Inside the squalor on ‘Skid Row’ as typhoid scare grips Los Angeles

Original Quill wrote:

The Los Angeles SMSA is so spread out that it incorporates many, many regions.  First is the LA basin, that alluvial plain that resulted from the Los Angeles river and San Gabriel river flowing into the Pacific Ocean.

To the north are the Santa Monica mountains, stretching from Point Mugu, on the Pacific edge, to the Glendale Gap (Griffith Park).  Beyond the Santa Monica's, and on the same east-west axis, is the San Fernando Valley stretching from Pasadena to the Ocean.  Within those three regions there are literally hundreds of neighborhoods and towns,, among the Hollywood, Compton, Long Beach and Malibu.

What you identify as Los Angeles downtown is a pin prick on the map.  It’s an area around what was once the Pueblo de Los Angeles (founded by Spanish missionaries), and is now a few blocks between Union Station and City Hall.  Admittedly a bad area, but nothing to worry about.

Maddog wrote:I didn't identify anything, the LA Times did.

So where else are people in the US catching Typhoid?

Omaha perhaps?

Original Quill wrote:

Maddog wrote:I didn't identify anything, the LA Times did.

So where else are people in the US catching Typhoid?

Omaha perhaps?

The LA Times article is addressing a more knowledgeable, probably local audience.  The area you are talking about is denoted by the arrow (on the map) and the letter ‘A’.



Like any large city, LA has it's slums.

Maddog wrote:What other cities have typhoid cases?

National Institute of Health wrote:
Typhoid Fever in the United States
Wednesday, April 25, 2001

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 400 Americans each year acquire typhoid, most of them while traveling in developing countries. Untreated, the illness may last for 3 to 4 weeks. Roughly 5 percent of those who contract the illness become chronic carriers-excreting the typhoid bacteria in their stools for more than a year. Treatment usually consists of antibiotics--either ampicillin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, or ciprofloxacin. With antibiotic treatment, recovery usually begins within 2 to 3 days, and deaths rarely occur. Untreated, typhoid victims may experience fever for weeks or months. Anywhere from 12 to 30 percent of typhoid victims who do not receive treatment eventually die from such complications of the infection as intestinal perforation. (http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/typhoid_fever/additional.html)

The most recent comprehensive analysis available of typhoid fever in the United States found that the cause of most cases of the disease that did not result from travel abroad could not be accounted for. About 19 percent of U.S. typhoid cases were associated with outbreaks among groups of people. The largest such outbreak, involving 47 people, was attributed to orange juice contaminated by a food handler. ("Typhoid Fever in the United States, 1985-1994, Archives of Internal Medicine, March 23, 1998, pp. 633-638.)

Another analysis found that many U.S. typhoid cases involved infection with strains of S. Typhi that were resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to treat them. Of S. typhi samples isolated from 293 patients, 25 percent were resistant to one or more antibiotics, and 17 percent were resistant to 5 or more antibiotics, including ampicillin, chloramphenicol, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. The researchers concluded that ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone are the most appropriate drugs to treat typhoid. They added that physicians should be on the alert for drug-resistant strains of the bacteria in their typhoid patients. ("Laboratory-Based Surveillance of Salmonella Serotype Typhi Infections in the United States," Journal of the American Medical Association, May 24-31, 2000, pp. 2668-2673. http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/283/20/2668.full External Web Site Policy

In 1988, Feng-Ying (Kimi) Lin, now of NICHD, then of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in Baltimore, and John Robbins, of NICHD, together with several other researchers, reported a typhoid outbreak that they had traced to a fast-food worker at a restaurant in Silver Spring, MD. All 10 reported cases were associated with the consumption of a shrimp salad served at the restaurant. Although the salad tested negative for typhoid bacteria, a restaurant worker who had handled the salad tested positive for it. The young woman had emigrated from a country where typhoid fever is common and had visited her home country about 2 years before. ("Restaurant-Associated Outbreak of Typhoid Fever in Maryland: Identification of Carrier Facilitated by Measurement of Serum Vi Antibodies." Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 1988, pp. 1194-1197.)

