 20: 163-76; Catherine Braithwaite, Peter Keating and Sandi Viger, The problem of diphtheria in the province of Quebec: 1894-1909', Soc. Hist., 1996, 29: 71-95.
2. This point is made in Evelynn Hammonds' recent exploration of diphtheria in New York, where much of the research into its bacteriology was carried out in the late 1880s and 1890s. Evelynn Hammonds, Childhood's deadly scourge: the campaign to control diphtheria in New York City, 1880-1930, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999. Historical literature on diphtheria is otherwise fairly sparse in comparison with other infectious diseases. See Anne Hardy, Epidemic streets: infectious disease and the rise of preventive medicine, 1856-1900, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993, pp. 81-109; Jane Lewis, 'The prevention of diphtheria in Canada and Britain 1914-1945', J. Soc. Hist., 1986, 20: 163-76; Catherine Braithwaite, Peter Keating and Sandi Viger, The problem of diphtheria in the province of Quebec: 1894-1909', Soc. Hist., 1996, 29: 71-95.
3. This point is made in Evelynn Hammonds' recent exploration of diphtheria in New York, where much of the research into its bacteriology was carried out in the late 1880s and 1890s. Evelynn Hammonds, Childhood's deadly scourge: the campaign to control diphtheria in New York City, 1880-1930, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999. Historical literature on diphtheria is otherwise fairly sparse in comparison with other infectious diseases. See Anne Hardy, Epidemic streets: infectious disease and the rise of preventive medicine, 1856-1900, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993, pp. 81-109; Jane Lewis, 'The prevention of diphtheria in Canada and Britain 1914-1945', J. Soc. Hist., 1986, 20: 163-76; Catherine Braithwaite, Peter Keating and Sandi Viger, The problem of diphtheria in the province of Quebec: 1894-1909', Soc. Hist., 1996, 29: 71-95.
4. This point is made in Evelynn Hammonds' recent exploration of diphtheria in New York, where much of the research into its bacteriology was carried out in the late 1880s and 1890s. Evelynn Hammonds, Childhood's deadly scourge: the campaign to control diphtheria in New York City, 1880-1930, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999. Historical literature on diphtheria is otherwise fairly sparse in comparison with other infectious diseases. See Anne Hardy, Epidemic streets: infectious disease and the rise of preventive medicine, 1856-1900, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993, pp. 81-109; Jane Lewis, 'The prevention of diphtheria in Canada and Britain 1914-1945', J. Soc. Hist., 1986, 20: 163-76; Catherine Braithwaite, Peter Keating and Sandi Viger, The problem of diphtheria in the province of Quebec: 1894-1909', Soc. Hist., 1996, 29: 71-95.
5. Anon., 'Diphtheria and elementary schools', J. State Med., 1896, 4: 245, cited in Anne Hardy, On the cusp: epidemiology and bacteriology at the Local Government Board, 1890-1905', Med. Hist., 1998, 42: 328-46, on p. 329.
6. Anon., 'Diphtheria and elementary schools', J. State Med., 1896, 4: 245, cited in Anne Hardy, On the cusp: epidemiology and bacteriology at the Local Government Board, 1890-1905', Med. Hist., 1998, 42: 328-46, on p. 329.
7. For example, 'Bacteriology and public health', Aust. med. J., 1890, 12: 519-20; A Jefferis Turner, 'The place of bacteriology in practical medicine', Australas. med. Gaz., 1895, 14: 200-6.
8. For example, 'Bacteriology and public health', Aust. med. J., 1890, 12: 519-20; A Jefferis Turner, 'The place of bacteriology in practical medicine', Australas. med. Gaz., 1895, 14: 200-6.
9. For example, Charles Edward Amory Winslow, The conquest of epidemic disease: a chapter in the history of ideas, Madison and London, University of Wisconsin Press, 1980; a classic Australian version is J H L Cumpston, Health and disease in Australia: a history, ed. Milton Lewis, Canberra, Australian Government Printing Service, 1989; H J Parish, Victory with vaccines: the story of immunization, Edinburgh, E and S Livingstone, 1968. See discussion of this issue in Andrew Cunningham, Transforming plague', in Andrew Cunningham and Perry Williams (eds), The laboratory revolution in medicine, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 219-44; Bruno Latour, The Pasteurization of France, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1988.
10. For example, Charles Edward Amory Winslow, The conquest of epidemic disease: a chapter in the history of ideas, Madison and London, University of Wisconsin Press, 1980; a classic Australian version is J H L Cumpston, Health and disease in Australia: a history, ed. Milton Lewis, Canberra, Australian Government Printing Service, 1989; H J Parish, Victory with vaccines: the story of immunization, Edinburgh, E and S Livingstone, 1968. See discussion of this issue in Andrew Cunningham, Transforming plague', in Andrew Cunningham and Perry Williams (eds), The laboratory revolution in medicine, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 219-44; Bruno Latour, The Pasteurization of France, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1988.
11. For example, Charles Edward Amory Winslow, The conquest of epidemic disease: a chapter in the history of ideas, Madison and London, University of Wisconsin Press, 1980; a classic Australian version is J H L Cumpston, Health and disease in Australia: a history, ed. Milton Lewis, Canberra, Australian Government Printing Service, 1989; H J Parish, Victory with vaccines: the story of immunization, Edinburgh, E and S Livingstone, 1968. See discussion of this issue in Andrew Cunningham, Transforming plague', in Andrew Cunningham and Perry Williams (eds), The laboratory revolution in medicine, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 219-44; Bruno Latour, The Pasteurization of France, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1988.
