Hi all, An elderly aunt (now deceased) was born in 1914 a bright happy child by all accounts. Around 1918 something happened to her, one story handed down, was that she caught measles, which developed into meningitis, leaving her mentally handicapped. There were other stories describing how she became handicapped. Would anyone know whether there was an epidemic of measles around the 1917, 1918, 1919 period, in the Camperdown district? Many thanks Tricia

There was the Spanish Flu epidemic, which the soldiers brought back in 1919, from which many died and from which few places were exempt. Local Newspaper might give you a clue. Cheers Beryl Beryl O'Gorman Greensborough Victoria Australia List Admin ----- Original Message ----- From: "Parnell Family" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2004 9:51 PM Subject: [AUS-VIC-West] Re: Illnesses in early 1910's > Hi all, > > An elderly aunt (now deceased) was born in 1914 a bright happy child by all > accounts. Around 1918 something happened to her, one story handed down, was > that she caught measles, which developed into meningitis, leaving her > mentally handicapped. There were other stories describing how she became > handicapped.

Hi Tricia, There was a huge worldwide pandemic of influenza in 1918-19 which killed millions of people, immediately on top of WW1. Measles would also have been very common in those days, given that there was no vaccination available. Meningitis can occur after both. My son had meningitis (inflamation of the meninges sp?)as an after effect of influenza two years running - a very sick little boy, although it's no where near as critical a condition as bacterial meningitis. Cheers, Robyn Parnell Family wrote: > Hi all, > > An elderly aunt (now deceased) was born in 1914 a bright happy child by all > accounts. Around 1918 something happened to her, one story handed down, was > that she caught measles, which developed into meningitis, leaving her > mentally handicapped. There were other stories describing how she became > handicapped. > > Would anyone know whether there was an epidemic of measles around the 1917, > 1918, 1919 period, in the Camperdown district? > > Many thanks > Tricia > > > > ==== AUS-VIC-WESTERN-DISTRICT Mailing List ==== > Dead Persons Society Melbourne Victoria Australia > http://home.vicnet.net.au/~dpsoc/frames.htm > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 > > >