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(Redirected from Typhoid Mary)
'Mary Mallon' (September 23, 1869 – November 11, 1938), also known as 'Typhoid Mary', was the first person in the United States to be identified as a healthy carrier of typhoid fever. Over the course of her career as a cook, she infected 47 people, three of whom died from the disease. Her fame is in part due to her vehement denial of her own role in causing the disease, together with her refusal to cease working as a cook. She was forcibly quarantined twice by public health authorities and died in quarantine. It was also possible that she was born with the disease, as her mother had typhoid fever during her pregnancy.
Mallon worked as a cook in the New York City area between 1900 and 1907. During this time, she infected 22 people with typhoid fever, one of whom died. She had been working in a house in Mamaroneck, New York for less than two weeks when the residents came down with typhoid. She moved to Manhattan in 1901 and members of the family for whom she worked developed fevers and diarrhea and the laundress died. She then went to work for a lawyer until seven of the eight household members developed typhoid. Mary spent months helping to care for the people she made sick, but her care further spread the disease through the household. In 1904, she took a position in Long Island. Within two weeks, six out of eleven family members were hospitalized with typhoid. She changed employment again and three more households were infected.
Sanitary worker George Soper was hired by the landlord of a house where Mary had worked to investigate the typhoid outbreak there. After careful investigation, he identified Mary as a possible carrier of the disease.
People catch typhoid fever after ingesting water or food which has been contaminated during handling by a human carrier. The human carrier is usually a healthy person who has survived a previous episode of typhoid fever but in whom the typhoid bacteria have been able to survive without causing further symptoms. Carriers continue to excrete the bacteria in their feces and urine and poor hygiene can lead to its introduction into food and water.
When Soper approached Mallon with the news that she was possibly spreading typhoid, she adamantly rejected his request for urine and stool samples. Soper left and later published his findings in the June 15, 1906 issue of the ''Journal of the American Medical Association''.[1] On his next contact with her, he brought a doctor with him, but was again turned away. Mallon's denials that she was a carrier were based in part on the diagnosis of a reputable chemist who had found she was not harboring the bacteria. (Some believe that she was in temporary remission when the chemist tested her). Moreover, when Soper first told her she was a carrier, the concept that a person could spread disease and remain healthy was not well known. Finally, George Soper may have been somewhat tactless in his dealings with her. During a later encounter in the hospital, he told Mary he would write a book about her and give her all the royalties. She got up and locked herself in the bathroom until he left. "Denial is a powerful tool".
The New York City Health Department sent Dr. Sara Josephine Baker to talk to Mary, but "by that time she was convinced that the law was wrongly persecuting her when she had done nothing wrong." Typhoid Mary Rosenberg, Jennifer
A few days later, Baker arrived at Mary's place of work with several police officers and took her into custody. The New York City health inspector investigated and found her to be a carrier. She was isolated for three years at a hospital located on North Brother Island, and then released on the condition she would not work with food. However, she assumed the pseudonym "Mary Brown", returned to cooking, and in 1915 infected 25 people while working as a cook at New York's Sloan Hospital; two of those infected died. Public health authorities again seized Mary Mallon and returned her to quarantine on the island, this time for life. She became something of a celebrity, and was interviewed by journalists who were forbidden to accept as much as a glass of water from her. Later in life, she was allowed to work in the island's laboratory as a technician.
Mallon died on November 11, 1938 at the age of 69 due to pneumonia (not typhoid), six years after a stroke had left her paralyzed. However, an autopsy found evidence of live typhoid bacteria in her gallbladder. Her body was cremated with burial in Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx.
Part of the problems Mary created stemmed from her vehement denial of the situation. She maintained that she was healthy and had never had typhoid fever. Historians say it also stemmed from the prejudice that existed against working-class Irish immigrants at the time. Today, 'Typhoid Mary' is a generic term for a carrier of a dangerous disease who is a danger to the public because they refuse to take appropriate precautions.