12. For example, Charles Edward Amory Winslow, The conquest of epidemic disease: a chapter in the history of ideas, Madison and London, University of Wisconsin Press, 1980; a classic Australian version is J H L Cumpston, Health and disease in Australia: a history, ed. Milton Lewis, Canberra, Australian Government Printing Service, 1989; H J Parish, Victory with vaccines: the story of immunization, Edinburgh, E and S Livingstone, 1968. See discussion of this issue in Andrew Cunningham, Transforming plague', in Andrew Cunningham and Perry Williams (eds), The laboratory revolution in medicine, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 219-44; Bruno Latour, The Pasteurization of France, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1988.
13. For example, Charles Edward Amory Winslow, The conquest of epidemic disease: a chapter in the history of ideas, Madison and London, University of Wisconsin Press, 1980; a classic Australian version is J H L Cumpston, Health and disease in Australia: a history, ed. Milton Lewis, Canberra, Australian Government Printing Service, 1989; H J Parish, Victory with vaccines: the story of immunization, Edinburgh, E and S Livingstone, 1968. See discussion of this issue in Andrew Cunningham, Transforming plague', in Andrew Cunningham and Perry Williams (eds), The laboratory revolution in medicine, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 219-44; Bruno Latour, The Pasteurization of France, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1988.
14. Arthur M Silverstein, A history of immunology, San Diego, Academic Press, 1989; idem, 'The dynamics of conceptual change in twentieth century immunology', Cell. Immunol., 1991, 132: 515-31; W F Bynum, Science and the practice of medicine in the nineteenth century, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 158-64; Pauline M H Mazumdar, Species and specificity: an interpretation of the history of immunology, Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press, 1995.
15. Arthur M Silverstein, A history of immunology, San Diego, Academic Press, 1989; idem, 'The dynamics of conceptual change in twentieth century immunology', Cell. Immunol., 1991, 132: 515-31; W F Bynum, Science and the practice of medicine in the nineteenth century, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 158-64; Pauline M H Mazumdar, Species and specificity: an interpretation of the history of immunology, Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press, 1995.
16. Arthur M Silverstein, A history of immunology, San Diego, Academic Press, 1989; idem, 'The dynamics of conceptual change in twentieth century immunology', Cell. Immunol., 1991, 132: 515-31; W F Bynum, Science and the practice of medicine in the nineteenth century, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 158-64; Pauline M H Mazumdar, Species and specificity: an interpretation of the history of immunology, Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press, 1995.
17. Arthur M Silverstein, A history of immunology, San Diego, Academic Press, 1989; idem, 'The dynamics of conceptual change in twentieth century immunology', Cell. Immunol., 1991, 132: 515-31; W F Bynum, Science and the practice of medicine in the nineteenth century, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 158-64; Pauline M H Mazumdar, Species and specificity: an interpretation of the history of immunology, Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press, 1995.
18. Hardy, op. cit., note 2 above, pp. 328-9; C E Gordon Smith and Mary James Throstle, 'Early work in anthropology and epidemiology: from social medicine to germ theory, 1840-1920', in Craig R Janes, Ron Stall, Sandra M Gifford (eds), Anthropology and epidemiology: interdisciplinary approaches to the study of health and disease, Reidel, Dordrecht, 1986, pp. 35-57.
19. Hardy, op. cit., note 2 above, pp. 328-9; C E Gordon Smith and Mary James Throstle, 'Early work in anthropology and epidemiology: from social medicine to germ theory, 1840-1920', in Craig R Janes, Ron Stall, Sandra M Gifford (eds), Anthropology and epidemiology: interdisciplinary approaches to the study of health and disease, Reidel, Dordrecht, 1986, pp. 35-57.
20. See Paul Weindling, 'Scientific elites and laboratory organisation in fin de siècle Paris and Berlin: the Pasteur Institute and Robert Koch's Institute for Infectious Diseases compared', in Cunningham and Williams (eds), op. cit., note 4 above, pp. 170-88; K Codell Carter, 'The Koch-Pasteur dispute on establishing the cause of anthrax', Bull. Hist. Med., 1988, 62: 42-57; Latour, op. cit., note 4 above.
21. See Paul Weindling, 'Scientific elites and laboratory organisation in fin de siècle Paris and Berlin: the Pasteur Institute and Robert Koch's Institute for Infectious Diseases compared', in Cunningham and Williams (eds), op. cit., note 4 above, pp. 170-88; K Codell Carter, 'The Koch-Pasteur dispute on establishing the cause of anthrax', Bull. Hist. Med., 1988, 62: 42-57; Latour, op. cit., note 4 above.
22. See Paul Weindling, 'Scientific elites and laboratory organisation in fin de siècle Paris and Berlin: the Pasteur Institute and Robert Koch's Institute for Infectious Diseases compared', in Cunningham and Williams (eds), op. cit., note 4 above, pp. 170-88; K Codell Carter, 'The Koch-Pasteur dispute on establishing the cause of anthrax', Bull. Hist. Med., 1988, 62: 42-57; Latour, op. cit., note 4 above.
23. For example, Mark Harrison and Michael Worboys, 'A disease of civilisation: tuberculosis in Britain, Africa and India, 1900-1939', in Lara Marks and Michael Worboys (eds), Migrants, minorities, and health: historical and contemporary studies, London and New York, Routledge, 1997, pp. 93-124; Warwick Anderson, 'Immunities of empire: race, disease and the new tropical medicine 1900-1920,' Bull. Hist. Med., 1996, 70: 94-118; David Arnold, Colonizing the body: state medicine and epidemic disease in nineteenth-century India, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1993.
