The Tragic Tale of the Typhoid Marys

I’ve noticed with the recent Rona situation, how the broader sense of health and wellbeing (freedom, mental wellbeing, human connections, socialising, enjoying our families, experiencing happiness and hope and purpose) has been cast aside for a very restricted definition of ‘health’ (presence or absence of a certain pathogen, or presence or absence of a certain set of symptoms), and how destructive it really is.

It wasn’t all that long ago, when testing positive for a certain pathogen (whether you displayed symptoms or not) was enough to have your freedoms removed, and spend the rest of your days in misery…all in the name of public health

The most famous, of course, was ‘Typhoid Mary’.

Mary Mallon (1869 – 1938) arrived in America as a penniless 15-year-old Irish immigrant. She loved to cook, and she was good at it, too – that’s how she came to be working for affluent families.

Typhoid typically struck the poor and dirty parts of town, so when it struck the well-to-do family that Mary had been working for, they hired a sleuth to investigate – one George Soper.

When Mr Soper turned up at Mary’s door, demanding she give him samples of her urine and feces, Mary did what any respectable lady would do, under the circumstances – she chased him away with a meat fork! [1].

Soper, however, was undeterred. He went to the city health board, with his suspicions that Mary was an ‘asymptomatic carrier’ of typhoid. When Mr Soper returned with the police, Mary hid for five hours, before they finally discovered her hiding place, and hauled her off to the hospital to be tested. When her test returned positive, she was sent to Riverside Hospital on North Brother Island. She was there for 2 years, before she was allowed back into society, on the promise that she would not work as a cook.

During that time, Mary was forced to provide 163 samples of various bodily substances, in order to be tested. One hundred and twenty of those tested positive. Doctors pressured her to have her gallbladder surgically removed – Mary refused [2].

Mary went to work as a laundry maid. But the pay was poor and she missed cooking…and she didn’t really believe she was carrying diseases, when she seemed perfectly healthy. So she changed her name, and got a job in the kitchen at Sloane Maternity hospital. When a typhoid outbreak occurred there, she was discovered, and sent back to North Brother Island, where she stayed for the next 25 years, until her death in 1938.

Mary became infamous, the butt-end of jokes and cartoons, and an object of fear, in the media. At the time, approximately 1000 people per year in New York were diagnosed with typhoid – but they were mostly poor. Mary’s alleged victims were all rich, and perhaps that, along with the fact that she was an immigrant woman, is why Mary got the treatment she did? [3]

They blamed Mary for the death of three people, and sickness in dozens more, although by the time she died, hundreds of other ‘asymptomatic carriers’ had been discovered in the US, although, none were quarantined.

Numerous US newspapers ran stories in 1954, stating that “known carriers are kept under strict surveillance by the Public Health Officials and are visited at least twice yearly.  

None, under any circumstances, are permitted to work commercially with milk or other foods. Members of the carrier’s household are advised to be vaccinated, and annual booster shots are given (to the carrier) for additional protection.

All known typhoid carriers are listed in the State Registry so that, among other things, occupation and residence can be frequently checked upon by investigators. Owing to the instruction and supervision given, carriers usually prevent no menace to the community or household.

No drug yet found will rid the carrier’s body of the germs. However, since they frequently localize in the gallbladder or kidney, surgical removal of these organs frequently clears up the infection. Where both kidneys are infected, such an operation is, of course, impossible” [4].

Meanwhile, in the UK, it turns out that many ‘Typhoid Mary’s’ had their lives shattered because they tested positive for a particular germ…

IN 2008, BBC News broke the story, that at least 43 women ‘typhoid carriers’ had been locked up in Long Grove Asylum, Epsom, between 1907, and 1992, when it finally closed.

All were from the London area, and none displayed symptoms of typhoid. By all accounts, these women were mentally stable when admitted to the asylum, but years of living in isolation had affected them mentally (hardly surprising), and so their continued confinement was considered justified, even after the advent of antibiotic treatment for typhoid, in the 1950’s.

The Isolation Unit closed in 1972, and all but two of the women were moved into open wards in the asylum. The remaining two women were ‘incurable’ typhoid carriers, and were confined to two separate small rooms, where they lived out their days, with just the daily paper and a small tv as company.

