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Who was Typhoid Mary? Anti-masker prof forgets woman quarantined for 20 yrs

Who was Typhoid Mary and why has she been trending because a professor of medicine at Harvard tweeted against masks?

It all started when a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a biostatistician and epidemiologist at the Brigham and Women's Hospital tweeted about the spread of disease pathogens and the responsibility of the infected to wear masks and/or follow any preventive measures. Martin Kulldorff might have studied medicine but when he tweeted against wearing masks, he got all of Twitter shocked. Many social media users not only called him out but asked him if he skipped the lesson on Typhoid Mary. Such has been the outcry over his latest tweet that 'Typhoid Mary' has been trending on Twitter for a while now. 

So who is Typhoid Mary and why has she been trending because a professor of medicine at Harvard tweeted against masks? Kulldorff tweeted, "For thousands of years, disease pathogens have spread from person to person. Never before have carriers been blamed for infecting the next sick person. That is a very dangerous ideology." It got many social media users riled up as they tried making sense of the medical professional's tweet — especially since in civil society, general health and welfare of all is more important than personal freedom of choice. It is one's civic responsibility to get vaccinated and wear masks so as to not be a spreader. And that is where Typhoid Mary comes into the picture. 

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Another replied to him, "Maybe study some basic history before making the “never before” statements. it’s amazing what a few humanities classes can do to prevent such incorrect understandings of humans." One user asked him, "Hmmm, did you miss the class on Typhoid Mary?" Along similar lines, another user wrote, "Has anyone discussed Typhoid Mary with you? (Not to mention a long, and sometimes sordid, history of quarantine?)"

A user wrote listing the many different instances where Kulldorff can be proven wrong, "What about the plague, leprosy, the 1920 flu, aids, Typhoid Mary, many STDs and the common cold — seriously, how’d you get your job?" Another added, "The US has always had public health laws restricting disease carriers and activities that spread disease. Typhoid Mary comes to mind, as well as Tuberculosis outbreaks, and even the 1918 influenza pandemic."

To put it simply, "Utterly maniacal gaslighting here. From Typhoid Mary to covering your goddamn mouth when you cough and sneeze to wearing a condom when you bone, minimizing the spread of disease has always been the responsibility of the potential carrier."

To add, "A Harvard Med prof, who specializes in Infectious Disease Outbreaks, forgot about Mary Mallon, an asymptomatic Typhoid carrier isolated for the rest of her life. When you ignore your million dollar education to make a political point, you forget things like "Typhoid Mary.""

Who was Typhoid Mary? 

As most of Twitter pounces on Kulldorff to get his facts right - for example, this another tweet, "Typhoid Mary, meet Misinformation Martin" - let's see who she was. 

Born on September 23, 1869, Mary Mallon, who is notoriously named Typhoid Mary, was an Irish-born cook. According to a November 1938 article, she was believed to have infected 53 people with typhoid fever, three of whom died. She became the first person in the United States identified as an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid.

As a cook, Mallon served in several prominent New York families. However, shortly after taking the job, others in the household (employers and peers) came down with typhoid fever. But she continued to work as a cook, thereby putting the lives of others in jeopardy. She violently refused to cooperate with New York City Health Department. So much so that it took five police officers to take her into custody and Dr Josephine Baker sitting on her in the ambulance, to get Mallon to the city's isolation hospital on North Brother Island to quarantine.

She was forcibly quarantined by authorities twice and eventually for the final two decades of her life. Mallon died of a stroke and pneumonia after a total of nearly 30 years in isolation.