24. For example, Mark Harrison and Michael Worboys, 'A disease of civilisation: tuberculosis in Britain, Africa and India, 1900-1939', in Lara Marks and Michael Worboys (eds), Migrants, minorities, and health: historical and contemporary studies, London and New York, Routledge, 1997, pp. 93-124; Warwick Anderson, 'Immunities of empire: race, disease and the new tropical medicine 1900-1920,' Bull. Hist. Med., 1996, 70: 94-118; David Arnold, Colonizing the body: state medicine and epidemic disease in nineteenth-century India, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1993.
25. For example, Mark Harrison and Michael Worboys, 'A disease of civilisation: tuberculosis in Britain, Africa and India, 1900-1939', in Lara Marks and Michael Worboys (eds), Migrants, minorities, and health: historical and contemporary studies, London and New York, Routledge, 1997, pp. 93-124; Warwick Anderson, 'Immunities of empire: race, disease and the new tropical medicine 1900-1920,' Bull. Hist. Med., 1996, 70: 94-118; David Arnold, Colonizing the body: state medicine and epidemic disease in nineteenth-century India, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1993.
26. Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above.
27. Nancy Tomes and John Harley Warner, 'Introduction to special issue on rethinking the reception of the germ theory of disease: comparative perspectives', J. Hist. Med. Allied Sci., 1997, 52: 7-17. See also Hana Löwy, 'Yellow fever in Rio de Janeiro and the Pasteur Institute mission (1901-1905)', Med. Hist., 1990, 34: 144-63.
28. Nancy Tomes and John Harley Warner, 'Introduction to special issue on rethinking the reception of the germ theory of disease: comparative perspectives', J. Hist. Med. Allied Sci., 1997, 52: 7-17. See also Hana Löwy, 'Yellow fever in Rio de Janeiro and the Pasteur Institute mission (1901-1905)', Med. Hist., 1990, 34: 144-63.
29. Mary P Sutphen, 'Not what, but where: bubonic plague and the reception of germ theories in Hong Kong and Calcutta, 1894-1897', J. Hist. Med. Allied Sci., 1997, 52: 81-114, on pp. 111-12.
30. Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above; Cunningham, op. cit., note 4 above.
31. Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above; Cunningham, op. cit., note 4 above.
32. For a detailed study of the concept of the healthy carrier in the American context, see Judith Walzer Leavitt, "Typhoid Mary" fights back: bacteriological theory and practices in early twentieth-century public health', Isis, 1992, 83: 608-29; idem, Typhoid Mary: captive to the public's health, Boston, Beacon Press, 1996.
33. For a detailed study of the concept of the healthy carrier in the American context, see Judith Walzer Leavitt, "Typhoid Mary" fights back: bacteriological theory and practices in early twentieth-century public health', Isis, 1992, 83: 608-29; idem, Typhoid Mary: captive to the public's health, Boston, Beacon Press, 1996.
34. Cumpston, op. cit., note 4 above; Robin Walker, The struggle against pulmonary tuberculosis in Australia, 1788-1950', Aust. hist. Stud., 1983, 20: 439-61; T J Brain, 'Some notes on the history of smallpox in Tasmania, 1803-1988', Aust. Microbiol., 1988, 9: 361-64; R G Kellaway, The Hobart typhoid epidemic of 1887-88', Soc. Sci. Med., 1989, 29: 953 -5 8; Peter Curson and Kevin McCracken, Plague in Sydney: the anatomy of an epidemic, Sydney, University of New South Wales Press, 1989; F B Smith, The investigation of plague in Australia', in Linda Bryder (ed.), New countries and old medicine, Auckland, Pyramid Press, 1994, pp. 32-8; Alison Bashford, 'Epidemic and governmentality: smallpox in Sydney, 1881', Crit. Publ. Health, 1999, 9: 301-16.
35. Cumpston, op. cit., note 4 above; Robin Walker, The struggle against pulmonary tuberculosis in Australia, 1788-1950', Aust. hist. Stud., 1983, 20: 439-61; T J Brain, 'Some notes on the history of smallpox in Tasmania, 1803-1988', Aust. Microbiol., 1988, 9: 361-64; R G Kellaway, The Hobart typhoid epidemic of 1887-88', Soc. Sci. Med., 1989, 29: 953 -5 8; Peter Curson and Kevin McCracken, Plague in Sydney: the anatomy of an epidemic, Sydney, University of New South Wales Press, 1989; F B Smith, The investigation of plague in Australia', in Linda Bryder (ed.), New countries and old medicine, Auckland, Pyramid Press, 1994, pp. 32-8; Alison Bashford, 'Epidemic and governmentality: smallpox in Sydney, 1881', Crit. Publ. Health, 1999, 9: 301-16.
36. Cumpston, op. cit., note 4 above; Robin Walker, The struggle against pulmonary tuberculosis in Australia, 1788-1950', Aust. hist. Stud., 1983, 20: 439-61; T J Brain, 'Some notes on the history of smallpox in Tasmania, 1803-1988', Aust. Microbiol., 1988, 9: 361-64; R G Kellaway, The Hobart typhoid epidemic of 1887-88', Soc. Sci. Med., 1989, 29: 953 -5 8; Peter Curson and Kevin McCracken, Plague in Sydney: the anatomy of an epidemic, Sydney, University of New South Wales Press, 1989; F B Smith, The investigation of plague in Australia', in Linda Bryder (ed.), New countries and old medicine, Auckland, Pyramid Press, 1994, pp. 32-8; Alison Bashford, 'Epidemic and governmentality: smallpox in Sydney, 1881', Crit. Publ. Health, 1999, 9: 301-16.
