In this epidemic war, the most talked about is the "super communicator".

what kind of people are super communicators?

In the words of the World Health Organization, people who infect more than 1 people become super-spreaders, such as Steve Walsh who infected at least 11 people in Britain, Patient No.31 who infected at least 37 people in South Korea, and Mary typhoid, who is famous for her super-spreaders.

According to statistics, this woman named Mary directly infected about 52 people, at least 3 of whom died of typhoid fever.

what is typhoid fever?

Typhoid fever is an infectious disease of digestive tract, which is spread through faeces such as food and water. Today, when the sanitary conditions are generally good, it is not a difficult disease, which can be avoided by paying more attention to hygiene. However, in the early 2th century, when the bacterial theory was a relatively new concept, many people, including doctors, did not know how the disease spread, so bacterial diseases like typhoid fever were still quite dangerous.

typhoid patients begin to show symptoms 1 to 3 weeks after infection, and usually start to have high fever, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, headache and muscle pain. Then, there was an obvious rash on the chest. If left untreated, intestinal bleeding may occur, leading to subcutaneous thrombosis. In the most dangerous case, the abdomen will swell, and the mortality rate is about 1%.

Mary lived in this era. Although doctors at that time knew that typhoid fever was most commonly transmitted through feces, they could trace and locate the starting point of the epidemic to curb the outbreak of the disease, they could do nothing about Mary, because Mary was the first asymptomatic typhoid carrier found in the United States, and medical cognition at that time could not explain this situation at all. Many people, including Mary herself, believed that they had not transmitted the disease from beginning to end.

The story begins like this:

In p>196, an expert from the Ministry of Health exposed the fact that Mary was carrying typhoid virus.

Mary Malone was originally a maid, and in order to survive, she became a cook in a rich area.

In 196, Mary's employer suffered from a sudden typhoid fever. There were 11 people, six of whom suffered from typhoid fever. In order to find out the reason, the employer hired George Thorpa, an expert from the Ministry of Health, to investigate, and finally targeted Mary. He conducted a background investigation on Mary's work experience and found that everywhere Mary went, there were traces of typhoid fever.

after every family's illness broke out, she would leave quietly, and every time she changed her job, she would change her name a little, and she changed seven workplaces in seven years.

In p>197, Mary was forced to be isolated for the first time. Up to now, it has been confirmed that 22 people were infected and a little girl died.

When George identified Mary as the chief culprit of typhoid fever, he asked Mary to cooperate in collecting samples. However, because Mary was very healthy at that time, she didn't believe that she was a carrier at all, so she flatly refused and even violently resisted. After many efforts, Mary was finally subdued and placed in a single cabin in north brother island Hospital.

after examining Mary's stool, urine and tissue samples, the doctor found that although she had no symptoms, she was indeed infected with typhoid bacteria, and her gallbladder was full of typhoid bacteria.

However, at that time, Mary still didn't believe that she was a communicator, and even thought such remarks were an insult to her. When she heard the doctor's suggestion to have her gallbladder removed, she completely resisted, not only appealing to the government, but also spreading her tragic experience through reporters, so the government at that time had to compromise and gave Mary two options: either having her gallbladder removed or not being a chef. Mary chose the latter and then left the hospital.

In p>1915, Mary was arrested again and spent the rest of her life in the hospital. This time, 25 people were infected and 2 died.

Perhaps it is because Mary still believes that she is not the source of infection, or perhaps the commission of a chef is higher than that of other occupations. After her release in 191, Mary quit her old job as a laundryman, worked as a chef in a maternity hospital again, and finally ended up with typhoid fever. Mary, who lost public sympathy, returned to north brother island for isolation.

This time, she was still uncooperative, her intransigence, and the doctor really didn't know how to handle a case like her, so Mary was treated unfairly.

The doctor did not remove her gallbladder, but took more than 16 samples from her, and restricted her communication. She was only allowed to wash bottles in the laboratory, and was also shown as a sample to interns and journalists.

until 1932, the germs in Mary's body still existed, but she eventually died of other diseases.

why didn't Mary catch typhoid herself?

asymptomatic typhoid carriers were a breakthrough discovery at that time, and there was no mature solution at all.

Although the government at that time had the right to isolate those who posed a threat to social health, for asymptomatic people like Mary, they didn't know how to cause it or how to solve it.

coupled with the public opinion at that time, it turned to "poor" Mary, which led to the growing influence of typhoid Mary.

It was not until 213 that researchers at Stanford University discovered how Mary carried the bacteria without showing symptoms.

Simply put, Salmonella typhi can hide in immune cells such as macrophages, and a delicate balance is achieved between immune cells and Salmonella typhi, which can spread bacteria without knowing it while maintaining their own health.

finally,

typhoid Mary is also synonymous with asymptomatic carriers. One person directly caused at least 52 infections and three people died, which really made people angry. Therefore, in some cases, it is also a term with discriminatory meaning.

But does the existence of typhoid Mary bring us only nightmares?

Xiao Bian feels that although Mary has a very selfish behavior, it is inevitable that it is wise after the event to evaluate her past behavior with today's cognition.

In this case, at the very least, Mary let us know what asymptomatic carriers are, and wash our hands frequently.

For diseases such as typhoid fever, good hygiene habits can effectively reduce the spread of the disease. Unfortunately, such a wise saying as "wash your hands frequently" has never been believed by Mary. She can't understand the significance of washing hands and how the disease can spread through her own hands.

Therefore, Mary doesn't wash her hands after defecation and never washes her hands before cooking.