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Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
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An Addendum: Typhoid fever, 1931-1932 This article is supplemental to the longer piece here: Columbia and the long road to water works, 1929 - 1933 By JIM The first few months of 1932 saw no forward motion on the water works system, but a peripherally related issue came to the forefront in January and February. Adair County experienced sporadic outbreaks of typhoid fever throughout most of 1931 and into 1932. Near the end of 1931, a full-time County Health Department was formed with Adair native Dr. N.A. Mercer, then serving as head of the Casey County Health Department, hired in the same capacity locally. An article in the first 1932 edition of The News, in reporting this development, stated the primary goals of the unit as promotion of health education, improvement of sanitary conditions, prevention and control of communicable and venereal diseases, prenatal clinics, child health conferences, and the examination of school children. Of particular concern were "five diseases that are absolutely preventable: diphtheria, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and small-pox." Of these five ailments, Dr. Mercer immediately zeroed in on typhoid fever. Under the headline "Typhoid Fever Great Problem," the January 20 News carried an article penned by him in which he spoke in unusually open language for the times. He stated that while a typhoid vaccination would give temporary protection from the dreaded disease, "the only permanent security is bettering living conditions by promoting sanitation. The careful and proper disposal of human waste will make typhoid fever a thing of the past." This was an era when most households were served by open air privies, and contaminates, including the Salmonella typhi bacteria, frequently leaching into wells, the primary sources of water both in town and county. In a piece a few weeks later, Dr. Mercer wrote, "Due to the prevalence of typhoid fever in Adair County in the past year, every person should be inoculated for typhoid fever. This gives us a temporary prevention of the disease in about 90 per cent of the cases, but proper sanitation is the only means of securing a permanent prevention." Two things may have led to an upswing in cases in early 1932. One, limited to and near Columbia involved (perhaps a bit ironically) the extensive ditching done for the water lines and the ditches remaining open for a somewhat extended time frame, as previously noted; the other, countywide (and beyond) came in the form of heavy rains with resultant flooding in late January. In late July 1932, Dr. Mercer raged via the pages of The News that "For at least fifty years, Columbia and Adair county has been a 'hot bed' of typhoid fever." He pointed out that seventeen deaths attributable to typhoid occurred in the county in 1931, and that "during the past month, an average of one case of typhoid per day has been reported to the Health Department" with the expectation of "many more cases of the disease during the next few weeks." With the Columbia water system still not completed, Dr. Mercer estimated that close to fifty percent of the city's water was contaminated with the Salmonella typhi bacteria. (This narrowly focused glance in no way pays proper homage to the incredible progress made by the Health Department and Dr. Mercer in the 1930s and beyond in meeting the goals stated above.) This story was posted on 2023-07-13 09:36:02
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Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Jim: History:
Columbia and the long road to water works, 1929 - 1933 Progress in Columbia, June 1933: Water Works, New Adair Hotel Short takes from the Adair County News, June 12, 1923 Lest we forget A record worthy of remembrance Columbia's Building Boom, 1903 The Columbia Kroger Store, 1936 - 1959 IGA Super Market on the Columbia Square Early December 1942 Letter: A few notes on Willis Furniture View even more articles in topic Jim: History |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
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