37. Cumpston, op. cit., note 4 above; Robin Walker, The struggle against pulmonary tuberculosis in Australia, 1788-1950', Aust. hist. Stud., 1983, 20: 439-61; T J Brain, 'Some notes on the history of smallpox in Tasmania, 1803-1988', Aust. Microbiol., 1988, 9: 361-64; R G Kellaway, The Hobart typhoid epidemic of 1887-88', Soc. Sci. Med., 1989, 29: 953 -5 8; Peter Curson and Kevin McCracken, Plague in Sydney: the anatomy of an epidemic, Sydney, University of New South Wales Press, 1989; F B Smith, The investigation of plague in Australia', in Linda Bryder (ed.), New countries and old medicine, Auckland, Pyramid Press, 1994, pp. 32-8; Alison Bashford, 'Epidemic and governmentality: smallpox in Sydney, 1881', Crit. Publ. Health, 1999, 9: 301-16.
38. Cumpston, op. cit., note 4 above; Robin Walker, The struggle against pulmonary tuberculosis in Australia, 1788-1950', Aust. hist. Stud., 1983, 20: 439-61; T J Brain, 'Some notes on the history of smallpox in Tasmania, 1803-1988', Aust. Microbiol., 1988, 9: 361-64; R G Kellaway, The Hobart typhoid epidemic of 1887-88', Soc. Sci. Med., 1989, 29: 953 -5 8; Peter Curson and Kevin McCracken, Plague in Sydney: the anatomy of an epidemic, Sydney, University of New South Wales Press, 1989; F B Smith, The investigation of plague in Australia', in Linda Bryder (ed.), New countries and old medicine, Auckland, Pyramid Press, 1994, pp. 32-8; Alison Bashford, 'Epidemic and governmentality: smallpox in Sydney, 1881', Crit. Publ. Health, 1999, 9: 301-16.
39. Cumpston, op. cit., note 4 above; Robin Walker, The struggle against pulmonary tuberculosis in Australia, 1788-1950', Aust. hist. Stud., 1983, 20: 439-61; T J Brain, 'Some notes on the history of smallpox in Tasmania, 1803-1988', Aust. Microbiol., 1988, 9: 361-64; R G Kellaway, The Hobart typhoid epidemic of 1887-88', Soc. Sci. Med., 1989, 29: 953 -5 8; Peter Curson and Kevin McCracken, Plague in Sydney: the anatomy of an epidemic, Sydney, University of New South Wales Press, 1989; F B Smith, The investigation of plague in Australia', in Linda Bryder (ed.), New countries and old medicine, Auckland, Pyramid Press, 1994, pp. 32-8; Alison Bashford, 'Epidemic and governmentality: smallpox in Sydney, 1881', Crit. Publ. Health, 1999, 9: 301-16.
40. Cumpston, op. cit., note 4 above; Robin Walker, The struggle against pulmonary tuberculosis in Australia, 1788-1950', Aust. hist. Stud., 1983, 20: 439-61; T J Brain, 'Some notes on the history of smallpox in Tasmania, 1803-1988', Aust. Microbiol., 1988, 9: 361-64; R G Kellaway, The Hobart typhoid epidemic of 1887-88', Soc. Sci. Med., 1989, 29: 953 -5 8; Peter Curson and Kevin McCracken, Plague in Sydney: the anatomy of an epidemic, Sydney, University of New South Wales Press, 1989; F B Smith, The investigation of plague in Australia', in Linda Bryder (ed.), New countries and old medicine, Auckland, Pyramid Press, 1994, pp. 32-8; Alison Bashford, 'Epidemic and governmentality: smallpox in Sydney, 1881', Crit. Publ. Health, 1999, 9: 301-16.
41. But see F B Smith, 'Comprehending diphtheria', Health and History, 1999, 1: 138-61, which discusses the medical politics surrounding a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Diphtheria held by the Victorian government in 1872.
42. K Hallam, 'Diphtheria prophylaxis in private practice', and idem, 'Diphtheria in Victoria', Health Bull., 1927, 11: 348-9, 350-4.
43. K Hallam, 'Diphtheria prophylaxis in private practice', and idem, 'Diphtheria in Victoria', Health Bull., 1927, 11: 348-9, 350-4.
44. The research carried out in New York laboratories was crucial here. See Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above, especially chs 2 and 3.
45. For the importance of public health and quarantine measures in the expression of a racist Australian nationalism at this time, see Alison Bashford, 'Quarantine and the imagining of the Australian nation', Health, 1998, 2: 387-402.
46. J H L Cumpston, The history of diphtheria, scarlet fever, measles and whooping cough in Australia, 1788-1925, Canberra, Government Printer, 1927, p. 8.
47. Ibid., p. 16; Hardy, op. cit, note 1 above, p. 81.
48. Ibid., p. 16; Hardy, op. cit, note 1 above, p. 81.
49. Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above; Hardy, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 82; Terra Ziporyn, Disease in the popular American press: the case of diphtheria, typhoid fever and syphilis, 1810-1920, New York and London, Greenwood Press, 1988.
50. Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above; Hardy, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 82; Terra Ziporyn, Disease in the popular American press: the case of diphtheria, typhoid fever and syphilis, 1810-1920, New York and London, Greenwood Press, 1988.
51. Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above; Hardy, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 82; Terra Ziporyn, Disease in the popular American press: the case of diphtheria, typhoid fever and syphilis, 1810-1920, New York and London, Greenwood Press, 1988.
