Infections & Disease - Leeds 1950s

littleruins · Post by **littleruins** » Thu 04 Oct, 2012 11:57 am

Hi there,I am currently looking into the history of disease in Leeds and was wondering if anyone could think of any infections or diseases that were common in Leeds during the 1940s and particularly 1950s. I am aware that asthma would have been a particular issue due to smog but was wondering of any others that may have arisen due to living conditions etc.Many thanks if you have any information / recommended reading.

Johnny39 · Post by **Johnny39** » Thu 04 Oct, 2012 12:20 pm

littleruins wrote: Hi there,I am currently looking into the history of disease in Leeds and was wondering if anyone could think of any infections or diseases that were common in Leeds during the 1940s and particularly 1950s. I am aware that asthma would have been a particular issue due to smog but was wondering of any others that may have arisen due to living conditions etc.Many thanks if you have any information / recommended reading. Diphtheria and Poliomyelitis - both were prevalent when I was a kid in the 40's.

Johnny39 · Post by **Johnny39** » Thu 04 Oct, 2012 12:21 pm

Johnny39 wrote: littleruins wrote: Hi there,I am currently looking into the history of disease in Leeds and was wondering if anyone could think of any infections or diseases that were common in Leeds during the 1940s and particularly 1950s. I am aware that asthma would have been a particular issue due to smog but was wondering of any others that may have arisen due to living conditions etc.Many thanks if you have any information / recommended reading. Diphtheria and Poliomyelitis - both were prevalent when I was a kid in the 40's. and I forgot Scarlet Fever.

Johnny39 · Post by **Johnny39** » Thu 04 Oct, 2012 12:25 pm

They seem to come flooding back - Smallpox of course.

buffaloskinner · Post by **buffaloskinner** » Thu 04 Oct, 2012 1:08 pm

Sexually transmitted diseases were on the increase with special clinics in the hospitals.

biofichompinc · Post by **biofichompinc** » Thu 04 Oct, 2012 1:30 pm

Tuberculosis.I am sure I read somewhere recently that cases of TB in Leeds during the 1990's (!) had actually risen.Perhaps a visit to the Thackray Medical Museum might be just what the doctor ordered. The 50's is what I would classify as modern history. They must have something.

James · Post by **James** » Thu 04 Oct, 2012 2:38 pm

Asthma isn't infectious. It's not a fully understood disorder, but there is probably an inherited disposition to develop it. Most children in the 1940s could expect to suffer from a series of infectious diseases like measles, rubella (German measles), whooping cough, mumps, and chickenpox. Usually they recovered without complications and the infection gave them immunity for life.

Riponian · Post by **Riponian** » Thu 04 Oct, 2012 2:45 pm

Measles, German Measles, Mumps and Chicken Pox were generally common even in the 60's when most of us went down with them during our schooling. Whooping cough was the only one they seemed to bother about innoculating against. Having fought them off earlier in life, I'm sure it gives us a stronger immune system rather than having jabs for just about everything they can think of.Scarlet Fever was the one that was supposedly linked to poverty, even then, and very rare.

Johnny39 · Post by **Johnny39** » Thu 04 Oct, 2012 2:52 pm

I think it was Killingbeck Hospital that was known to us kids as the "Fever Hospital". I always get Seacroft and Killingbeck Hospitals mixed up.

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Thu 04 Oct, 2012 3:12 pm

Think one is more convenient for the graveyard. And Asda.I knew it as Fever Hozzy