Quarantine: Scarlet Fever Quarantine: Scarlet Fever

Contributor(s): Connecticut Health Office The History of Medicine Division. Prints and Photographs Collection Publication: Connecticut Health Office, [ca. 1910] Language(s): English Format: Still image Subject(s): Scarlet Fever Public Health Genre(s): Archival Materials Posters Slides (photographs) Abstract: Epidemics of diphtheria and scarlet fever had spread through various parts of New England as early as the mid-eighteenth century. At the time both diseases were referred to as "throat distemper" and weren't distinguished. Known as the deadly scourge of childhood because it was so difficult to treat and control, diphtheria was a highly feared disease in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the United States. In major cities, thousands of cases were reported each year, with large numbers of deaths. Scarlet fever was another deadly childhood bacterial infection characterized by an extremely high fever and unique red rash. Like many other bacterial diseases, scarlet fever and diphtheria were often linked with poverty or unsanitary conditions. As a result, quarantine posters played a role in limiting the spread of these diseases, but they also likely helped perpetuate disease-related stigma by clearly identifying where the disease could be found and emphasizing isolation over education. This poster from early twentieth-century Connecticut announces that "all persons are forbidden to enter or leave these premises without the permission of the Health Officer under penalty of law." The successful control of infectious disease depended on similar quarantine efforts, along with the removal of the stigma and access to treatment and preventive vaccines for the entire population at risk. Copyright: The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information) Extent: 1 pages NLM Unique ID: 101584655X4 (See in Profiles in Science) Profiles in Science ID: VCBBBF Permanent Link: http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101584655X4 Archival Collection: Visual Culture and Health Posters (Profiles in Science)