Diphtheria

[greenrook]

I bet that title got the attention of some of you? Well, here's a question, I don't know where to ask it, but the Chatterbank set seem to have a pretty broad general knowledge (and age span!) so who knows? I contracted diphtheria in the North of England, about 1939, it killed most of the kids in our street. One of my earliest memories is of the ambulance coming to the door, and I remember (or do I?) that it was brightly painted, with fairytale or cartoonish characters depicted on its sides, perhaps to make the child patients feel a bit better about being taken away. I'm writing a sort of autobiography for my grandchildren, and I'm beginning to wonder if I imagined this? Sorry if this is a bit morbid for New Year's Day, but best wishes to you all for 2014 anyway!

[anneasquith]

is it possible you were being taken to a childrens hospital and the hospital had its own ambulance ?

[pixie373]

It got my attention! But I'm afraid i don't know. Happy new year to you and good luck with your autobiography xx

[Dee Sa]

I remember my mum telling me she was taken away with diphtheria and the first thing they did was cut her long hair off, this was in Wales as a child.

[greenrook]

Thank you all,
the hospital I was taken to was an Isolation Unit in Hyde (now Greater Manchester) which primarily housed tuberculosis patients, so not a private establishment. My wife thinks it's hardly likely that given the scale of the epidemic in those days, the powers-that-be would have bothered to cheer the babies up with an ambulance painted like an ice-cream van. I think she's probably right, I was very ill and very young, the 'memory' could have been some sort of hallucination, which has stuck in my mind. By the way Dee, reference your Mum's haircut, the other thing the Authorities sometimes did was burn all the child's toys and books and bedding etc., and fumigate the house, sometimes even stripping the wallpaper Anyway, thank you all for your kind attention to this weird request, Google was unable to help!
thanks from greenrook

[anneasquith]

did you mean the outside of the ambulance ? if so, id think you were so ill and delirious that you did indeed imagine it,

[Mamyalynne]

greenrook, your recollection made me think of this (link below) - maybe they had a few illustrations up on the inside - good luck with your writing.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC539454/

[anneasquith]

a great link mamy, I wonder if greenrook's memory is infact correct, I hope he sees your link.

[Mamyalynne]

Hope so - my mother lost two sisters to diphtheria but had immunity herself.

[greenrook]

Yes Anne, as I 'remember' it, the jolly pictures were on the outside of the ambulance; Mamy, thank you, I know about Lowry's 'Fever Van', it cropped up when I was looking for the answer to my question before I decided to bug the AB with it.
I'm beginning to think my wife is right , it was probably some sort of juxtaposition thing in my 4-year-old mind, maybe they had the cheerful decorations on the walls of the childrens' ward, that would seem more likely.

[anneasquith]

greenrook. do you remember being in hospital, or what treatment you received ?

[Peter Pedant]

erm you would have gone to a Fever Hospital

admitting a diphtheria case to a main children's hospital was a no-no
Matron was definitely not pleased - [my mother did it]

Bright paint and children's services - it was a bit early for that
but that doesnt mean they didnt

these are your memories ... you should write them down as they occur
it would be nice to be corroborated but that is not the point in oral history.

You should record it as you recall
the mortality is very high - and reflects the poverty of the surrounds

by 1942 - a POW camp with adult cases - someone ( a doctor) supervised over 10 000 cases without a death.

Did you see any non-throat diphtheria ? ( lesion on the skin) if you did you should record that....

and good luck.

[Peter Pedant]

O I would have thought Monsall Fever Hospital was more likely
but these are your memories....

[Peter Pedant]

Green rock - you might have had serum therapy - but other specific treatment didnt exist (that worked that is)

[greenrook]

It could well have been Monsall Fever Hospital where I was taken, I don't remember what treatment I received. My 16-year-old aunt was in the same hospital, with the same disease, I remember someone telling me that. She survived too, but we never discussed our shared experience, and she's passed away now. Anyway, I'll write it up as best I can, and use a bit of artistic licence!

[anneasquith]

do you recall how long you were in hospital, and were you the only person in your household who contracted the disease, ?