This information came to light only because historians uncovered two volumes of records in the ruins. Most of the records from the asylum were (conveniently) destroyed after it shut down. [5]

Two women were still alive, when the asylum closed in 1992. They were transferred to other institutions. One woman, Rosina Bryans, had spent 60yrs of her life in confinement.

Staff don’t recall any of the women ever having visitors, despite many of them having been married with children, before being admitted [6].

In memory of Mary Allouis, A Brice, Mary Brooks, Rosina Bryans, Johannah Buckland, Lillian Buzzi, Martha Caunt, Lilian Clark, Marguerite Cross, R Cross, Mrs Davies, Elizabeth Driver, Ella Eves, Jane Caroline Finn alias Jackson, Charlotte Forward, Jennie French, Henrietta Victoria, Florence Fortune Greenhalf, Mabel Hardwick, Ellen Jones, Nellie Keylock, Maud Powell, Rebecca Restall, A Redson, Sarah Reynolds, Edith Rhodes, Charlotte Rock, Elsie Stacey, Bridget Tallott, Rose Thacker, Maud Louise Thomas, Ada Elizabeth Thompson, Emily Titcombe, Florence Elizabeth Truman, Margaret Vanderpant, Lily Wade, Margaret Warren, Ada Caroline Wellington, Marie Westlake, Sarah Whall, Ivy Whitmey-Smith, Emma Munnings, Florence Pell [7].

References:

[1] Latson J, Refusing Quarantine: Why Mary Did It, TIME, 11th November, 2014, Quarantine History: Who Was Typhoid Mary and What Happened to Her? | Time

[2] Inglis-Arkell E, What The City of New York Did to Typhoid Mary Was Pretty Horrific, Gizmodo, 25th December 2014, What the City of New York Did to “Typhoid Mary” Was Pretty Horrific (gizmodo.com)

[3] Brockell G. Yes, There Really Was a Typhoid Mary, an Asymptomatic Carrier Who Infected Her Patrons, The Washington Post, 18th March, 2020, ‘Typhoid Mary’: The true story of Irish cook who infected her patrons – The Washington Post

[4] Gilbert R.O, Your Health, South Pasadena Review, 10th August, 1954, page 4.

[5] Tyhoid Women Were Kept in Asylum, BBC News, 28th July, 2008, BBC NEWS | UK | Typhoid women were kept in asylum

[6] Hale B. The British Women Typhoid Carriers Who Were Locked Up For Life in a Mental Asylum, Until the 1990’s, Daily Mail, 29th July, 2008.

[7] Life Sentence, BBC Radio, 28th July, 2008, BBC – Today


7 Reasons Why Antibodies Can’t Possibly Provide Immunity

There is a massive vaccine industry that rakes in billions in profits, based on the belief that if you have antibodies, you are ‘protected’. Here’s 7 reasons why that belief needs a re-think…

ONE.

There are numerous cases in the scientific literature, of people succumbing to illness, even though they had high antibody counts [1-3]. In fact, some of those had antibody titres 100x higher than what is considered sufficient to provide ‘immunity’. On the other hand, there are people with little to no antibody counts (and supposedly susceptible) passing through disease outbreaks completely untouched [4].

Actually, the discovery that antibodies are not responsible for immunity was made more than 80 years ago, by immunologist Dr. Merrill Chase, and his discovery was largely ignored by mainstream medicine, despite a long and illustrious career, and publishing more than 150 research papers [5].

TWO.

According to vaccine logic, the more antibodies you have, the better, but in a NORMALLY functioning immune system, antibody production is tightly restricted (for good reason – more on that later). It’s now common knowledge that Vitamin D is necessary for a healthy immune system…but did you know Vitamin D LIMITS antibody production [6]? It begs the question why, if antibodies really are as vital as we have been led to believe…

 THREE.

The presence of prior antibodies has been found to ENHANCE some diseases. It’s called ‘antibody-dependant enhancement’ and, so far, it has been demonstrated to enhance dengue fever, zika virus, HIV, Ebola, and others [7-12].

FOUR

Antibodies are created in the body as a last resort. It only occurs AFTER the cells have become infected. Remember the selling point of vaccines – about having a ‘primed’ immune system, so that antibodies could respond faster? Well, technically that’s true, but they neglected to mention that, even in a ‘primed’ immune system, antibodies are STILL not called into action, until after infection occurs [13]. Therefore, it’s a biological impossibility for antibodies to prevent infection, even in a ‘primed’ immune system.