★ In Chris Elliott's book, ''The Shroud of the Thwacker'', Elliott is sent back in time, suspected to be the Thwacker (serial killer). He is given cover by Mary Mallon because she is attracted to him. When the police come to arrest her (Elliott believes it is himself the police are coming for) she "forcefully pulled me (Elliott) to her and planted a wet slobbering kiss on my lips. I tried to pull away but she was too strong for me...She took a breath and coughed in my face and then dove into my mouth again..." Elliott later remembers the importance of Mary Mallon, when he feels symptoms of typhoid coming on. He quickly kills the infection with some amoxicillin he had left in his coat pocket before traveling back in time.
★ Typhoid Mary is the name of a Marvel comic book villain, who causes fevers in those of close proximity as well as being a deadly assassin.
★ Mark St. Germain wrote a play about Mallon called ''A Plague of Angels''.
★ Hirohiko Araki, a popular Japanese mangaka famous for his saga ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', made Mary Mallon the protagonist of an episode of his volume ''Bizarre Lives of Eccentric People'', a volume dedicated to peculiar individuals like Sarah Winchester and Yoshio Kou.
★ Typhoid Mary is a term used in the New Zealand legal profession to describe lawyers who transfer between firms, carrying information on clients with them.
★ God Dethroned, a Dutch death-metal band, has a song called "Typhoid Mary" on their 2006 album, ''The Toxic Touch'', and several songs on that album that refer to her.
★ In the original ''Star Trek'' series episode #75, ''The Way to Eden'', Dr. Severin, a brilliant but insane leader of a group of renegade "space hippies," is an unafflicted carrier of a deadly civilization-caused disease, "Synthococcus novae." Dr. McCoy explains to Captain Kirk, "Remember your ancient Earth history? Typhoid Mary? He's a carrier, spreads the disease to others."
★ Typhoid Mary is the name of a rock band from Atlanta, Georgia.
★ In the '' episode "Infinite Regress", the Doctor refers to an alien species that infected a Borg vessel with a virus that destroyed the vessel as a "Typhoid Mary".
★ In Stephen King's novel ''Dreamcatcher'', the character Jonesy is repeatedly compared to Typhoid Mary because he is a carrier who does not himself become infected.
★ In Chuck Palahniuk's book ''Rant'', the character of Buster Casey is compared to Typhoid Mary because "What 'Typhoid Mary' Mallon was to typhoid... Buster Casey would become for rabies."
★ In Simon Green's Deathstalker series, a powerful ESPer carrying a telepathic virus infiltrates a starport. She is codenamed Typhoid Mary.
★ In Mission Impossible II, Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) sends Nyah (Thandie Newton), who is infected with the Chimera virus, into downtown Sydney in an effort to create demand for the vaccine which Ambrose owns. Ambrose tells Nyah she is about to make him a lot of money by becoming the 'Typhoid Mary' of Australia.
★ In the Stargate SG-1 episode The Fourth Horseman, a Prior of the Ori infects Lieutenant Fisher with a disease that becomes called the Prior's Plague. The Prior makes Fisher immune to the disease, to ensure that he infects those he meets upon his return to Earth. In the end, another Prior is needed to provide a cure for the disease, but not until over 3,000 people die from it. Fisher was never referred to as a Typhoid Mary, but the circumstances are the same.
★ ''Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical'', Anthony Bourdain, Bloomsbury, New York, 2001, hardcover, 148 pages, ISBN 1-58234-133-8
★ ''Typhoid Mary, Captive to the Public's Health'', Judith Walzer Leavitt, Beacon Press, Boston, 1996, hardcover, 331 pages, ISBN 0-8070-2102-4
★ ''Fighting for Life'', Sara Josephine Baker, Macmillan Press, New York 1939, ISBN 0-405-05945-0 (1974 ed), ISBN 0-88275-611-7 (1980 ed)
★ '' The Ballad of Typhoid Mary'', Jürg Federspiel [translated by Joel Agee], Ballantine Press, New York, 1985
★ Typhoid Mary
1. The work of a chronic typhoid germ distributor, , Goerge A., Soper, Journal of the American Medical Association,
★ "Dinner with Typhoid Mary," Long Island History
★ A more detailed profile of Typhoid Mary
★ PBS NOVA site: "The Most Dangerous Woman in America"
Typhoid Mary in a 1909 newspaper illustration
'Mary Mallon' (September 23, 1869 – November 11, 1938), also known as 'Typhoid Mary', was the first person in the United States to be identified as a healthy carrier of typhoid fever. Over the course of her career as a cook, she infected 47 people, three of whom died from the disease. Her fame is in part due to her vehement denial of her own role in causing the disease, together with her refusal to cease working as a cook. She was forcibly quarantined twice by public health authorities and died in quarantine. It was also possible that she was born with the disease, as her mother had typhoid fever during her pregnancy.
