Five Diphtheria Cases in One Family Near Jackson's Camp
A wife and four children at Penrith fell ill with the dreaded disease. All but one child are now out of danger.
With five cases of diphtheria in his family, a man residing near Jackson's camp at Penrith has been having his share of this world's trouble. His wife and four children have all been afflicted with the dreaded disease, but at the present time they are all out of danger with the exception of one child, and the prospects are that the one now ill will soon be convalescent.
“His wife and four children have all been afflicted with the dreaded disease, but at the present time they are all out of danger with the exception of one child.”
Diphtheria was a childhood terror before widespread vaccination, and a single family outbreak could overwhelm a rural household. Today, public-health agencies still track clusters in close-knit camps and communities, but diphtheria is vaccine-preventable and rare in Washington.
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