Genealogy Chat

Thank you Nell, Typhus, what with rats and fleas, sounds a bit like the causation of bubonic plague, although with somewhat different symptoms, but a similar end result, seemingly. Michael

If an inquest takes place it is mentioned on the death certificate. If the cause of death is known then it is unlikely there would be an inquest, which is held to determine what caused the death. Yes, Prince Albert did die of typhoid. Differences between typhoid and typhus: Typhoid Fever Typhoid is infectious fever that causes severe diarrhoea. If untreated, mortality is high. It is caused by the organism salmonella typhi. Paratyphoid fever is virtually identical on clinical grounds and is caused by salmonella paratyphi. Spread is by contamination of food or water with human faeces either directly by sewage or indirectly by flies contamination of food or water by a person who is a carrier Person to person spread is not usual Typhoid-Malarial Fever Typhoid-malarial Fever is a common term from the American Civil War. It was proposed by an Army surgeon, Joseph Janvier Woodward, to describe the many cases of camp fever that combined elements from typhoid fever, malarial remittent fever, and scurvy to varying degrees. He felt that Typhoid-malarial Fever was the most common of the camp fevers, which included all of the continued fevers suffered by the men in the army. The term was adopted by the army board to describe these fevers with combined symptoms My thanks to National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Maryland for clarifying this definition see www.civilwarmed.org Typhus Infectious fever characterised by high fever, headache, constipation, bronchitis and rash (due to tiny haemorrhages in the skin). The epidemic or classic form is louse borne (the human louse); the endemic or murine is flea borne. Although murine suggests the mouse, the rat flea is in fact the agent of transmission nell

Thanks for the replies, What is the difference between Typhus and Typhoid? Michael

Didn't Queen Victoria's husband Albert die of typhoid?

Generally, inquests would be called for sudden deaths. How on earth the authorities managed during epidemics, I don't know. A friend has written a very long and detailed account of a typhus outbreak in Croydon. It caused a huge furore as they tried to work out what had caused it and how to prevent its recurrence. The shock was that not merely the poorest, but also respectable middle class families were affected. The resulting improvements are the main reason Croydon has virtually no surface water today. B

My GGGrandfather died of Typhoid Fever at the age of 33, he died one day and was buried the next, informant was not one of the family - I think they kept them away from him, not far enough as his 6 year old daughter died eight days later from the same - she was also buried the next day. No inquest in either case..... Regards, Yvonne

with Typhus it was get them in the ground quick as it was contageous.

Did a death by Typhus (mid 19th C) automatically mean that an inquest is called? I have a relative died one day, notification of death the following day and and burial the next day - when (or if) did an inquest take place? Michael