Typhoid fever in itself is not a disease well known by history. Typhoid fever played only a small part in the history of the human race and compared to other diseases comes across as more of a nuisance with exception to its role in the Plague of Athens. On the surface, “enteric fever” causes a small but common array of symptoms: fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, chills, muscle aches and skin rash. The cause of the disease is salmonella typhi, a bacterium that rides contaminated food and water before establishing pathogenic residence in the human gastro-intestinal tract. Although the disease isn’t as prominent (or ever was), it still impacted our world in a few interesting ways.
In the year 2000, over 20 million people were afflicted …show more content…
At the time there was no evidence that someone could be a “healthy carrier” of a disease. Mallon’s case would set a precedent for the detention of person who harbors an infectious disease yet shows no symptoms. Mary would find herself released of detention with a single stipulation: that she would not work as a cook ever again. However, feeling health, she violated this rule and found herself in court yet again. Mary Mallon would go down in history under the name Typhoid Mary. More importantly it was Soper’s discovery of the culprit that led to New York health officials reasoning out the possibility of healthy carriers of diseases. Specifically, 3% of those who contract typhoid fever remain carriers. Additionally, the rulings against Mary Mallon set a direct precedent against future carriers. There is an infamous article in a 1909 newspaper of Mallon depicting her cooking, notice the skulls in the frying pan. While I cannot say that typhoid fever is among the top 12 diseases that have changed our world, I can speculate that it has at the least changed the way we treat carriers for diseases. Moreover, the fall of Athens to the Spartans must surely have caused a significant butterfly effect on the world. Mary Mallon would go down in the history books infamously where her story is still known by much of the American
In the year 2000, over 20 million people were afflicted …show more content…
At the time there was no evidence that someone could be a “healthy carrier” of a disease. Mallon’s case would set a precedent for the detention of person who harbors an infectious disease yet shows no symptoms. Mary would find herself released of detention with a single stipulation: that she would not work as a cook ever again. However, feeling health, she violated this rule and found herself in court yet again. Mary Mallon would go down in history under the name Typhoid Mary. More importantly it was Soper’s discovery of the culprit that led to New York health officials reasoning out the possibility of healthy carriers of diseases. Specifically, 3% of those who contract typhoid fever remain carriers. Additionally, the rulings against Mary Mallon set a direct precedent against future carriers. There is an infamous article in a 1909 newspaper of Mallon depicting her cooking, notice the skulls in the frying pan. While I cannot say that typhoid fever is among the top 12 diseases that have changed our world, I can speculate that it has at the least changed the way we treat carriers for diseases. Moreover, the fall of Athens to the Spartans must surely have caused a significant butterfly effect on the world. Mary Mallon would go down in the history books infamously where her story is still known by much of the American