Table 1.
Non-juvenile-dominant, community-wide jaundice outbreaks in the USA, 19th century to early 20th century
| No. | Author | Season and year | Location | Case count | Demographic characteristics | No. comatose | No. deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epidemics with coma or fatality in pregnant women (Group I) | |||||||
| 1 | Smith [24] | Summer and fall, 1873 | Ramsay County, St. Paul, Minnesota | Not reported | Not reported, other than ten women pregnant (from 2 to 8 m gestation) | Three (all pregnant) | Three comatose pregnant women; eight miscarriages, stillbirths or neonatal deaths |
| 2 | Sears [25] | Fall of 1881 to winter of 1882 | Birmingham, Alabama | Not reported | Not reported, other than 17 women pregnant (15 from 6½ m to term) | Five (all pregnant) | Five comatose pregnant women; ‘most’ of pregnant women ‘aborted’ |
| 3 | Young [26] | 1898 | A ‘little’ village in Tennessee | Not reported | Not reported, except for 3 pregnant women including twins who lived very near to index case (6 m gestation) | Two (index case and one twin, 8 m gestation) | One (index case); one stillbirth (her infant) |
| 4 | Runyon [27] | Fall, 1899 | Clarksville, Tennessee | 20 | ‘young or middle-aged and previously healthy people;’ mostly males; four pregnant | One (8½ m pregnant) | One (the comatose pregnant woman); 1 stillbirth (her infant) |
| 5 | Dixon [28] | Summer, 1907 | Talladega, Alabama | 200 | 145 men; 30 women (including one pregnant ‘just before confinement’); 25 children (including 8 infants); ages not specified | Not reported | One (the pregnant woman); one stillbirth (her infant) |
| Epidemics without reported fatalities, with excess cases in non-juveniles (Group II) | |||||||
| 6 | Clark [29] | Summer and fall, 1839 | Jacksonville, Alabama | Not reported | ‘almost exclusively adult males;’ no children | Not reported | 0 |
| 7 | Corson [30] | Fall and winter, 1854 | Montgomery County, Pennsylvania | 38 | Reported for 28 cases: 5 <15 y; 20 ⩾15 to ⩽50 y; 3 >50 y; 20 males, eight females | Not reported | None; two neonatal deaths |
| 8 | Pierson [31] | Fall, 1858 | Orange, New Jersey | >300 (in population of 7000) | ‘persons of all ages, although rarely those under the age of puberty;’ males > females | Not reported | 0 |
| 9 | Schaffner [32] | Fall, 1860 | Salem, North Carolina | 125 (in population of 1200) | ‘rarely attacked persons under the age of puberty’ | Not reported | 0 |