Diphtheria ward of the Melbourne Hospital, Christmas 1900

Educational value

• This asset shows a group of children affected by diphtheria - diphtheria is a highly infectious and often fatal bacterial disease; diphtheria bacteria produce a membrane that grows in the throat and can lead to suffocation, and a toxin that can lead to paralysis and heart failure.
• It in this period, diphtheria outbreaks frequently reached epidemic levels and caused more deaths in Australia than any other infectious disease; the increased use of the diphtheria vaccine and improved living standards have led to the virtual disappearance of the disease.
• It suggests that diphtheria is primarily a childhood disease - prior to widespread immunisation, children under 15 years of age were the most at risk of contracting diphtheria; one of the main causes of childhood mortality in Australia, diphtheria sometimes affected entire families (Dick and Arthur Bliss, who are shown in this photograph, may be siblings).
• It indicates that diphtheria was so widespread in this period that a dedicated diphtheria ward was created at the Melbourne Hospital - in the 1890s, many public hospitals established diphtheria wards, as much to isolate the disease as to treat it; patients were isolated for up to four weeks.
• It provides an example of the uniform worn by nurses in this period - the uniform worn by Nurse Grant and Sister Duncan comprises a dress with puffed sleeves and a starched white apron with hemlines to the ground and a starched cap.
• It gives an example of the type of clothing worn by a doctor in this period - Dr Owen is dressed in a suit with waistcoat, starched collar and tie; the suit, which distinguishes him from the uniformed nurses, signifies both his professional status and authority.
• It suggests that the wearing of hats in public was the convention in this period - it was considered immodest for men and women of all classes to appear without a hat in public; the photograph's outdoor setting and its status as an official record would have required that Dr Owen wear a hat; nurses wore caps at all times while in uniform.
• It provides examples of the type of sleepwear worn by children in this period - both the boys and girls are dressed in smocks or nightshirts, which were usually buttoned at the back, while some of the children wear nightcaps.
• It suggests that the Australian population was predominately Anglo-Celtic in this period - the children and hospital staff in this photograph all have Anglo-Celtic names reflecting a population that was described in the first edition of 'Year Book Australia' (1908) as 'fundamentally British'; most migrants came from Britain and Ireland in this period.

Year level

4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12

Topics Current liabilities Role-playing Bacterial infections Conflict resolution Australian history Dancers Uniforms Cubes Death rate Air ambulances