Typhoid Mary

Can you force a person who is perfectly healthy to be operated because others wanted it ? You have no evidence. She is healthy and she refuses.

It happened in 1908. Mary Mallon was a plump Irish lady. She was a good COOK and had a RICH clientele. Unfortunately, she had a curse. Wherever she worked, members of that family would fall sick and she would escape. But that fever would not leave her.

100 years back the New York Health Department pursued Mary to the end of earth for a sample of her blood and stool.
“Why should I ? I am perfectly healthy.” said Mary.
“Because you are infecting others.” said George Soper the New York City Health Inspector.
” You say, I have this big bugs crawling inside me. They give fever to others. Yet I don’t feel a thing. And I am healthy and fit as fiddle. Ha!” Sneered Mary.” I know, I know, you are a son of a bitch and want to harass me only because I am Irish, I’m a woman and alone in New York. But I’m not a push over. You go to hell.” Mary had an Irish temper.

But George Soper, the health Inspector from the NY health department was adamant. He had been hired by a rich family from Oyster bay whose 6 members had recently been down with typhoid and one had died. He had done his home work. The Warrens had hired a new cook 2 weeks back, a plump healthy Irish Cook , Mary Mallone before the catastrophe fell upon them.
Since Mary was adamant and refused to submit, he did a little more investigation on her. Mary Mallon had worked as a cook in seven families. And 51 members of those families had fallen sick. 3 had died. She is a threat to the society.

It was 1907. Only two years back, in 1905, Robert Koch had been awarded the Nobel prize for discovering the idea that Diseases are caused not by God or devil but by numerous invisible bugs. Who would believe that ? Has not our scriptures said,” Diseases fell upon us as curse for our bad deeds?”
People would ridicule the idea of microbes. Hey, bugs are crawling in the air though you can’t see them. Be careful, they would get inside you and give you a fever. Ha !

Mary was also not convinced. You said Germs are flying all around me. I pluck them from the thin air and put them inside these rich people. But I do not suffer because I’m poor. Is this a joke ? You Soper you are a VILLAIN. You are after me simply because I am a Poor woman, I’m Irish and they have paid you.

So finally in 1908, George Soper came up with a Warrant from the Commissioner of Health, New York city. Under sections 1169 and 1170 of the Greater New York Charter, Mallon was arrested. Soper forcibly took her stool and urine sample. It was found positive for Typhoid Bacteria.

Mary was quarantined in the ‘Island of Brother’ for 28 YEARS till she died. All she loved was cooking. And all they didn’t allow her is to handle food.

Mary Mallon, the MOST famous ( notorious) woman in the history of infectious disease died a bitter woman. She was convinced she was being punished unjustly because she was poor, she was a woman and she was Irish.

Though Mary died a natural death, George Soper got a post mortem done and found live typhoid bacteria crawling in her Gallbladder. But that was against her wish, hence illegal and had not been officially recorded by the NY Health department.
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Today we know that 6% of all typhoid patients can be healthy carrier. On this date 11000 people in Pakistan are suffering from Typhoid. 110 will die and at least 600 will be healthy and walking with the superbug inside their Gall bladder ( Pakistan Health Authorities have reported an ongoing outbreak of EXTENSIVELY DRUG RESISTANT (XDR) typhoid fever circulating in the Hyderabad district of Sindh province since November 2016. The Superbug for which no drug available )

Can we arrest all those 600 healthy people and put inside prison ? So definitely Mary was given a wrong deal. That was 100 years back. She had been put in a prison for 28 years till her death for something beyond her control. For her Gall bladder’s fault.

That made her so notorious that even the famous Marvel Comics has brought out a SUPERVILLAIN named Typhoid Mary in their newest videogame. And even kids today call her the supervillain.

I think Mary Mallon must be turning inside her grave for no fault of her.