52. Hardy, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 81, notes that in Britain diphtheria was classed first with scarlet fever, then with cynanche maligna in the Register-General's returns; Cumpston, op. cit., note 19 above, devoted his first chapter to discussing identification.
53. Hardy, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 81, notes that in Britain diphtheria was classed first with scarlet fever, then with cynanche maligna in the Register-General's returns; Cumpston, op. cit., note 19 above, devoted his first chapter to discussing identification.
54. Anne Hardy, 'Tracheotomy versus intubation: surgical intervention in diphtheria in Europe and the United States, 1825-1930', Bull. Hist. Med, 1992, 66: 536-59.
55. Claire Hooker, 'Community and medicine: diphtheria management and public health in Australia, 1858-1895', Occasional Papers in Medical History, 1999, 9; Smith, op. cit., note 15 above, pp. 138-61.
56. Claire Hooker, 'Community and medicine: diphtheria management and public health in Australia, 1858-1895', Occasional Papers in Medical History, 1999, 9; Smith, op. cit., note 15 above, pp. 138-61.
57. Hooker, ibid.; Smith, op. cit, note 15 above, pp. 138-61.
58. Hooker, ibid.; Smith, op. cit, note 15 above, pp. 138-61.
59. Hooker, ibid.
60. The instantaneous faith placed in bacteriology by many scientists, physicians and public health officials despite a lack of closure on the scientific data has been commented on by many historians, including Latour (op. cit., note 4 above). Hammonds also notes the sense of certainty that prevailed in New York despite intellectual debate and professional controversy. Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above, chs 2 and 3.
61. The instantaneous faith placed in bacteriology by many scientists, physicians and public health officials despite a lack of closure on the scientific data has been commented on by many historians, including Latour (op. cit., note 4 above). Hammonds also notes the sense of certainty that prevailed in New York despite intellectual debate and professional controversy. Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above, chs 2 and 3.
62. See Jefferis Turner, op. cit., note 3 above, pp. 200-6; 'Bacteriology and public health', Aust. med J., 1890, 12: 519-20.
63. See Jefferis Turner, op. cit., note 3 above, pp. 200-6; 'Bacteriology and public health', Aust. med J., 1890, 12: 519-20.
64. J Ross, 'The so-called diphtheria epidemic in Warrnambool', Australas. med. Gaz., 1892, 11: 178-80; continued pp. 215-17; 244-52.
65. Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 46-87.
66. Cumpston, op. cit., note 19 above, pp. 7, 16-18; Jefferis Turner, note 3 above, pp. 200-6. Well into the twentieth century, Australian physician-researchers published articles detailing difficulties in classifying and defining diphtheria in bacteriological terms. These articles paralleled those published thirty years earlier in clinical terms, and continued to explicitly address the implications for public health response to the illness. See F V Scholes, 'Diphtheria and scarlet fever: present day problems', Aust. med Congress Trans., 1929: 26-30, which linked ongoing difficulties in the bacterial diagnosis of scarlet fever with variation in diphtheria, and linked both these difficulties with the problem that treatments for diphtheria had not improved for thirty years.
67. Cumpston, op. cit., note 19 above, pp. 7, 16-18; Jefferis Turner, note 3 above, pp. 200-6. Well into the twentieth century, Australian physician-researchers published articles detailing difficulties in classifying and defining diphtheria in bacteriological terms. These articles paralleled those published thirty years earlier in clinical terms, and continued to explicitly address the implications for public health response to the illness. See F V Scholes, 'Diphtheria and scarlet fever: present day problems', Aust. med Congress Trans., 1929: 26-30, which linked ongoing difficulties in the bacterial diagnosis of scarlet fever with variation in diphtheria, and linked both these difficulties with the problem that treatments for diphtheria had not improved for thirty years.
68. Cumpston, op. cit., note 19 above, pp. 7, 16-18; Jefferis Turner, note 3 above, pp. 200-6. Well into the twentieth century, Australian physician-researchers published articles detailing difficulties in classifying and defining diphtheria in bacteriological terms. These articles paralleled those published thirty years earlier in clinical terms, and continued to explicitly address the implications for public health response to the illness. See F V Scholes, 'Diphtheria and scarlet fever: present day problems', Aust. med Congress Trans., 1929: 26-30, which linked ongoing difficulties in the bacterial diagnosis of scarlet fever with variation in diphtheria, and linked both these difficulties with the problem that treatments for diphtheria had not improved for thirty years.
69. C P Clubbe, On the diagnosis of diphtheria', Australas. med. Gaz., 1895, 14: 17-21.
70. Hardy, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 102ff; Winslow, op. cit., note 4 above.
71. Hardy, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 102ff; Winslow, op. cit., note 4 above.
72. Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 88-119.
73. Wai Chen, The laboratory as business: Sir Almroth Wright's vaccine programme and the construction of penicillin', in Cunningham and Williams (eds), op. cit., note 4 above, pp. 209-45.
74. Bynum, op. cit., note 5 above, p. 164. Objections were made largely by antivivisection groups who also criticized commercial interests in medical research (see, for example, a collection of such leaflets and pamphlets held at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney 89/273-1-20).
75. For example, L N Ashworth and A J Turner, 'The value of antitoxin in the treatment of diphtheria', Aust. med. J., [new series] 1896, 1: 561-77.
76. Cumpston, op. cit., note 19 above, pp. 38-40.
77. See, for example, D A Welsch, 'A contribution to a discussion on serum and vaccine', Aust. med. Congress Trans., 1911, pp. 145-9.
78. Cumpston, op. cit., note 4 above, pp. 189-90.
79. Cumpston, op. cit., note 19 above, p. 102. This source has extensive compilations of diphtheria related statistics showing variation in mortality and morbidity between States and within States, by season, and by gender and age. These show that there was no significant difference in rural and urban incidence of the disease.
