Cholera Hospital facts for kids

Cholera Hospital was a special hospital opened in New York City on June 24, 1854. It was built on Franklin Street to help people suffering from cholera, a serious illness. At that time, other hospitals in Manhattan, like City Hospital, wouldn't let cholera patients in.

The Mayor of New York, Jacob Westervelt, and city officials quickly took over a building at 105 Franklin Street. They did this because they expected a big outbreak of cholera, which is called an epidemic. Soon after, a second hospital for cholera patients opened in a schoolhouse on Mott Street in Manhattan. There was an older hospital called Duane-Street Cholera Hospital in 1835, but it's not clear if it was connected to the Franklin Street hospital.

How Many People Were Treated?

At both the Franklin Street and Mott Street hospitals, 696 patients were admitted. Sadly, about half of them did not survive. At the Franklin Street hospital, 265 people died, and at the Mott Street hospital, 57 people died. However, 323 patients did get better and recovered from the sickness.

In 1854, New York City had about 600,000 people living there. The total number of cholera cases that year was much lower than in 1849, when nearly 5,000 cases were reported.

Doctors Advise Quarantine

Doctors Valey and Gull, who treated cholera patients in New York City, believed that cholera spread only when people touched or were very close to someone who was already sick. They thought the disease was passed on when people breathed the air that sick patients exhaled.

These doctors suggested that sick people needed fresh, airy places to recover. They also recommended keeping affected people away from swamps, garbage, and dirty water. They advised that sick people should be kept separate, or quarantined, at Cholera Hospital. The New York City Board of Health chose this hospital to provide the special care the doctors wanted for their patients.

Public Concerns About the Hospital

On the evening of July 14, 1854, citizens held a meeting in the 5th Ward of Manhattan. Many people spoke against the Franklin Street hospital. They didn't like that the hospital felt crowded and unclean. They were also worried about how close it was to other buildings in a busy area. These conditions seemed risky during an outbreak of a contagious disease.

No one at the meeting wanted to stop helping cholera patients. Instead, everyone agreed that new hospitals should be opened in every part of New York City. They believed this would help sick people get treatment much faster, right after they started showing cholera symptoms.

There were also false rumors that Cholera Hospital was treating patients with other diseases like smallpox and typhus. People also spread untrue stories about workers making coffins, causing noise and disturbing the peace in the neighborhood.

Daily Updates and the End of the Outbreak

The doctor in charge of Cholera Hospital published daily reports. These reports showed how many new cholera cases were being treated at the Franklin Street hospital. In mid-July 1854, about twelve new cases were being treated each day.

By late August 1854, the New York City Commissioners of Health decided to stop reporting news about cholera infections. This was because the number of new cases had dropped greatly in New York City. Visitors were no longer afraid to come to the city, and businesses started to do well again as the panic faded away.

How Cholera Was Treated

Joseph C. Hutchison, a doctor, treated people with Asiatic cholera at the Brooklyn Cholera Hospital in 1854. He wrote about his work in a medical journal in 1855.

Dr. Hutchison used a simple treatment to help with cholera symptoms. Patients were given a mixture of salt and water to make them vomit. This was an emetic, and it helped stop their vomiting and calm their stomachs. After this, other medicines could be given. Each patient received a small amount of calomel every hour. It was placed on the back of their tongue and washed down with ice water. The goal was to avoid too much salivation (making too much spit).

If patients needed stimulants to boost their energy, sulphuric ether was used. The amount given depended on how each person reacted. Sometimes, hot air baths, blistering (applying something to the skin to cause a blister), and spirits of turpentine (turpentine) were used on the outside of the body when needed.