Before the advent of public sewage systems, typhoid was common in the United States. In 1920, for example, typhoid fever occurred in 100 out of every 100,000 people. By 1920, it had decreased to 33.8 per 100,000 people, and, by 1950, to 1.7 for every 100,000; http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm4840.pdf (PDF - 290 KB).

Perhaps the most famous outbreaks of tyhpoid fever in the U.S. involved Mary Mallon, a cook in the New York City area in the early 1900s. Most well known as "Typhoid Mary," Mallon was taken into custody in 1907 by local health officials when it was shown that a number of typhoid cases in the area could be traced to kitchens where she worked. She was held for three years on Brother Island in New York's East River and then released on the condition that she never again work as a cook. About 5 years later, officials found that typhoid outbreaks were again traceable to kitchens where Mallon worked. She was then detained on Brother Island until her death in 1938. (http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/mar97/nlm-10.htm)

The NICHD is part of the National Institutes of Health, the biomedical research arm of the Federal government. The Institute sponsors research on development before and after birth; maternal, child, and family health; reproductive biology and population issues; and medical rehabilitation. NICHD publications, as well as information about the Institute, are available from the NICHD website, http://www.nichd.nih.gov, or from the NICHD Information Resource Center, 1-800-370-2943; E-mail NICHDInformationResourceCenter@mail.nih.gov.
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/newsroom/releases/typhoid_background

WhoseYourWolfie wrote:

While Maddog is being so particular, cherrypicking articles to target California while ignoring equally bad problems closer to home,  I suggest he could look at some other disease outbreaks that are still 'endemic' across many parts of the USA..

Starting with :
Anthrax,   Brucellosis,   Q fever;
Rabies,   Lyssa virus
Bubonic plague,
Tuberculosis,
Dysentery, Meningococcus,  Diptheria,  Tetanus;
Mumps,  Measles,  Chicken Pox;
Hep A, B, C;  Chlamydia;  HIV..

I would suggest also, that Washington D.C., Chicago, New York and Miami all have their downtrodden slum areas with similar problems.

Except for Dallas, of course --  no poverty, no homelessness, no disease outbreaks around Maddog's little corner of Paradise..

Cass wrote:Well we have a Hep A outbreak here as well as measles, mumps and other various fun diseases. I got a booster shot Friday. Getting a Tdap, MMR and possibly a Hep B booster in the next few weeks. I’m not taking ANY chances with my grandchild to be and I’m fed up of anti-vaxxers causing it all.

Maddog wrote:

Cass wrote:Well we have a Hep A outbreak here as well as measles, mumps and other various fun diseases. I got a booster shot Friday. Getting a Tdap, MMR and possibly a Hep B booster in the next few weeks. I’m not taking ANY chances with my grandchild to be and I’m fed up of anti-vaxxers causing it all.

Stay out if California. It's the mecca for anti vaxxers and street people.  

Maddog wrote:

Cass wrote:Well we have a Hep A outbreak here as well as measles, mumps and other various fun diseases. I got a booster shot Friday. Getting a Tdap, MMR and possibly a Hep B booster in the next few weeks. I’m not taking ANY chances with my grandchild to be and I’m fed up of anti-vaxxers causing it all.

Stay out if California. It's the mecca for anti vaxxers and street people.  

eddie wrote:I’m not sure I believe that a handful of anti-vaxxers caused all these outbreaks.

Cass wrote:

Maddog wrote:

Stay out if California. It's the mecca for anti vaxxers and street people.  

We have an over abundance of them here in Arizona, hence our outbreaks. I think you will find them in every state.

Maddog wrote:

Cass wrote:

We have an over abundance of them here in Arizona, hence our outbreaks. I think you will find them in every state.

No doubt, but the highest concentration is in California.

You also have Mormons in Arizona. However, we both know where we would look for the highest concentration, and it would not be in Arizona.

Raggamuffin wrote:I've never understood why people bang on about anti-vaxers. Get yourself vaccinated and then they won't be a problem, right?

Cass wrote:

Maddog wrote:

No doubt, but the highest concentration is in California.

You also have Mormons in Arizona. However, we both know where we would look for the highest concentration, and it would not be in Arizona.