80. Ashworth and Turner, op. cit., note 37 above.
81. J C Verco, 'Romance in medicine', Med. J Australia, 1918, i: 1-7.
82. Cherry, 'Diphtheria antitoxin', Aust. med. J., 1895, 17: 101-6.
83. Cunningham, op. cit., note 4 above, pp. 238-9; Hardy, op. cit., note 2 above.
84. Cunningham, op. cit., note 4 above, pp. 238-9; Hardy, op. cit., note 2 above.
85. Bacteriology and public health', Aust med. J., 1890, 12: 519-20.
86. Ross, op. cit., note 29 above; Clubbe, op. cit., note 32 above.
87. Ross, op. cit., note 29 above; Clubbe, op. cit., note 32 above.
88. Frank Fenner (ed.), History of microbiology in Australia, Canberra, Australian Society for Microbiology, 1990, pp. 6, 12.
89. Exact details can be found in ibid., pp. 137-79.
90. Clubbe, op. cit., note 32 above; Such laboratories often prepared diphtheria antitoxin before the foundation of the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories in 1916. See Fenner, op. cit., note 48 above, p. 147.
91. Clubbe, op. cit., note 32 above; Such laboratories often prepared diphtheria antitoxin before the foundation of the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories in 1916. See Fenner, op. cit., note 48 above, p. 147.
92. J B Ross, On bacilluria of Roberts, with demonstration of pure cultures: preliminary notice', Aust. med. J., 1890, 12: 497-501.
93. Cherry, op. cit., note 44 above, p. 104.
94. Hammonds, op. cit, note 1 above, pp. 96-7.
95. Cumpston, op. cit., note 4 above, p. 398.
96. For further discussion of the notion of sanitation as it shaped public health, see Claire Hooker, 'Sanitary failure and risk: Pasteurisation, immunisation and the logics of prevention', in Alison Bashford and Claire Hooker (eds), Contagion: historical and cultural studies, London, Routledge, 2001, pp. 129-52.
97. T W Sinclair, 'General measures for the control of diphtheria, including legal control and disinfection', Med. J. Australia, 1924, i: 300-4.
98. Cumpston, op. cit., note 4 above, p. 298, pp. 394-7; Lewis, op. cit., note 1 above.
99. Cumpston, op. cit., note 4 above, p. 298, pp. 394-7; Lewis, op. cit., note 1 above.
100. Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 79-80.
101. Hardy, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 95.
102. See Stanley Reiser, Medicine and the reign of technology, New York, Cambridge University Press, 1978, for a discussion of the rise of the laboratory in research and hospital situations.
103. Ashworth and Turner, op. cit., note 37 above; A J Turner, 'A few notes on the bacteriological diagnosis of diphtheria, and on the disappearance of the bacilli during convalescence', Aust. med. J., 1896, 1: 625-35; R R Stawell, 'Notes on the diagnosis and treatment of diphtheria', Aust. med. J., 1896, 1: 513-22; T Borthwick and H Irwin, 'Further notes on the antitoxin treatment of diphtheria', Australas. med. Gaz., 1897, 16: 25-9.
104. Ashworth and Turner, op. cit., note 37 above; A J Turner, 'A few notes on the bacteriological diagnosis of diphtheria, and on the disappearance of the bacilli during convalescence', Aust. med. J., 1896, 1: 625-35; R R Stawell, 'Notes on the diagnosis and treatment of diphtheria', Aust. med. J., 1896, 1: 513-22; T Borthwick and H Irwin, 'Further notes on the antitoxin treatment of diphtheria', Australas. med. Gaz., 1897, 16: 25-9.
105. Ashworth and Turner, op. cit., note 37 above; A J Turner, 'A few notes on the bacteriological diagnosis of diphtheria, and on the disappearance of the bacilli during convalescence', Aust. med. J., 1896, 1: 625-35; R R Stawell, 'Notes on the diagnosis and treatment of diphtheria', Aust. med. J., 1896, 1: 513-22; T Borthwick and H Irwin, 'Further notes on the antitoxin treatment of diphtheria', Australas. med. Gaz., 1897, 16: 25-9.
106. Ashworth and Turner, op. cit., note 37 above; A J Turner, 'A few notes on the bacteriological diagnosis of diphtheria, and on the disappearance of the bacilli during convalescence', Aust. med. J., 1896, 1: 625-35; R R Stawell, 'Notes on the diagnosis and treatment of diphtheria', Aust. med. J., 1896, 1: 513-22; T Borthwick and H Irwin, 'Further notes on the antitoxin treatment of diphtheria', Australas. med. Gaz., 1897, 16: 25-9.
107. Turner, op. cit., note 61 above, p. 628.
108. See Raymond Donovan, The plaguing of a faggot, the leperising of a whore: criminally cultured AIDS bodies & carrier laws', J. Aust. Stud., 1995, 43: 110-24.
109. Hardy, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 92; Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 157-67.
110. Hardy, op. cit., note 1 above, p. 92; Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 157-67.
111. Cumpston, op. cit., note 4 above, p. 297.
112. F Allworth, 'Notes on a virulent diphtheria carrier', Trans. Aust. med. Congress, 1911, 1: 502-3; F Scholes, The role of the practitioner in the control of diphtheria', Med. J. Aust., 1924, i: 298-300.
113. F Allworth, 'Notes on a virulent diphtheria carrier', Trans. Aust. med. Congress, 1911, 1: 502-3; F Scholes, The role of the practitioner in the control of diphtheria', Med. J. Aust., 1924, i: 298-300.
