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Most likely answer is sepsis. No antibiotics, and he would be unlikely to seek medical attention until it was systemic due to the commonness of infected cuts. Dead in as little as 72 hours, or he could fight it for a year or more.
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The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. -
Neither of those really answer my question. Thanks though. I knew about the 1885 epidemic (and some theorize a syndemic of Hep B and Hep D was behind the New England epidemic in 1616). I guess the answer is there isn't one. I was hoping for something more like a tracking model of its spread after the epidemic. I know it couldn't possibly be totally accurate, was only curious.Originally posted by DJA View Post
Second link is interesting because it mentions Hep G, which isn't a hepatitis anymore (and I guess never really was). Its a form of GB Virus, GB Virus C, I think.Last edited by Shaggyrand; 04-06-2016, 08:39 PM.I’m often irrelevant. It confuses people.
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Based on the idea that Jack actually did eat half of that kidney, I once considered he got ill due to not realizing it was a diseased kidney (although, if he cooked it I wonder if that would have neutralized some of it's ill-effects). He is rushed to the hospital and spends a wretched month fighting and slowly recovering his health, to be released in early November. Worse, he could only give vague comments to assist the doctors about what he ate (how would they have reacted if he admitted, "Oh, it might be the half of that prostitute's kidney I digested!"?). When he gets out he is furious at all prostitutes, as one of them nearly killed him. When he gets a chance with MJK, he is isolated in her room, and she is not only killed but her body cut to pieces in his fury.
JeffComment
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Originally posted by Mayerling View Post
G'day Jeff.
But why kill any prior to the kidne making him sick.G U T
There are two ways to be fooled, one is to believe what isn't true, the other is to refuse to believe that which is true.
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Would Jack be rushed to hospital though, (unless he was in an accident) considering that hospitals weren't free to all in those days? I guess it would depend on what class he belonged to.
I suppose the workhouse infirmary might have admitted him for a few days if he presented as dangerously ill. However, I can just imagine the numbers of people who were tubercular, suffering from other serious diseases mental and physical, including acute alcoholism, there were out and about on the streets of the East End in those days.Comment
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DJAOriginally posted by DJA View Post
They certainly were not aware of Hep C, the virus was not identified until the 1987-1988, that however is somewhat different to saying it may not of evolved, there is actually no way of knowing in those circumstances.
Errata in post # 46 gives a prime suspect, which fits the time line asked for by several others. Sepsis was certainly known in 1888:
It should be noted that Sepsis would have been a likely illness for a killer like the Whitechapel Murder to contract:
Any damage to the victims intestines, would allow bacteria to escape and these could enter the killer's bloodstream by any open sore or wound that they came into contact with.
However DJA has your post highlights there were many illness that could be contracted.
One would need to know the ID of the killer to give a conclusive answer, and even then it would depend upon the medical evidence available on that person.
The suggestion that he may have caught an illness is a legitimate one, which cannot be answered in any other way than to say it was possible.
SteveLast edited by Elamarna; 04-07-2016, 03:05 AM. Reason: failed to see several other posts and duplicated information, thus not neededComment
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Sorry to hear that, wiggy.Originally posted by wigngown View Post
It was:
"Glad to here it", as I said in my previous post.
Love,
Caz
X"Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious." Peter Ustinov
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G'day GUT,Originally posted by GUT View Post
Search me. My thought regarded the double event's aftermath really, because of the "kidne". It was sort of based on the four-five weeks between that event and MJK's demise, and the fact that Mary Kelly's body was so reduced to pieces - he had shown increasing use of mutilations, but nothing on that level (although being in a closed room could have added to unleashing Jack's devils). If he had a grudge against prostitutes before due to venereal disease or whatever cause, his anger would only increase if due to one of them he nearly died. Naturally he'd be such a self-centered egotist he'd never consider that his own stupidity caused such a nearly fatal illness.
Hi Rosella,
When I said he'd be rushed to the hospital, I was assuming a more upper-class Ripper, and your point about the local infirmaries is quite true. But it was just a suggestion, and only that (it is also based on a time error, that Pierre might laugh at, seriously, as I was thinking in terms of what happens in 2016 when somebody is taken ill suddenly and violently - they are rushed to a hospital! - which is pushing one's present experiences on what the world of 1888 was like!).
JeffComment
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G U T
There are two ways to be fooled, one is to believe what isn't true, the other is to refuse to believe that which is true. Comment
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Originally posted by Pierre View Post
Good grief, are you for real or do you, by any chance, live under a bridge?Comment
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I like exploring the possibility of his last victim or two being the cause of his death and the cessation, it is nicely poetic. However, Catherine Eddowes 'kidne' isn't what did it. Bright's Disease isn't contagious. It is a systemic issue.
Causes Of Bright's Disease
These are acute fevers, cold, alcohol, and excessive eating of meat.
Acute albuminuria is an almost constant symptom in scarlet fever, and frequently also of the other eruptive fevers. In these cases recovery from the albuminuria is the rule with appropriate treatment; but sometimes the attacks leave behind a certain enfeeblement of the action of the kidney, which may finally result in the establishment of chronic Bright's disease. The progress of the disease may be so slow and insidious that it is not noticed till certain unexplained symptoms lead to the examination of the urine, when albumen is found to be present. Cold is a frequent cause of Bright's disease, in cabmen and others whose work requires them to be exposed to all weathers. The abuse of alcohol also frequently results in chronic albuminuria. The presence of albumen in the blood seems to exercise a peculiarly irritating influence on the tissues of the kidney. To excessive consumption of meat, and the consequent labour thrown upon the kidneys, some of the cases of Bright's disease, from which the well-to-do and well-fed suffer, are attributed. Worry and anxiety are also, there is little doubt, frequently the cause of chronic albuminuria.
Read more: http://chestofbooks.com/health/nutri...#ixzz4KnugFJeBComment
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In short yes, its been put forward before, and is possible.Comment
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The joys of the pre-antibiotic era (and the fear of what may yet come). Late 19th century England had a childhood mortality rate of 214/1000 in 1888, before their fifth birthday. It needs to be remembered that 1854 was the last of the London cholera outbreaks and even amongst professional physicians/surgeons germ theory was not universally accepted.
Could Jack have been infected? Yes
Would one of the current blood borne viruses be responsible e.g. HIV, Hepatitis B/C? No, too slow (almost certainly did exist and HIV may have even been in London by 1888)
If, (as my personal belief), Jack was used to cutting up dead things (e.g. Slaughterman, butcher etc), he would be used to keeping his hands out of the knifes way, but those fingernail scratches would be open entry to the joys of E. Coli et al from faecal matter and could quite easily have resulted in death due to spreading cellulitis and septicaemia.
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As a quick addendum, Caroline Hampton Halsted was the first to use surgical gloves, in 1889. She had a skin reaction to the normal anti-septic treatment solutionsComment
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A brief summary of the use of gloves in surgery
Amateur hacker and dismemberer or professional surgeon, in 1888 gloves were not wornComment
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