charles shepherd
Senior Member
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Dalston (Cumbria) outbreak of ME
Sarah Staples, from the MEA, has just been on BBC Radio Cumbria to talk about the outbreak of ME that affected children and adolescents in the village of Dalston, Cumbria back in February and March 1955
A description of the outbreak can be found in Dr Melvin Ramsay's book on the history of ME (available from the MEA)
Dr A L Wallace, the local GP, also wrote up the cases in some detail in the form of a postgraduate degree thesis that was submitted to the University of Edinburgh
As part of the MEA contribution to ME Awareness Week this year we will be examining at the history of ME, and what can be learnt from it
We would like to hear from anyone in the Dalston area who was involved in this particular outbreak - which has received very little publicity in the following years
Abstract of the thesis that was prepared by Dr Wallace:
In the first half of 1955 an unusual infective disease appeared in my practice, which is centred on Dalston, a village which lies 41/2 miles south-west of Carlisle, in the valley of the River Caldew.
The condition became prevalent in February and March and affected a considerable number of my patients; there were no fatalities but the disease was the cause of much disability and loss of working time.
The disease appeared to be infectious, and the illness was characterised by acute myalgia, disturbances of the reticulo endothelial system and central nervous system, and psychogenic sequelae which, in some instances, persisted for many months.
Relapses, with recrudescences of symptoms, occurred in a proportion of those infected; in some cases, several relapses occurred over a period of months, symptoms being minimal or absent between the recurrences.
The clinical picture that emerged was one with which I was not familiar.
At an early stage in the epidemic I considered the condition to be most like glandular fever, and therefore sent serum samples and blood films to the Pathological Laboratory of the Cumberland Infirmary for Paul Burnell screening and examination of the films for the picture seen in glandular fever.
Link to University of Edinburgh thesis:
https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/9382
Full thesis pdf:
https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/9382/Wallis1957_FULL.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Dr Charles Shepherd
Hon Medical Adviser, MEA
20 March 2017
Melvin Ramsay's book:
Sarah Staples, from the MEA, has just been on BBC Radio Cumbria to talk about the outbreak of ME that affected children and adolescents in the village of Dalston, Cumbria back in February and March 1955
A description of the outbreak can be found in Dr Melvin Ramsay's book on the history of ME (available from the MEA)
Dr A L Wallace, the local GP, also wrote up the cases in some detail in the form of a postgraduate degree thesis that was submitted to the University of Edinburgh
As part of the MEA contribution to ME Awareness Week this year we will be examining at the history of ME, and what can be learnt from it
We would like to hear from anyone in the Dalston area who was involved in this particular outbreak - which has received very little publicity in the following years
Abstract of the thesis that was prepared by Dr Wallace:
In the first half of 1955 an unusual infective disease appeared in my practice, which is centred on Dalston, a village which lies 41/2 miles south-west of Carlisle, in the valley of the River Caldew.
The condition became prevalent in February and March and affected a considerable number of my patients; there were no fatalities but the disease was the cause of much disability and loss of working time.
The disease appeared to be infectious, and the illness was characterised by acute myalgia, disturbances of the reticulo endothelial system and central nervous system, and psychogenic sequelae which, in some instances, persisted for many months.
Relapses, with recrudescences of symptoms, occurred in a proportion of those infected; in some cases, several relapses occurred over a period of months, symptoms being minimal or absent between the recurrences.
The clinical picture that emerged was one with which I was not familiar.
At an early stage in the epidemic I considered the condition to be most like glandular fever, and therefore sent serum samples and blood films to the Pathological Laboratory of the Cumberland Infirmary for Paul Burnell screening and examination of the films for the picture seen in glandular fever.
Link to University of Edinburgh thesis:
https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/9382
Full thesis pdf:
https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/9382/Wallis1957_FULL.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Dr Charles Shepherd
Hon Medical Adviser, MEA
20 March 2017
Melvin Ramsay's book:
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