Died of Smallpox 1877 epidemic? DONE

[stanmapstone]

The last outbreak appeared to have been in 1866 but there were further smaller outbreaks in the 1870s.

The last great outbreak of smallpox (Variola Major) in the British Isles was 1871-72 which caused approx. 42,000 deaths in England and Wales. The last epidemic of smallpox to afflict the British Isles was 1901-02,this was the last severe occurrence  of smallpox on a widespread scale in Britain's history, claiming 1,300 lives in London and 1,400 in Glasgow.
There were no epidemics of Typhoid , but there were Cholera epidemics in 1832, 1848-49, 1853-54, and 1865-66.
Smallpox is transmitted from person to person primarily via contaminated particles from the nose or mouth. Cholera is a water born disease. Typhoid (caused by a bacterium) is most common in tropical climates usually caused by contaminated water or food. There was a typhoid epidemic in the Boer War which killed 13,000 troops.
Details from the "Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence"

Whooping cough, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, smallpox, typhus, typhoid, and tuberculosis were endemic during the 19th century. So there need not have been an epidemic as such.
Stan

[Plummiegirl]

Surely one of the last major outbreaks of smallpox in the UK was in late 1950/early 1960.  I remember having to go to the doctors for the vaccination.  Mum had hers first to show me that it would not hurt.  I screamed the place down so much the doctor told my mum to just take me home, he would not even try while I was in that state.  So Mum was vaccinated & I never was!!!!

But I do remember that it was serious at the time.  This was in Sth. London.

[stanmapstone]

The last serious outbreak of smallpox was at Brighton Dec 1950 /Jan 1951 where it was begun by a returned airman who had been properly vaccinated, nearly 51,000 people were vaccinated, but  there were only ten deaths. The outbreak was declared over on 7th February 1951. There had been 14 deaths in 1946 and 15 in 1947, which were expected with the end of the war and were widely distributed.

Stan

[jimmijam]

Hi Plummiegirl,

My 2x gt grandmother died in 1881 of small pox in Lambeth, London.  So although the majority of the epidemic, by the statistics mentioned, was over, it was still claiming lives.

Here's a link but beware, the images are disturbing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox

Best wishes, Jimmijam