114. Cumpston, op. cit., note 19 above, pp. 42-4.
115. G Halley, 'Diphtheria as a school problem', Health, 1923: 64-5.
116. Cumpston, op. cit., note 19 above; J H L Cumpston, Report of his comments at the Section of Preventative Medicine and Tropical Hygiene meeting, Med. J. Aust., 1929, ii: 43-5.
117. Cumpston, op. cit., note 19 above; J H L Cumpston, Report of his comments at the Section of Preventative Medicine and Tropical Hygiene meeting, Med. J. Aust., 1929, ii: 43-5.
118. Cumpston, op. cit., note 4 above, p. 294.
119. Ibid., p. 423.
120. Report of the Committee Concerning Causes of Death and Invalidity in the Commonwealth: Report on Diphtheria, Canberra, Government Printer, 1916 (hereafter Report). The Committee's terms of reference were to examine the principal causes of death and invalidity in Australia, and to report on suitable measures for their investigation and prevention. The Committee nominated five areas: diphtheria, typhoid fever, 'the risks of middle age', tuberculosis, venereal diseases, infantile mortality and maternal mortality. It was chaired by an MP, James Matthews, and consisted of three MDs, H B Allen, Dean of the Medical School, University of Melbourne, JHL Cumpston, Federal Director of Quarantine, and A Jeffreys Wood.
121. Hammond describes in detail the inconclusive bacteriological and epidemiological research into diphtheria during the early twentieth century and the implications this had for carrier control and other preventive public health policies. While Australian physicians were also aware of the problems arising from the unknown factors affecting the virulence and infectivity of bacteriology, especially as the concept of monomorphism was gradually relinquished, public health officials were more concerned with practical measures for prevention in the face of these unmeasurable variables. See Hammond, op. cit., note 1 above, pp. 138-65.
122. Ibid., pp. 1-6; 14-15.
123. Ibid., p. 6; Scholes, op. cit., note 31 above; Scholes, op. cit., note 66 above.
124. Ibid., p. 6; Scholes, op. cit., note 31 above; Scholes, op. cit., note 66 above.
125. Ibid., p. 6; Scholes, op. cit., note 31 above; Scholes, op. cit., note 66 above.
126. 'The prevention of diphtheria', Med. J. Aust., 1921, ii: 291.
127. The amendments to the Health Act in Western Australia provided for this as early as 1911; see also Health Act, 1919, Victoria, and Health Act, 1921, New South Wales, which were referred to in medical journals. Similar legislation existed in the other States. See Cumpston, op. cit., note 4 above, p. 397.
128. 'The prevention of diphtheria', Med. J. Aust., 1918, i: pp. 90-1.
129. F R Legge, 'Prevention of diphtheria', Med. J. Aust., 1918, i: 391; 'Prevention of diphtheria', Med. J. Aust., 1921, ii: 417.
130. F R Legge, 'Prevention of diphtheria', Med. J. Aust., 1918, i: 391; 'Prevention of diphtheria', Med. J. Aust., 1921, ii: 417.
131. Scholes, op. cit., note 66 above, p. 299.
132. Jan Kociumbas, Australian childhood: a history, St Leonards, NSW, Allen and Unwin, 1997, pp. 159-60.
133. F V Scholes, 'The release of diphtheria convalescents', Health, 1923: 61-3.
134. Kociumbas, op. cit., note 81 above, pp. 159-60.
135. See Legge, op. cit., note 79 above. Complaints were still being made in 1929. See A H Powell, 'Diphtheria', Med J. Aust., 1929, ii: 69.
136. See Legge, op. cit., note 79 above. Complaints were still being made in 1929. See A H Powell, 'Diphtheria', Med J. Aust., 1929, ii: 69.
137. Scholes, op. cit., note 82 above, p. 62; 'The prevention of diphtheria', Med. J. Aust., 1921, ii: 290-2. See also Hammonds' discussion of these problems in New York as physicians grappled with differences and immunity to the disease and to variations in virulence. Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above.
138. Scholes, op. cit., note 82 above, p. 62; 'The prevention of diphtheria', Med. J. Aust., 1921, ii: 290-2. See also Hammonds' discussion of these problems in New York as physicians grappled with differences and immunity to the disease and to variations in virulence. Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above.
139. Scholes, op. cit., note 82 above, p. 62; 'The prevention of diphtheria', Med. J. Aust., 1921, ii: 290-2. See also Hammonds' discussion of these problems in New York as physicians grappled with differences and immunity to the disease and to variations in virulence. Hammonds, op. cit., note 1 above.
140. The prevention of diphtheria', ibid., p. 291.
141. 'The prevention of diphtheria', Med. J. Aust., 1922, ii: 418.
142. H B Allen, 'A discussion of vaccines and serum therapy', Trans. Aust. med Congress, 1911, 1: 135-15.
143. Brian Feery, 'Impact of immunization on disease in Australia', Med J. Aust., 1981, 135 172-6.
144. Claire Hooker, 'Diphtheria, immunisation and the Bundaberg tragedy: a study in public health in Australia', Health and History, 2000, 2: 52-78.
145. Lewis, op. cit., note 1 above.
146. 'The Schick Test and toxin antitoxin immunisation', Health Bull, 1925, 3: 12-13.
