The Pest Hospital: Memory, Vaccines, and Serum Therapy in Kansas City

Perri Klass; Martha Gershun

doi:10.1007/s10912-023-09781-6

The Pest Hospital: Memory, Vaccines, and Serum Therapy in Kansas City

Perri Klass, Martha Gershun

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

A medical narrative from a woman in her 90s describes her childhood bout with diphtheria in Kansas City, Missouri, apparently immediately after vaccination, her confinement in the “pest hospital,” and her treatment with what she understood as a blood transfusion from a donor who was found through a radio appeal. In this essay, we trace the narrative back to the institutions, medical practices, and historical context, examining both the underlying history of medical practice and scientific understanding that is reflected in her experience and also the contexts of that history, including racial and religious attitudes.

Original language	English (US)
Journal	Journal of Medical Humanities
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10912-023-09781-6
State	Accepted/In press - 2023

Keywords

Antiserum
Contagion
Diphtheria
Medical history
Medical narrative
Pediatrics
Scarlet fever
Serum therapy
Vaccination

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Health(social science)
Health Policy

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10.1007/s10912-023-09781-6

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abstract = "A medical narrative from a woman in her 90s describes her childhood bout with diphtheria in Kansas City, Missouri, apparently immediately after vaccination, her confinement in the “pest hospital,” and her treatment with what she understood as a blood transfusion from a donor who was found through a radio appeal. In this essay, we trace the narrative back to the institutions, medical practices, and historical context, examining both the underlying history of medical practice and scientific understanding that is reflected in her experience and also the contexts of that history, including racial and religious attitudes.",

keywords = "Antiserum, Contagion, Diphtheria, Medical history, Medical narrative, Pediatrics, Scarlet fever, Serum therapy, Vaccination",

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The Pest Hospital: Memory, Vaccines, and Serum Therapy in Kansas City

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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