Outbreak of typhoid fever strikes Berks in fall of 1921 [History Book] – Reading Eagle

In fall of 1921, about two years after the Spanish Flu epidemic struck Berks County, officials were concerned about an outbreak of typhoid fever.

After 28 workers in Penn Pants Co. in West Reading were stricken with the illness, state health officials were called in. Most of the stricken lived in Reading.

The Reading Times reported an outbreak of typhoid fever on Sept. 15, 1921.

Dr. C.S. Reber, state health department representative in Berks, launched an investigation into the cause of the outbreak.

He finds that there are 52 people ill from one factory, and 28 have been diagnosed with typhoid fever, the Reading Times reported on Sept. 15, 1921.

The state health department assigned two engineers to assist in the investigation.

Miss Patterson, the state nurse, has been on the job at the plant for about a week, the Times reported. Both she and Dr. Reber are leaving nothing undone to stamp out the disease.

Penn Pants employed about 400 people. Laboratory reports on most of the workers had not been completed, making it difficult to trace the disease.

West Reading Paper Co. reported some cases among workers who lived in Reading. In the city, there were people stricken who did not work at Penn Pants.

St. Joseph Hospital has six cases. Homeopathic Hospital had several cases. Reading Hospital had 14 cots, as the paper put it, occupied by typhoid fever patients, and there were cases of people with the disease being treated in their homes in Reading.

Unofficial sources estimated there were 60 cases in the city. Eventually, there were 95 cases in 1921.

The Times has reported several weeks earlier that there was an outbreak in Reading. City officials denied the report.

Reber ordered the cafeteria at Penn Pants closed, but did not shut down the factory. Some workers did not report for duty.

Typhoid fever is caused by contaminated water or food washed in contaminated water. Other sources include using a toilet contaminated with bacteria and touching the mouth before washing hands.

Health officials ruled out water, milk and ice cream from the cafeteria as causes for the outbreak at Penn Pants.

Speculation that the outbreak had spread to other parts of the county was ruled out. Birdsboro had three cases, but they were among some of the people who worked at Penn Pants.

While it does seem that the majority of cases are centered around one manufacturing plant, state health authorities are sending out warnings to physicians, asking them to report cases at once and help fight the disease wherever it springs up, the Times reported.

Officials turned their attention to determining whether the disease was spread by a carrier who worked at Penn Pants.

There had been cases of people in Pennsylvania who are immune to the disease, the Times reported, but spread it from bacteria that grow on their skin.

Typhoid fever vaccine shots were offered to all 400 employees at Penn Pants. Reber and Dr. Ira J. Hain, Readings health officer, administered shots to about 100 workers.

It is uncertain if the exact cause of the fever was ever determined.

Communicable diseases, including measles and whooping cough, were on the rise in Reading in 1921. In the first 10 months, 2,045 cases were reported, about double the year before.

Contact Ron Devlin: rdevlin@readingeagle.com.

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Outbreak of typhoid fever strikes Berks in fall of 1921 [History Book] - Reading Eagle