NOVA - Typhoid Mary: The Most Dangerous Woman in America

The picture on the disc's case is a plain drawing, in brown and white. But what we find on the disc is a glitzy, professional production. Roughly equal amounts of time are spent showing these three things:(1) Two actors, representing Typhoid Mary and George Soper, giving monologues, (2) Archival generic black and white motion pictures and stills showing squalid living conditions in New York City or Ireland, and (3) Interviews with present-day academics filmed in color.Usually, Typhoid Mary and George Soper are shown filmed in color, where the backdrop is a tinted photograph from the early 1900s. There are a few scenes taking place in real rooms (not just with a photo for a backdrop), for example a kitchen where Typhoid Mary is cooking, an apartment building where a group of actors dressed as policemen are hunting for Miss Typhoid Mary, and a bathroom where a man with typhoid fever is being treated with an ice bath. The main point of the movie is that Typhoid Mary was not able to understand, or accept, the concept of a "carrier." A "carrier" is a human host who shows little or no sign of a disease, but sheds bacteria causing other people to get sick and die. The disc lists a number of extra features: Printable materials for educators, cloased captions, and described video for the visually impaired.I have two criticisms. First, the disc should have spent at least one minute showing a drawing of Salmonella typhi, that is, a drawing depicting the flagella, plasma membrane, bacterial chromosome, and so on. The disc shows a movie of bacteria busy with cell division, but it is not a very detailed movie, and it serves merely as an amusing thing to look at (and not particularly informative to anyone). Second, the film fails to disclose, in any detail, the mechanisms by which S. typhi makes people sick.I found the following information from the published literature, regarding these mechanisms. Salmonella typhi pentetrates the ileum and enters the macrophages. The macrophages then carry the bacterium to the spleen, liver, and other organs. Also, in the ileum, the bacterium causes perforation, where the perforation occurs during the second week of infection. Intestinal performation, which results in bleeding ulcers, is one of the most serious complications in typhoid fever (see, e.g., Nguyen, et al. (2004) Clin. Infect. Dis. 39:61-67; Huang, et al. (1998) Infection Immunity 66:2928-2937; Lee, et al. (2004) Dig. Liver Dis. 36:141-146).

This was an interesting account of typhoid Mary. It gives both sides of her story. I teach a high school health class and we cover the history of medicine. I enjoyed the movie and plan on showing it next fall.

I teach high school Biology and I showed this to my class as part of a unit on immunology. The film is a great mix between history and a movie. Kept my freshmen interested.

Great period actors bring this to life. Historical accuracy and brings in the thinking and thought processes from the time period. great for teachers and Students!

This incisive hour is a presentation of the PBS NOVA series. It explores the story of Mary Mallon, an Irish immigrant who was a cook for many wealthy NY families.In 1907, it was determined that Mary was a healthy carrier of the typhus germ, and that she had infected 25 people. Hers was the first-ever described case of such a condition in medical history. To protect the well-being of potential employers, Mary was isolated on an island for two years, until she promised to cease working as a cook or food handler. It was a vow the stubbornly recalcitrant Mary soon broke.Dozens more got sick and Mary was condemned to North Island's Riverside hospital, where she remained in quarantine for the rest of her life. She died in 1938, never admitting to or believing that at least 49 people contracted typhoid fever from her (three of them died as a result). An autopsy determined that she had active typhoid germs in her gall bladder.Compounding matters is that all of these cases could've been avoided if Mary had fastidiously disinfected her hands after every restroom visit, for healthy carriers spead typhoid after the slightest contact with germ-laden excretia. In her defense, unschooled laborers of a century ago knew little about sanitary practices.

This Nova episode is something I saw on TV last evening.I knew about Typhoid Mary from historical legend but knew nothing about the facts.And as the actress portraying her so bluntly put it her NAME was Mary Mallon,an Irish immigrant cook living in New York at the turn of the 20'th century.And as this show so properly points out was responcible for one of the most mysterious and often deadly epidemics of the day.Only trouble is that in some significant ways Mary Mallon didn't come off as a particularly sympathetic character-she attacked Dr.Soper,who inicially informed her of her health status with a fork and constantly avaded the attentions of health service officials trying to track her down,while having killed three people and infecting others,unintentionally of course. Mary was what was known as a healthy carrier.She was infected with Typhoid and was able to spread it to others but experienced no symptoms herself.There were in fact at least several dozen more like her but because of her unique case she got the most publicity by far.That was all compounded by the fact that dues to sexism and social Darwinism of her time she also became the literal poster child for Typhoid. She died in the 1930's,near 70 years old and having been exhiled for years on North Brother Island,the American equivilent of a leper colony.The story itself as well as that of much of Mary's life is a tragic and sad one.But all sides made serious errors in judgement,and perhapes Mary's lack of respect over the years may have been due to her constant denials about having carried the disease and lack of remourse for those she's infected.Maybe the idea horrified her too much to bare and it drove her close to madness.She was afterall something of a caregiver by trade and likely resented having been blamed for causing so much misery.That's my personal opinion but nobody,as this shows really knew what was going on inside her head.And if this is to prove factual I don't know if we'd want to.So was she a victem or victemizer?Probably both but as such likely too frightened to live with it but to proud to admit it.But anyway this will prove very educational and eye catching.