Cholera and typhoid fever in 19th-century Bielitzer Zion

Arkadiusz K. Wrębiak

doi:10.2478/v10044-008-0020-6

Authors

Arkadiusz K. Wrębiak Department of Anthropology, Institute of Zoology, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 6, 30-060, Krakow, Poland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2478/v10044-008-0020-6

Keywords:

gastroenteric epidemics, biodemography, epidemiology, parish registers

Abstract

This study outlines an analysis of selected anthropo-demographic data of Der Bielitzer Zion population from parish registers and historical sources. The analysis focuses on three epidemics: cholera (two) and typhoid fever (one) which took place in mid-19th century in Bielitz. The aim of this paper is to explore the demographic structure of the fatalities due to the epidemics and to propose possible causes of any variations. Analysis shows the divergence in the age structure of deceased parishioners between the normal and epidemic years. Also, similar outbreaks of infection but of different pathogenesis could lead to observable discrepancies in the overall demographics of the deceased. In the case of cholera: more fatal cases were seen in the city, a higher frequency of deaths occurred in Bielitz females, the disease occurred only in the warm months and the outbreaks were of short duration. For typhoid fever: more fatal cases were seen in the peri-urban villages, a higher frequency of deaths occurred in the female of the peri-urban villages and the outbreak was of long duration. Frequencies and mortality rates of the above causes of death were compared with younger, more advanced populations. The similarities between these groups suggest a high socio-economical status of Bielitzer Zion.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Akta Miasta Poznania 1870-1931, Archiwum Państwowe w Poznaniu, Nr 1685, pp. 4, 115
View in Google Scholar

Ball L., 2009, Cholera and the pump on Broad Street: The life and legacy of John Snow, History Teacher, 43 (1), 105-119
View in Google Scholar

Beyene G., D. Asrat, Y. Mengistu, A. Aseffa, J. Wain, 2008, Typhoid fever in Ethiopia, J Infect. Dev. Ctries., 2 (6), 448-53
View in Google Scholar

Berner W., 2007, Stan sanitarny, ochrona zdrowia i sytuacja epidemiologiczna chorób zakaźnych we Lwowie w okresie Autonomii Galicyjskiej (lata 60./70. XIX w. - do 1914 r.), Przegl. Epidemiol., 61, 815-25
View in Google Scholar

Berner W., 2008a, Stan sanitarny, ochrona zdrowia i sytuacja epidemiologiczna chorób zakaźnych w Krakowie w okresie Autonomii Galicyjskiej (lata 60./70. XIX w. - do 1914 r.), Przegl. Epidemiol., 62, 181-91
View in Google Scholar

Berner W., 2008b, Z dziejów walki z ostrymi chorobami zakaźnymi w Polsce po I wojnie światowej - do 1924 r. (z uwzględnieniem wielkich miast), Przegl. Epidemiol., 62, 849-59
View in Google Scholar

Berner W., 2009, Sytuacja epidemiologiczna chorób zakaźnych we Lwowie i Krakowie w okresie I wojny światowej i po jej zakończeniu (do 1922 r.), Przegl. Epidemiol., 63, 149-55
View in Google Scholar

Briggs A., 1961, Cholera and society in the nineteenth century, Past and Present, 19, 76-96
View in Google Scholar

Collins C., 2003, Cholera and typhoid fever in Kent, [Internet] K. A. S., Maidstone, Kent, England http://www.kentarchaeology.ac [accessed 22 January 2011]
View in Google Scholar

Dillingham H. C., 1965, Protestant religion and social status, Am. J. Sociol., 70, 416-17
View in Google Scholar

Djeddah C., A. Miozzo, M. Gennaro, F. Rosmini, P. Martino, et al., 1988, An outbreak of cholera in a refugee camp in Africa, Eur. J. Epidemiol., 4 (2), 227-30
View in Google Scholar

Dorsz-Szteke E., K. Maciejewska-Dorsz, 1981, O cholerze w Szczecinie w I połowie XIX wieku, Wiadomości Lekarskie, 34 (19), 1657-9
View in Google Scholar

Feng-Ying C. Lin, V. A. Ho, V. B. Phan, T. T. Nguyen, D. Bryla, et. al., 2000, The epidemiology of typhoid fever in the Dong Thap province, Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 62 (5), 644-48
View in Google Scholar

