Dr. Jones, inspector-general for the insane thinks that at last his department is upon the trail of the typhoid germ at tho Kew Lunatic Asylum. There have recently been several deaths from typhoid fever at that institution, but though the authorities have sought for a reason for a so persistent occurrence of the disease, they have not hitherto been able to point with confidence to any particular cause. Now, however, they believe that they can do so. Th© suspected origin is a typhoid carrier - a person not suffering from the fever, who yet carries about, perhaps for years, the typhoid bacillus. When an old lady died at the institution some time ago, a typhoid bacillus culture was obtained from her spleen, though she herself exhibited no symptoms of typhoid fever. Many similar cases are known to medical men. There have been instances in which patients have been believed to carry the bacillus in their systems for as long as 29 years, without themselves suffering harm from it. The authorities are now searching for such a typhoid carrier at Kew.

The Mercury, Wednesday 6 May 1908, p3