| Contents |
| Cook |
| Investigation |
| Quarantine |
| Death |
| Legacy |
| Popular culture |
| Further reading |
| External links |
| See also |
Cook
Mallon worked as a cook in the New York City area between 1900 and 1907. During this time, she infected 22 people with typhoid fever, one of whom died. She had been working in a house in Mamaroneck, New York for less than two weeks when the residents came down with typhoid. She moved to Manhattan in 1901 and members of the family for whom she worked developed fevers and diarrhea and the laundress died. She then went to work for a lawyer until seven of the eight household members developed typhoid. Mary spent months helping to care for the people she made sick, but her care further spread the disease through the household. In 1904, she took a position in Long Island. Within two weeks, six out of eleven family members were hospitalized with typhoid. She changed employment again and three more households were infected.
Investigation
Sanitary worker George Soper was hired by the landlord of a house where Mary had worked to investigate the typhoid outbreak there. After careful investigation, he identified Mary as a possible carrier of the disease.
People catch typhoid fever after ingesting water or food which has been contaminated during handling by a human carrier. The human carrier is usually a healthy person who has survived a previous episode of typhoid fever but in whom the typhoid bacteria have been able to survive without causing further symptoms. Carriers continue to excrete the bacteria in their feces and urine and poor hygiene can lead to its introduction into food and water.
When Soper approached Mallon with the news that she was possibly spreading typhoid, she adamantly rejected his request for urine and stool samples. Soper left and later published his findings in the June 15, 1906 issue of the ''Journal of the American Medical Association''.[1] On his next contact with her, he brought a doctor with him, but was again turned away. Mallon's denials that she was a carrier were based in part on the diagnosis of a reputable chemist who had found she was not harboring the bacteria. (Some believe that she was in temporary remission when the chemist tested her). Moreover, when Soper first told her she was a carrier, the concept that a person could spread disease and remain healthy was not well known. Finally, George Soper may have been somewhat tactless in his dealings with her. During a later encounter in the hospital, he told Mary he would write a book about her and give her all the royalties. She got up and locked herself in the bathroom until he left. "Denial is a powerful tool".
Quarantine
The New York City Health Department sent Dr. Sara Josephine Baker to talk to Mary, but "by that time she was convinced that the law was wrongly persecuting her when she had done nothing wrong." Typhoid Mary Rosenberg, Jennifer
A few days later, Baker arrived at Mary's place of work with several police officers and took her into custody. The New York City health inspector investigated and found her to be a carrier. She was isolated for three years at a hospital located on North Brother Island, and then released on the condition she would not work with food. However, she assumed the pseudonym "Mary Brown", returned to cooking, and in 1915 infected 25 people while working as a cook at New York's Sloan Hospital; two of those infected died. Public health authorities again seized Mary Mallon and returned her to quarantine on the island, this time for life. She became something of a celebrity, and was interviewed by journalists who were forbidden to accept as much as a glass of water from her. Later in life, she was allowed to work in the island's laboratory as a technician.
Death
Mallon died on November 11, 1938 at the age of 69 due to pneumonia (not typhoid), six years after a stroke had left her paralyzed. However, an autopsy found evidence of live typhoid bacteria in her gallbladder. Her body was cremated with burial in Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx.
Legacy
Part of the problems Mary created stemmed from her vehement denial of the situation. She maintained that she was healthy and had never had typhoid fever. Historians say it also stemmed from the prejudice that existed against working-class Irish immigrants at the time. Today, 'Typhoid Mary' is a generic term for a carrier of a dangerous disease who is a danger to the public because they refuse to take appropriate precautions.
