Illness and prophylaxis in public and private schools in Brindisi, 1913-19

Abstract

With the research conducted at the National Archive in Brindisi, numerous interesting files have been discovered, especially regarding provisions and preventive measures adopted by the municipality in emergency situations linked to the spread of infectious diseases that hit the population between the end of the XIX century and the first half of the XX century. The spread of illnesses such as measles, scarlet fever and typhus, especially among children, reached in some cases such worrying levels that the municipal government was obliged to take serious measures with regard to schools, focussing on nursery and elementary schools. This essay focuses on prophylaxes adopted to prevent and contain the spread of such illnesses during the period between 1913 and 1919, ranging from disinfection activities and the temporary isolation of children and teachers, to provisions which led to the closing of public and private schools and the problems associated with this.