147. Scholes, op. cit., note 31 above.
148. Cumpston, op. cit., note 19 above. See also Hooker, op. cit., note 90 above.
149. Cumpston, op. cit., note 19 above. See also Hooker, op. cit., note 90 above.
150. As in Britain, the question of vaccination and compulsory vaccination was debated constantly by Australian governments. See 'Report from the Select Committee upon Vaccination Law', Victoria Legislative Assembly, Voles and Proceedings, 1880-82, vol. 2, pp. i-v, 1-39; 'Select Committee upon the Efficacy of Vaccination', Victoria Legislative Assembly, Votes and Proceedings, 1915, pp. i-xv; 'Compulsory vaccination: medical opinions', NSW Legislative Assembly, Votes and Proceedings, 1881, vol. 4, pp. 1019-73; Petition against compulsory vaccination, Adelaide, Government Printer, 1900.
151. As in Britain, the question of vaccination and compulsory vaccination was debated constantly by Australian governments. See 'Report from the Select Committee upon Vaccination Law', Victoria Legislative Assembly, Voles and Proceedings, 1880-82, vol. 2, pp. i-v, 1-39; 'Select Committee upon the Efficacy of Vaccination', Victoria Legislative Assembly, Votes and Proceedings, 1915, pp. i-xv; 'Compulsory vaccination: medical opinions', NSW Legislative Assembly, Votes and Proceedings, 1881, vol. 4, pp. 1019-73; Petition against compulsory vaccination, Adelaide, Government Printer, 1900.
152. As in Britain, the question of vaccination and compulsory vaccination was debated constantly by Australian governments. See 'Report from the Select Committee upon Vaccination Law', Victoria Legislative Assembly, Voles and Proceedings, 1880-82, vol. 2, pp. i-v, 1-39; 'Select Committee upon the Efficacy of Vaccination', Victoria Legislative Assembly, Votes and Proceedings, 1915, pp. i-xv; 'Compulsory vaccination: medical opinions', NSW Legislative Assembly, Votes and Proceedings, 1881, vol. 4, pp. 1019-73; Petition against compulsory vaccination, Adelaide, Government Printer, 1900.
153. As in Britain, the question of vaccination and compulsory vaccination was debated constantly by Australian governments. See 'Report from the Select Committee upon Vaccination Law', Victoria Legislative Assembly, Voles and Proceedings, 1880-82, vol. 2, pp. i-v, 1-39; 'Select Committee upon the Efficacy of Vaccination', Victoria Legislative Assembly, Votes and Proceedings, 1915, pp. i-xv; 'Compulsory vaccination: medical opinions', NSW Legislative Assembly, Votes and Proceedings, 1881, vol. 4, pp. 1019-73; Petition against compulsory vaccination, Adelaide, Government Printer, 1900.
154. Vaccination against smallpox worked through a logic of "contagion" (the introduction of a foreign body into an individual and its exponential spread through the social body) rather than a logic of quarantine (the clear separation of clean and dirty). See Alison Bashford, 'Foreign bodies: vaccination, contagion and colonialism in the nineteenth century', in Alison Bashford and Claire Hooker (eds), Contagion: historical and cultural studies, London Routledge, 2001, pp. 39-60.
155. For further discussion of the use of the term "sanitary" and its implications in public health practice see Claire Hooker, 'Sanitary failure and risk: Pasteurisation, immunisation and the logics of prevention', in Bashford and Hooker (eds), op. cit., note 96 above.
156. The prevention of diphtheria', Med. J. Aust., 1921, ii: 291.
157. Scholes, op. cit., note 31 above; Frank Hone, 'Notification or prevention: which?', Report of the eighteenth meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1928, 18: 675-93.
158. Scholes, op. cit., note 31 above; Frank Hone, 'Notification or prevention: which?', Report of the eighteenth meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1928, 18: 675-93.
159. Sinclair, op. cit., note 56 above.
160. See J Dale, The prevention and control of diphtheria and scarlet fever', Trans. Aust. med. Congress, 1929: 32-41.
161. Lewis, op. cit., note 1, p. 167.
162. 'Diphtheria and scarlet fever', Med. J. Aust., 1929, ii: 525-7.
163. Cumpston, op. cit., note 69 above, pp. 43-5.
164. Cumpston, op. cit., note 19 above, p. 52; J Dale, 'Immunization against diphtheria: a report on the work done in the municipality of Melbourne', Health Bull., 1929, 17: 577-8 0; Hallam, 'Diphtheria prophylaxis' and 'Diphtheria in Victoria', op. cit., note 16 above .
165. Cumpston, op. cit., note 19 above, p. 52; J Dale, 'Immunization against diphtheria: a report on the work done in the municipality of Melbourne', Health Bull., 1929, 17: 577-8 0; Hallam, 'Diphtheria prophylaxis' and 'Diphtheria in Victoria', op. cit., note 16 above .
166. Cumpston, op. cit., note 19 above, p. 52; J Dale, 'Immunization against diphtheria: a report on the work done in the municipality of Melbourne', Health Bull., 1929, 17: 577-8 0; Hallam, 'Diphtheria prophylaxis' and 'Diphtheria in Victoria', op. cit., note 16 above .
167. Sheldon Dudley, 'The possibility of forecasting outbreaks of diphtheria', Trans. Australas. med. Congress, 1927: 455-61.
168. For further detail, see Hooker, op. cit., note 90 above.
169. Virtually all diphtheria immunization was suspended in Australia for two years after this tragedy. See Minutes of evidence of Royal Commission of Inquiry into Fatalities at Bundaberg, Government Printer, Canberra, 1928. For further details, see ibid.
170. Virtually all diphtheria immunization was suspended in Australia for two years after this tragedy. See Minutes of evidence of Royal Commission of Inquiry into Fatalities at Bundaberg, Government Printer, Canberra, 1928. For further details, see ibid.