Mass Infant Convulsions

[Ayashi]

August 1899, Seghill, Northumberland.

When looking up the death of one of my ancestor's babies, the researcher commented that between July and Sept of that year there were multiple mass-baby graves, so something was "obviously going on". My baby (aged either 2 months or 4 months- the death and burial disagree) was buried in a grave with three other babies, one in each compass corner.

The death cert simply said "convulsions, one day". I just bought the death certs of the three others to see if they could give any further clue as to what was going on.

Baby 1 (aged 4 months) died of causes that might be unrelated (Malformation of the heart, diarrhoea and debility 7 days).
Baby 2 (aged 5 months) and Baby 3 (aged 11 months) died of convulsions.

Three out of four babies dying of convulsions? 

The three convulsion babies were all native of Seghill, but not related. The 4 month old was native of Seaton Delaval.

I bought the other certs to see if I could answer the question of what Charles Edward died of. Now I've just ended up with an even broader question. What did THEY die of? 

Ayashi

[Milliepede]

I guess convulsions could cover a multitude of underlying causes    probably harder to diagnose precisely with a young baby. 

[Ayashi]

Yeah 

11 month old had an extra word on his, that looks to be "dentition, convulsions". Doesn't really help though. Was he teething at the same time as getting sick? Was the fact that he died of teething related convulsions coincidental to the other two dying of convulsions?

It's so vague 

[alpinecottage]

I wonder if August 1899 was particularly hot - they may have been kept too wrapped up and died of heatstroke?

[Rattus]

I was thinking on the same lines as alpinecottage. Temperature was apparently "considerably above the average":

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/mohippo/pdf/b/8/aug1899.pdf

[Ayashi]

Thanks both. Entirely possible... especially if devoid of other descriptors such as "rash" or whathaveyou 

[Kiltpin]

I agree with both alpinecottage and Rattus. Heat stroke was my first thought.

It does seem strange though. The first aid treatment is to sponge down with tepid water and lightly fan to aid evaporation. I have had to do this myself and can say that the improvement in the child night be called "miraculous".

Regards

Chas

[Ayashi]

One sad thing is that, having identified the parents, I was going to look up trees and pass on the info to the relevant families- but I only found relatives of one baby, whose trees are a little bit head-scratching but I passed it on anyway. Nothing for the other two. I really wanted to give them back to their families. 

[aghadowey]

Any sort of fever in a baby or young child can cause convulsions so it probably wasn't an uncommon cause of death years ago.

A febrile seizure, also known as a fever fit or febrile convulsion, is a seizure associated with a high body temperature but without any serious underlying health issue. They most commonly occur in children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. - Wikipedia