FIVE.

By now, you may be wondering why the human body is designed to limit, restrict or delay antibody production. There’s a good reason for this – because antibodies are highly inflammatory and uncomfortable. Those unpleasant symptoms that you experience when ‘sick’ are not symptoms of disease, they are the result of antibodies. Antibodies place a large burden on the body’s excretory systems and, if not excreted in a timely manner, they conglomerate and form ‘antibody complexes’, which are rather large and tend to get stuck in the soft tissues and joints, causing inflammation and tissue damage [14]. If you get ‘arthritis’ after a vaccine or illness, now you know why! Antibodies!

SIX.

True immunity requires a robust innate immune system (also known as Th1 immunity). This is the very first line of defence. As already mentioned, vaccines target antibody production, which is part of the humoral immune system (also known as Th2 immunity) – and the last function called into play by the immune system.

We can look upon these two arms of the immune system (innate and humoral) as being antagonistic – when one is dominant, the other is suppressed. So, a dominant antibody response (caused/exacerbated by repeat vaccinations), means that the innate immune system (first line of defence) is suppressed, leaving you more vulnerable to infection [15].

It should be noted here, that the disease known as ‘AIDS’ is characterised by this very same thing – high antibody counts, and poor function of the innate immune system [16]

Also of note – studies have shown that cancer and autism patients have this particular immune imbalance – high antibody counts and suppressed innate immunity [17-20].

SEVEN.

Antibodies are extracellular, meaning that they are active outside the cells, but cannot actually enter cells…although scientists are trying to genetically engineer antibodies that will do just that [21].

Now, this is quite a conundrum, because antibodies are not called into action until after a pathogen has entered the cells, and antibodies can only bind to antigens on the surface of the cell (NOT inside the cell).

Now you have to rely on T-cells to orchestrate the killing of infected cells, in order to stop the spread of infection – this is the realm of the innate immune system (the one that is suppressed by repeated vaccinations, remember?). Such is the natural sequence of events when a th1-type response is generated, such as seen in natural infection [22].

The natural Th-1 type response is to eliminate infection via externalising it – this is the classic disease symptoms we know so well, such as rash, fever, cough, mucus, swelling etc [23]. Th2 dominance inhibits this natural response, which inevitably must lead to either:

  • altered disease manifestation, so for example, the vaccinated person who has whooping cough, may have a cough, but without the tell-tale ‘whoop’ sound [24].
  • chronic underlying infection, inflammation or auto-immune disease [25-26].

Let’s just re-emphasize that last point, because it’s really important, and once understood, you’ll never again look at vaccines the same way again…

First: Vaccines are designed to stimulate antibody production (Th2 immune system).

Second: Antibodies cannot stop infection, nor can they enter cells that are infected.

Third: Due to immune imbalance caused by vaccination, infected cells harbour infection chronically, causing inflammation and auto-immune conditions.

Fourth: person shows only mild or no signs of acute illness, but becomes progressively burdened down by chronic health issues.

So, what actually happens is that the vaccine has not prevented infection, it has simply prevented the body from expelling the infection.

It goes without saying, that such a state of affairs does wonders for the vaccine ‘efficacy’ statistics, since the vaccinated are less likely to show overt signs of acute disease, and therefore, less likely to be diagnosed, or even tested – meanwhile, chronic ‘non-communicable’ diseases continue to spiral out of control…

Now you know why.

References:

[1] Crone NE, Reder AT. Severe tetanus in immunized patients with high anti-tetanus titers, Neurology, 1992, 42(4): 761-764.

[2] Maselle SY, Matre R, Mbise R, Hofstad T. Neonatal tetanus despite protective serum antitoxin concentration, FEMS Microbiol Immunol, 1991, 3(3): 171-175.

[3] Pitisuttithum P, Gilbert P, Gurwith M, et al. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled efficacy trial of a bivalent recombinant glycoprotein 120 HIV-1 vaccine among injection drug users in Bangkok, Thailand. J Infect Dis, 2006, 194(12):1661-1761.

[4] Brodie M, Park W. Active Immunization Against Poliomyelitis, Am J Pub Health, 1936, 26:119–125.

