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New York State Department of Health Bureau of Epidemiology and Communicable Disease Control Typhoid Fever Carriers Case Control Cards

Some content may contain outdated and offensive terminology. See: New York State Archives Statement on Language in Descriptive Resources

Overview of the Records

Arrangement

Categorized by status on carriers' register; alphabetical by surname within each category, with a few exceptions arranged chronologically by year.

Administrative History

The State Sanitary Code Required the Department to identify, register, and periodically check the medical status of chronic typhoid fever carriers, individuals whose digestive wastes continually or intermittently contained Salmonella Typhi bacteria one year after recovery from the disease or without having contracted the disease.

The district health officer contacted each carrier quarterly to arrange for laboratory testing for the presence of the bacteria and to be sure that the carrier's sanitary practices conformed to the Code's requirements. The health officer then forwarded the information to the Bureau of Epidemiology and Communicable Disease Control. The Department provided financial aid to carriers forced into unemployment because they would no longer work at food-handling jobs. It also subsidized gall bladder and bile duct drainage and ball bladder removal for fecal carriers who wanted to end their carrier status.

Scope and Content Note

These 3x5 cards track and catergorize chronic carriers according to the reasons for each one's active or inactive status on the register and reasons for receipt of state aid.

Personal data on the cards includes: carrier's name; address; birthdate or age at operation; occupation; and household census, indicating relevant medical history of others in the household, or the number of cases attributed to the carrier.

Medical information includes origin of carrier status or how it was discovered; type of surgery; amount of state financial aid; brief medical history, including typhoid bacteria strain (phagetype) if known, and cause of death. It also includes the following dates when they are applicable to the category: typhoid fever occurrence; discovery of carrier status; declaration of carrier status; gall bladder surgery; appendectomy; release from carrier status; and death.

The cards are filed in the following subgroups:

1. Typhoid carriers - released, 1916-1952. Approx. 250 cards. These cases include laboratory test results and phage type.

2. Typhoid carriers - moved, 1917-1950. Approx. 200 cards. These cards indicate moves around the state as well as moves out of Department of Health jurisdiction. New York City maintained a separate register and separate statistics; carriers who moved to the City left Department jurisdiction. Some cards indicate phage type.

3. Typhoid carriers - died, 1918-1953. Approx. 800 cards. Many cards list contributing causes as well as official cause of death. Some list phage type.

4. Gall bladder operations - removals and drainages, 1920-1952. Approx. 150 cards. The cards indicate whether surgery was for relief of carrier status or gall bladder symptoms. They state the type of surgery done; the amount of state financial aid for surgery; and results of laboratory specimen culturing before and after surgery. Several negative cultures within one week were necessary for release from carrier status. The cards also contain narrative remarks on the patient's medical history. The cards of those patients who died were refiled together behind the initial surgery sequence. A few patients moved out of state. Their cards are filed behind the deaths.

5. Typhoid carriers receiving state aid, 1922-1944. Approx. 50 cards. Arranged chronologically by year. The entries on these cards are briefer than entries on other cards. The cards listing recipients of state aid for surgery give the name; the surgical procedure; date of operation; and costs of hospitalization and surgeon's fee. The cards listing recipients of financial aid for living expenses give name; town; and rates of state aid. They list recipients chronologically by date of first payment. Many entries include the recipient's date of death if it occurred between 1929 and 1943. A dozen cards at the end of the subgroup appear to be state aid budgets. They summarize funds available annually between 1928 and 1934, and list allocations for individual carriers.

6. Typhoid carriers receiving state aid, 1943-1948. Approx. 225 cards. About one dozen cards record gall bladder surgery on suspected but undeclared carriers. These cards are the same as those in subgroup 4. The remainder of the subgroup consists of individual case cards that list the carrier's name; address; and monthly state aid payments. They are subdivided into three groups: 1943-1945; 1946-1948; and dead or released, 1943-1948.

Related Material

B0164 Typhoid fever case report cards

B0165 Deceased and released typhoid carriers case files

B0166 Typhoid fever case investigation files and

B0168 Typhoid fever positive lab reports contain case investigation files and lab reports, generated by the State Department of Health, that document the study of typhoid fever.

Access Restrictions

Restricted by New York Public Health Law sect. 18 and New York Code of Rules and Regulations part 10, sect. 50-4; by New York Freedom of Information Law (Public Officers Law Art. 6) sect. 87.2(b); by New York Personal Privacy Protection Law (Public Officers Law Art. 6-A) sect. 96; and by the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Acct (HIPAA), 42 U.S. Code sect. 1320d-6, and -7.

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