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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The poliomyelitis epidemic in Johannesburg in 1918: medical and public responses
Authors:Wade, Mary
Southey, NicholasISNI
Year:2013
Periodical:African Historical Review (ISSN 1753-2531)
Volume:45
Issue:2
Pages:80-112
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:poliomyelitis
epidemics
medical history
Abstract:This article traces the appearance of poliomyelitis in Johannesburg during the first recognised epidemic in South Africa in the early months of 1918. The course of the epidemic is examined by reviewing available statistics and investigating the problems that the epidemic imposed on medical and health authorities, both locally and within higher echelons of power. The response of the Johannesburg community to the disease is explored, as are the treatments available to polio patients at a time when the disease was regarded as 'a mystery'. The place of the 1918 epidemic in the wider history of polio in South Africa is also explored. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
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