Popular culture
★ In Chris Elliott's book, ''The Shroud of the Thwacker'', Elliott is sent back in time, suspected to be the Thwacker (serial killer). He is given cover by Mary Mallon because she is attracted to him. When the police come to arrest her (Elliott believes it is himself the police are coming for) she "forcefully pulled me (Elliott) to her and planted a wet slobbering kiss on my lips. I tried to pull away but she was too strong for me...She took a breath and coughed in my face and then dove into my mouth again..." Elliott later remembers the importance of Mary Mallon, when he feels symptoms of typhoid coming on. He quickly kills the infection with some amoxicillin he had left in his coat pocket before traveling back in time.
★ Typhoid Mary is the name of a Marvel comic book villain, who causes fevers in those of close proximity as well as being a deadly assassin.
★ Mark St. Germain wrote a play about Mallon called ''A Plague of Angels''.
★ Hirohiko Araki, a popular Japanese mangaka famous for his saga ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', made Mary Mallon the protagonist of an episode of his volume ''Bizarre Lives of Eccentric People'', a volume dedicated to peculiar individuals like Sarah Winchester and Yoshio Kou.
★ Typhoid Mary is a term used in the New Zealand legal profession to describe lawyers who transfer between firms, carrying information on clients with them.
★ God Dethroned, a Dutch death-metal band, has a song called "Typhoid Mary" on their 2006 album, ''The Toxic Touch'', and several songs on that album that refer to her.
★ In the original ''Star Trek'' series episode #75, ''The Way to Eden'', Dr. Severin, a brilliant but insane leader of a group of renegade "space hippies," is an unafflicted carrier of a deadly civilization-caused disease, "Synthococcus novae." Dr. McCoy explains to Captain Kirk, "Remember your ancient Earth history? Typhoid Mary? He's a carrier, spreads the disease to others."
★ Typhoid Mary is the name of a rock band from Atlanta, Georgia.
★ In the '' episode "Infinite Regress", the Doctor refers to an alien species that infected a Borg vessel with a virus that destroyed the vessel as a "Typhoid Mary".
★ In Stephen King's novel ''Dreamcatcher'', the character Jonesy is repeatedly compared to Typhoid Mary because he is a carrier who does not himself become infected.
★ In Chuck Palahniuk's book ''Rant'', the character of Buster Casey is compared to Typhoid Mary because "What 'Typhoid Mary' Mallon was to typhoid... Buster Casey would become for rabies."
★ In Simon Green's Deathstalker series, a powerful ESPer carrying a telepathic virus infiltrates a starport. She is codenamed Typhoid Mary.
★ In Mission Impossible II, Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) sends Nyah (Thandie Newton), who is infected with the Chimera virus, into downtown Sydney in an effort to create demand for the vaccine which Ambrose owns. Ambrose tells Nyah she is about to make him a lot of money by becoming the 'Typhoid Mary' of Australia.
★ In the Stargate SG-1 episode The Fourth Horseman, a Prior of the Ori infects Lieutenant Fisher with a disease that becomes called the Prior's Plague. The Prior makes Fisher immune to the disease, to ensure that he infects those he meets upon his return to Earth. In the end, another Prior is needed to provide a cure for the disease, but not until over 3,000 people die from it. Fisher was never referred to as a Typhoid Mary, but the circumstances are the same.
Further reading
★ ''Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical'', Anthony Bourdain, Bloomsbury, New York, 2001, hardcover, 148 pages, ISBN 1-58234-133-8
★ ''Typhoid Mary, Captive to the Public's Health'', Judith Walzer Leavitt, Beacon Press, Boston, 1996, hardcover, 331 pages, ISBN 0-8070-2102-4
★ ''Fighting for Life'', Sara Josephine Baker, Macmillan Press, New York 1939, ISBN 0-405-05945-0 (1974 ed), ISBN 0-88275-611-7 (1980 ed)
★ '' The Ballad of Typhoid Mary'', Jürg Federspiel [translated by Joel Agee], Ballantine Press, New York, 1985
★ Typhoid Mary
1. The work of a chronic typhoid germ distributor, , Goerge A., Soper, Journal of the American Medical Association,
External links
★ "Dinner with Typhoid Mary," Long Island History
★ A more detailed profile of Typhoid Mary
★ PBS NOVA site: "The Most Dangerous Woman in America"
See also
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