[5] O’Connor A, Merrill W Chase, 98, Scientist Who Advanced Immunology, New York Times, Jan 22, 2004. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/22/nyregion/merrill-w-chase-98-scientist-who-advanced-immunology.html. Accessed October, 2018.

[6] Røsjø, E., Lossius, A., Abdelmagid, N., Lindstrøm, J. C., Kampman, M. T., Jørgensen, L., … Holmøy, T. (2017). Effect of high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation on antibody responses against Epstein–Barr virus in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Multiple Sclerosis Journal, 23(3), 395–402.

[7] Halstead SB, O’Rourke EJ. Antibody-enhanced dengue virus infection in primate leukocytes, Nature, 1977, 265(5596):739-741.

[8] ] Dejnirattisai W, Jumnainsong A, Onsirisakul N, et al. Cross-reacting antibodies enhance dengue virus infection in humans, Science, 2010, 328(5979):745-748.

[9] Dejnirattisai W, Supasa P, Wongwiwat W, et al. Dengue virus sero-cross-reactivity drives antibody-dependent  enhancement of infection with zika virus, Nat Immunol, 2016, 17(9):1102-1108.

[10] Homsy J, Meyer M, Tateno M, et al. The fc and not CD4 receptor mediates antibody enhancement of HIV infection in human cells, Science, 1989, 244(4910):1357+.

[11] Furuyama W, Marzi A, Carmody AB, et al. Fcy-receptor Ila-mediated Src signaling pathway is essential for the antibody-dependent enhancement of ebola virus infection, PLoS Pathogen, 2016, 12(12):e1006139.

[12] Biryukov S, Angov E, Landmesser ME, et al. Complement and antibody-mediated enhancement of red blood cell invasion and growth of malaria parasites, EBioMedicine, 2016, 9:207-216.

[13] Janeway CA Jr, Travers P, Walport M, et al. Immunobiology: The Immune System in Health and Disease. 5th edition. New York: Garland Science; 2001

[14] Cochrane CG, Dixon FJ. Cell and tissue damage through antigen-antibody complexes. Calif Med. 1969;111(2):99-112.

[15] Brad Spellberg, John E. Edwards; Type 1/Type 2 Immunity in Infectious Diseases, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Volume 32, Issue 1, 1 January 2001, Pages 76–102.

[16] Kaur R, Dhakad MS, Goyal R, Bhalla P, Dewan R (2016) Study of TH1/TH2 Cytokine Profiles in HIV/AIDS Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital in India. J Med Microb Diagn 5:214

[17] Sato M, Goto S, Kaneko R, et al. Impaired production of Th1 cytokines and increased frequency of Th2 subsets in pBMC from advanced cancer patients. Anticancer Res, 1998, 18:3951-3955.

[18] Huang M, Wang J, Lee p, et al. Human non-small cell lung cancer cells express a type 2 cytokine pattern. Cancer Res, 1995, 55:3847-3853.

[19] Filella X, Alcover J, Zarco MA, et al. Analysis of type T1 and T2 cytokines in patients with prostate cancer, prostate, 2000, 44:271-274.

[20] Gupta, S., Aggarwal, S., Rashanravan, B., Lee, T., TH1 and TH2-like cytokines in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in autism, J of Neuroimmunol, 1998; 85:106-109.

[21] Coghlan A. Super-antibodies break the cell barrier, New Scientist, https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4881-super-antibodies-break-the-cell-barrier/. Accessed December 2018.

[22] Kim EJ, Cho D, Kim TS. Efficient induction of T helper type 1-mediated immune responses in antigen-primed mice by anti-CD3 single-chain Fv/interleukin-18 fusion DNA, Immunology, 2004, 111(1): 27–34.

[23] Abbas AK, Murphy KM, Sher A. Functional diversity of helper T lymphocytes, Nature, 1996, 383(6603):787-93.

[24] Nelson KE, Williams C. Infectious Disease Epidemiology: Theory and practice 2007), Jones and Bartlett Learning, pp 131.

[25] Hayflick, L. Slow Viruses, Executive Health Report, Feb. 1981, pp 4.

[26] Talai, N., “Autoimmunity,” in Fudenberg, Basic Clinical Immunology, 3rd Ed., Lange, 1980, p. 222.