It’s not just Mormons. It’s all religions and even atheists and agnostics and anti-government etc...I work with these people every day and that’s why I’m getting boosters.Because they tell me their personal crap, which normally I don’t care about, but this I do but I don’t respond except to give out verified resources.

California would have more due to their higher population of course. But if you search online you will see huge online groups in every state.

Cass wrote:https://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html

Quite a lot of non-border states there.
I am not doubting, and the report highlights that TRAVELERS from abroad are helping it spread.

The problem here is that once one resident who is not vaccinated because of false info gets a disease or who is not vaccinated and goes to another country where it is a problem and brings it home, it spreads like wildfire.

eddie wrote:Quill why are you squabbling about the areas and whatnot? Are you denying the article? Not sure I get it.

WhoseYourWolfie wrote:

Maddawg is a pathetic lying piece of redneck crap...

He keeps on inferring that Texas doesn't have any of the more intense pockets of endemic diseases..

Yet,  I'm reasonably sure that the USA's 'Anthrax belt' will go through Texas,  while such things as Rabies, TB, Brucellosis and Q fever will be 'endemic' to certain rural areas..

And then there's Measles, Mumps and Rubella --  only in Deputy Dawg's vivid imagination is Texas free of serious infectious disease  outbreaks...

TSHA wrote:Texans experienced numerous epidemics during the nineteenth century. Cholera, yellow fever, smallpox, dengue fever, measles, influenza, diphtheria, and whooping cough afflicted Texans in different locales at different times. Though cholera appeared in 1833 and caused some deaths, it was far more destructive during an epidemic in 1849. Approximately 500 deaths from cholera had occurred in San Antonio by May of that year. During the early months of 1866 measles appeared "in nearly every house" in Galveston. In 1883 many residents of Galveston suffered with aches and pains of dengue fever. Galveston's doctors established a quarantine camp in 1899 to house some of the thirty-seven residents afflicted with smallpox.

Galvestonians experienced at least nine yellow fever epidemics between 1839 and 1867. The events of a yellow fever epidemic terrified everyone. A twenty-five-year-old man would be healthy one day and dead three days later, changing relentlessly from a state of debility, fever, and pains in the extremities and loins, to a stage of vomiting blood clots (called the black vomit), to jaundice and death. Doctors then did not understand the role of the mosquito in transmitting the yellow fever virus. Some thought that garbage heaps and stagnant ponds produced particles in the air (called miasmata) that caused the disease. To prevent their occurrence, doctors and town leaders advocated sanitary cleanups when epidemics appeared or threatened. Others believed that sick people transmitted the disease directly to others. During an epidemic in Galveston in 1839, Ashbel Smith tasted the "black vomit" of patients and did not become sick. He believed that yellow fever was not contagious and that Galvestonians should not quarantine incoming ships. Many disagreed with Smith and urged quarantines as ways to prevent the spread of this communicable disease.

Texans, like others, were confused because improved sanitation and enforced quarantine did not prevent epidemics from occurring or continuing. During a yellow fever epidemic in Galveston in 1853, approximately 60 percent of the 5,000 residents became sick and 523 persons died. There were 175 deaths from yellow fever in Houston during 1858. During Galveston's last yellow fever epidemic in 1867, thousands were afflicted and approximately 725 residents had died by early September. Improved sanitation and quarantines appeared ineffectual, though some argued that these reduced mortality and morbidity.

With dramatic improvements in sanitation and better control of the mosquitos that carry the yellow fever and dengue fever viruses, cholera, yellow fever, and dengue fever receded in importance. A few localized outbreaks of yellow fever occurred in Calvert, Brownsville, Laredo, and San Antonio between 1867 and 1903, and significant epidemics of dengue fever appeared in South Texas in 1907 and 1918.

Epidemics of other infectious diseases occurred during the twentieth century. The most prominent included influenza, polio, St. Louis encephalitis, and AIDS. During the fall of 1918 and the winter of 1919, an epidemic of Spanish influenza affected much of the civilized world. An estimated twenty-five million Americans experienced the disease; an estimated 550,000 died from the disease. During the fall months of 1918, many schools and businesses closed, and churches did not meet. In late October the Galveston schools closed for two weeks. By that time 5,000 cases had been reported in El Paso and 400 deaths had occurred. Since that time, various strains of influenza virus have afflicted Texans periodically. During the first week in January of 1944, for example, physicians reported 126,000 cases of influenza in the United States and 24,000 cases in Texas.

