From local historian Susan Daniel
Thrush – Childhood disease characterized by spots on mouth, lips and throat. Thrush usually affects sick, weak infants and elderly individuals in poor health.
Tick fever – Rocky mountain spotted fever.
Toxemia of pregnancy – Eclampsia
Trench mouth – Painful ulcers found along gum line. Caused by poor nutrition and poor hygiene.
Trismus nascentium or neonatorum. A form of tetanus seen only in infants, almost invariably in the first five days of life, probably due to infection of the umbilical stump.
Tussis convulsiva – Whooping cough
Typhoid fever – An infectious, often fatal, febrile disease, usually occurring in the summer months; characterized by intestinal inflammation and ulceration caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi, which is usually introduced by food or drink. Symptoms include prolonged hectic fever, malaise, transient characteristic skin rash (rose spots), abdominal pain, enlarged spleen, slowness of heart rate, delirium, and low white-blood cell count. The name came from the disease’s similarity to typhus (see below). Synonym: enteric fever Typhus – Infectious fever characterized high fever, headache, and dizziness. The epidemic or classic form is louse borne; the endemic or murine is flea borne. Synonyms: typhus fever, malignant fever (in the 1850s), jail fever, hospital fever, ship fever, putrid fever, brain fever, bilious fever, spotted fever, petechial fever, camp fever.
Variola – Smallpox
Venesection – Bleeding
Viper’s dance – St.Vitus Dance
Water on brain – Enlarged head
White swelling – Tuberculosis of the bone
Winter fever – Pneumonia
Whooping cough – or Pertussis – is an acute, highly contagious respiratory infection that is caused by a bacterium. The term whoop originates from the inflammation and swelling of the laryngeal structures that vibrate when there is a rapid inflow of air during inspiration. The coughing spells can be so bad that it is hard for infants to eat, drink or breathe. Before there was a vaccine, whooping cough was one of the most common childhood diseases and a major cause of childhood deaths in the U.S.
Womb fever – Infection of the uterus.
Worm fit – Convulsions associated with teething, worms, elevated temperature or diarrhea
Yellowjacket – Yellow fever