Mass Infant Convulsions

[nanny jan]

I have a death cert (1915) for a 7 month old and the cause of death is  Convulsions (teething) 7 days.

[Greensleeves]

The heat could well have been the reason, if the parents did not know how to cool the babies down.  I remember in my childhood, when I lived in Cyprus, our neighbour's baby was having convulsions because of the heat.  My mother quickly took baby and sponged him down with water.  As Kiltpin says above, the results are quick and seemingly miraculous, for very soon baby was fine again.

[Ayashi]

I looked at the census and it turned out two of the babies would have been two doors separate from each other (if the parents stayed there for two years), so those families probably knew each other very well.

If it was heatstroke, it's sad to think that it could have been cured so easily, especially as one baby was having convulsions for a whole day before he died (that seems like a long time for heatstroke, wouldn't that have killed the child quicker?)

Interesting to note that in all four cases the father was the informant and was in attendance. Were none of these men at work?  although I have heard it said that "in attendance" didn't necessarily mean he was actually there...

[nanny jan]

I think "in attendance" meant that they were in the house at the time of death; "present" meant they were in the same room.

[pharmaT]

I have a death cert (1915) for a 7 month old and the cause of death is  Convulsions (teething) 7 days.

Old fashioned teething powders contained arsenic, arsenic poisoning which can cause convulsions.

Congenital syphilis can cause teething problems and convulsions.

Many childhood illnesses could coincide with teething so the teething could be coincidental.  Mumps causes drooling and the resultant fever can lead to convulsions.

So really these older death certificate can be very vague.

[iolaus]

Any infection in a baby can raise the temperature which can cause convulsions - if you don't know what the infection is then putting it down to the fit can be understood

Scary to see your child have one though, my youngest did about a month after he'd had chickenpox, he spiked a temperature and started convulsing - had 2 or 3 in that night, but none since (it was 6 years ago now)

[Katharine F]

When my uncle was a little child ill with pneumonia in the 1920's, blankets were piled upon him to "sweat" the fever out of him. Neighbours also brought more blankets and quilts to pile on him. Luckily he survived his treatment but how he did not have convulsions due to this mistaken but well-meaning treatment I don't know.

I wonder if some of the little ones we come across that die from convulsions have also been overheated in this way if they are seen to be feverish.

[JanPennington]

I found some reports in the Morpeth Herald for September 1899 that mention a higher death rate in August than usual and an epidemic. Both gastro-enteritis and typhoid were mentioned as was the unusually high temperatures. 
A report from the Medical Officer talked about the conditions in the houses of the poor people and ignorance of hygiene. 
Jan