During the summer of 1943, 1,274 cases of poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis) were reported, the largest number ever recorded in the state. There were 168 deaths in this group. The total number of cases in 1943 more than doubled the cases reported in 1937. The epidemic in 1943 was most intense in the Panhandle. There were 996 cases confirmed for the entire state during 1945, and sixty-six counties reported 292 cases during the first six months of 1946. In Houston during 1948, 313 new cases were documented. Not yet fully understanding the etiology and transmission of the disease, physicians struggled desperately to avert the sad results of infantile paralysis. Polio receded with the advent and use of vaccines during the mid-1950s.

More than once, St. Louis encephalitis frightened Texans. An epidemic involving 114 persons occurred in Cameron County in 1957. The first epidemic of this arborvirus disease in Houston occurred during the summer of 1964. Of 149 adults admitted to Ben Taub Hospital with signs of brain infection, 119 had positive serological tests for antibodies to the arborvirus causing this disease. Among the fifty children admitted to Ben Taub with signs of meningoencephalitis, twenty-six tested positive for these antibodies. Severe brain damage occurred in some of these patients. During the summer and fall of 1966 this disease afflicted 172 residents of Dallas, with twenty deaths. The most likely vector for these epidemics were the Culex mosquitos that flourished after summer rains.

During recent years the most frightening epidemic involves those infected with the AIDS virus. By early 1992 officials at the Texas Department of Health knew of 14,782 Texans with full-blown AIDS but had no reliable data on the incidence of those testing HIV-positive. Six of 197 students at Rivercrest High School in Johntown reportedly tested HIV-positive. Between 1987 and early 1992, 357 Texas teenagers tested HIV-positive. This reality led some doctors and public health officials to believe that the AIDS epidemic might become one of the most devastating epidemics in human history.

WhoseYourWolfie wrote:

Maddawg is a pathetic lying piece of redneck crap...

He keeps on inferring that Texas doesn't have any of the more intense pockets of endemic diseases..

Yet,  I'm reasonably sure that the USA's 'Anthrax belt' will go through Texas,  while such things as Rabies, TB, Brucellosis and Q fever will be 'endemic' to certain rural areas..

And then there's Measles, Mumps and Rubella --  only in Deputy Dawg's vivid imagination is Texas free of serious infectious disease  outbreaks...

Original Quill wrote:

WhoseYourWolfie wrote:

Maddawg is a pathetic lying piece of redneck crap...

He keeps on inferring that Texas doesn't have any of the more intense pockets of endemic diseases..

Yet,  I'm reasonably sure that the USA's 'Anthrax belt' will go through Texas,  while such things as Rabies, TB, Brucellosis and Q fever will be 'endemic' to certain rural areas..

And then there's Measles, Mumps and Rubella --  only in Deputy Dawg's vivid imagination is Texas free of serious infectious disease  outbreaks...

You are right.  The following is an excerpt from th Texas State Historical Association:

TSHA wrote:Texans experienced numerous epidemics during the nineteenth century. Cholera, yellow fever, smallpox, dengue fever, measles, influenza, diphtheria, and whooping cough afflicted Texans in different locales at different times. Though cholera appeared in 1833 and caused some deaths, it was far more destructive during an epidemic in 1849. Approximately 500 deaths from cholera had occurred in San Antonio by May of that year. During the early months of 1866 measles appeared "in nearly every house" in Galveston. In 1883 many residents of Galveston suffered with aches and pains of dengue fever. Galveston's doctors established a quarantine camp in 1899 to house some of the thirty-seven residents afflicted with smallpox.

Galvestonians experienced at least nine yellow fever epidemics between 1839 and 1867. The events of a yellow fever epidemic terrified everyone. A twenty-five-year-old man would be healthy one day and dead three days later, changing relentlessly from a state of debility, fever, and pains in the extremities and loins, to a stage of vomiting blood clots (called the black vomit), to jaundice and death. Doctors then did not understand the role of the mosquito in transmitting the yellow fever virus. Some thought that garbage heaps and stagnant ponds produced particles in the air (called miasmata) that caused the disease. To prevent their occurrence, doctors and town leaders advocated sanitary cleanups when epidemics appeared or threatened. Others believed that sick people transmitted the disease directly to others. During an epidemic in Galveston in 1839, Ashbel Smith tasted the "black vomit" of patients and did not become sick. He believed that yellow fever was not contagious and that Galvestonians should not quarantine incoming ships. Many disagreed with Smith and urged quarantines as ways to prevent the spread of this communicable disease.

