Medical report of the House of Recovery and Fever Hospital, Cork-Street, Dublin, for two years, from 1st of January, 1844, to 31st of December, 1845 / by George A. Kennedy.

  • Cork Street Fever Hospital, Dublin
Date:
1846
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Medical report of the House of Recovery and Fever Hospital, Cork-Street, Dublin, for two years, from 1st of January, 1844, to 31st of December, 1845 / by George A. Kennedy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    of any kind. The headache and pains, though often loudly complained of, usually diminished, and gradually disappeared within the first week; if the pain of head continued, or was very severe, a few leeches to the tem- ples were sufficient to remove it; the diarrhea, in the early stage, seldom required any active interference, and when it did not exist, mild aperients, castor oil draughts, or enemata, were given with advantage; simple febrifuge remedies, as the aqua acetatis ammonias, with great at- tention to cleanliness and ventilation, and to keeping the patient cool by frequently sponging the forehead, face, and arms, formed the chief treatment in the majority of those cases. Children and young persons constituted a large proportion of those affected, and in the former, as we have already indicated, it sometimes proved not only severe, but fatal. In such cases, after the fever had run its usual course for five or six days, signs of cerebral inflammation appeared, and the child died with well marked symptoms of hydrocephalus. In persons more advanced in life also, very serious symptoms occa- sionally complicated this simple form of fever, and, con- sidering its more usual progress, very unexpected results occurred. One or two cases may serve as illustrations. The diarrhsea, as has been remarked, in the earlier stages, could scarcely be considered an unfavourable sign, unless indeed it were very profuse; but in some instances it came on at a period when the fever seemed about to terminate, and rendered the convalescence very tedious and troublesome. A hairdresser, aged 20, No. 135,835 in registry, was admitted to hospital, March 28th, labouring under this form of fever; he had been eleven days ill at the time of admission, and neither then nor for some days after was there any thing in the case to excite apprehension. In- deed he appeared to be recovering when he was attacked with bilious diarrhaea, the pulse at the same time increas- ing in frequency, and the tongue, which was fast clean-
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