Diphtheria

“While cholera had brought about the establishment of New York City’s bacteriological laboratory, it was diphtheria that established its importance to public health and medical practice. In two short years, from 1892 to the summer of 1894, diphtheria had been transformed. . . . The implementation of the diphtheria diagnostic program also transformed medical and public health practices in the city. The diagnosis of diphtheria was no longer under the sole control of the physician. Once bacteriological examinations were employed, the means for clear definition of the disease was established. The removal of children to hospitals and the barring of them from schools was standardized. Medical inspectors were to rely solely on bacteriological reports and enforce all the health department regulations. Few spoke out against the aggressive enforcement of these regulations in the tenement districts. For people living in these districts, the presence of diphtheria now resulted in greater intervention of public health authorities into their lives” (Hammonds, 84-86).