Texans, like others, were confused because improved sanitation and enforced quarantine did not prevent epidemics from occurring or continuing. During a yellow fever epidemic in Galveston in 1853, approximately 60 percent of the 5,000 residents became sick and 523 persons died. There were 175 deaths from yellow fever in Houston during 1858. During Galveston's last yellow fever epidemic in 1867, thousands were afflicted and approximately 725 residents had died by early September. Improved sanitation and quarantines appeared ineffectual, though some argued that these reduced mortality and morbidity.

With dramatic improvements in sanitation and better control of the mosquitos that carry the yellow fever and dengue fever viruses, cholera, yellow fever, and dengue fever receded in importance. A few localized outbreaks of yellow fever occurred in Calvert, Brownsville, Laredo, and San Antonio between 1867 and 1903, and significant epidemics of dengue fever appeared in South Texas in 1907 and 1918.

Epidemics of other infectious diseases occurred during the twentieth century. The most prominent included influenza, polio, St. Louis encephalitis, and AIDS. During the fall of 1918 and the winter of 1919, an epidemic of Spanish influenza affected much of the civilized world. An estimated twenty-five million Americans experienced the disease; an estimated 550,000 died from the disease. During the fall months of 1918, many schools and businesses closed, and churches did not meet. In late October the Galveston schools closed for two weeks. By that time 5,000 cases had been reported in El Paso and 400 deaths had occurred. Since that time, various strains of influenza virus have afflicted Texans periodically. During the first week in January of 1944, for example, physicians reported 126,000 cases of influenza in the United States and 24,000 cases in Texas.

During the summer of 1943, 1,274 cases of poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis) were reported, the largest number ever recorded in the state. There were 168 deaths in this group. The total number of cases in 1943 more than doubled the cases reported in 1937. The epidemic in 1943 was most intense in the Panhandle. There were 996 cases confirmed for the entire state during 1945, and sixty-six counties reported 292 cases during the first six months of 1946. In Houston during 1948, 313 new cases were documented. Not yet fully understanding the etiology and transmission of the disease, physicians struggled desperately to avert the sad results of infantile paralysis. Polio receded with the advent and use of vaccines during the mid-1950s.

More than once, St. Louis encephalitis frightened Texans. An epidemic involving 114 persons occurred in Cameron County in 1957. The first epidemic of this arborvirus disease in Houston occurred during the summer of 1964. Of 149 adults admitted to Ben Taub Hospital with signs of brain infection, 119 had positive serological tests for antibodies to the arborvirus causing this disease. Among the fifty children admitted to Ben Taub with signs of meningoencephalitis, twenty-six tested positive for these antibodies. Severe brain damage occurred in some of these patients. During the summer and fall of 1966 this disease afflicted 172 residents of Dallas, with twenty deaths. The most likely vector for these epidemics were the Culex mosquitos that flourished after summer rains.

During recent years the most frightening epidemic involves those infected with the AIDS virus. By early 1992 officials at the Texas Department of Health knew of 14,782 Texans with full-blown AIDS but had no reliable data on the incidence of those testing HIV-positive. Six of 197 students at Rivercrest High School in Johntown reportedly tested HIV-positive. Between 1987 and early 1992, 357 Texas teenagers tested HIV-positive. This reality led some doctors and public health officials to believe that the AIDS epidemic might become one of the most devastating epidemics in human history.

But I'm sure the same might be said for 49 other states.  Puerto Rico could add Trumpism as a disease, because in the wake of two Hurricanes Trump has failed to offer any money to restore the territory.

Maddog wrote:It's 2019.

Except in California.

Original Quill wrote:

Maddog wrote:It's 2019.

Except in California.

So what?  Feeling a bit squirrely, are we?