Good D. F., M. Grandner, M. J. Maynes, 1996, Austrian Women in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives, Berghahn Books, Oxford
View in Google Scholar

Gieysztorowa I., 1976, Wstęp do demografii staropolskiej, PWN, Warszawa
View in Google Scholar

Haines M. R., 1976, Population and economic change in nineteenth-century Eastern Europe: Prussian Upper Silesia 1840-1913, Journal of Economic History, 36 (2), 334-58
View in Google Scholar

Herring D. A., A. Swedlund (Eds.), 2003, Human Biologists in the Archives, Demography, Health, Nutrition and Genetics in Historical Populations, Cambridge
View in Google Scholar

Kaniecki A., 2004, Poznań. Dzieje miasta wodą pisane, Wyd. PTPN, Poznań
View in Google Scholar

Kenig P., 2006, Sukno, płótno, wełna. Dzieje Bielsko-Bialskiego włókiennictwa, Mówią Wieki, 12, 20-5
View in Google Scholar

Kenig P., 2000, Z dziejów luteranizmu w Bielsku-Białej, Muzeum Okręgowe w Bielsku-Białej
View in Google Scholar

Lee W. R., P. Marschalck, 2000, Demographic change and industrialization in Germany. Bremen in Comparative Perspective, History of the Family, 5, 373-90
View in Google Scholar

Liczbińska G., 2009, Umieralność i jej uwarunkowania wśród katolickiej i ewangelickiej ludności historycznego Poznania, Biblioteka Telgte, Poznań
View in Google Scholar

Merrill R. M., 2009, Introduction to epidemiology, 5th Edition, Jones & Bartlett, Sudbury, Massachusetts
View in Google Scholar

Paine R., 2000, If a population crashes in prehistory, and there is no paleodemographer there to hear it, does it make a sound?, Am. J. Phys. Anthropol., 112, 181-90
View in Google Scholar

Parry C. M., 2005, Epidemiological and clinical aspects of human typhoid fever, [in:] ‘Salmonella’ Infections: Clinical, Immunological and Molecular Aspects, P. Mastroeni, D. Maskell (eds.). Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, pp. 1-10
View in Google Scholar

Perzanowski Z. 1958, Bielsko-Biała. Zarys dziejów i rozwoju przestrzennego miasta, Kraków
View in Google Scholar

Ramamurthy T., S. K. Bhattacharya (Eds.), 2010, Epidemiological and Molecular Aspects on Cholera, Springer-Verlag, New York
View in Google Scholar

Rau R., 2005, Seasonality In Human Mortality. A demographic approach, Demographic Research Monographs, Univ. Rostock, Springer
View in Google Scholar

Ryan K. J., C. G. Ray (Eds.), 2004, Sherris Medical Microbiology (4th Ed.), McGraw Hill, New York
View in Google Scholar

Ryś J. L., 2003, Jak powstał Bielski Syjon?, Kalendarz Beskidzki 2003, Bielsko-Biała, 142-45
View in Google Scholar

Sadowska J., 2005, Sytuacja sanitarno-epidemiologiczna przemysłowej aglomeracji łódzkiej w okresie niewoli narodowej i w II Rzeczypospolitej, Przegl. Epidemiol., 59, 163-71
View in Google Scholar

Sathe P. V., V. N. Karandikar, M. D. Gupte, K. B. Niphadkar, B. N. Joshi, et al., 1983, Investigation Report of an Epidemic of Tyhoid Fever, Int. J. Epidemiol., 12 (2), 215-19
View in Google Scholar

Soja M., 2008, Population growth cycles in the Polish Carpathian Mountains during 19th and 20th centuries, Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ, Krakow
View in Google Scholar

Sulimierski F., B. Chlebowski, W. Walewski, 1880-1885, Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, vol. 1, Druk "Wieku", Warszawa
View in Google Scholar

Wagner R. E., 1938, Das Buch der Bielitz-Bialaer Chronika, hrsg. von R. E. Wagner, Poznań
View in Google Scholar

Zaremba M., J. Borowski, 2001, Mikrobiologia lekarska, Wyd. Lek. PZWL, Warszawa
View in Google Scholar