"Epidemic Collapse": a Mysterious Outbreak in Three Coventry Schools

Gt, Pollock; Tm, Clayton

doi:10.1136/bmj.2.5425.1625

Cited by 24 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Moss and McEvedy (1966) attempted to define diagnostic features of epidemics, and wrote that 'the contagion in a hysterical epidemic being behavioural, the epidemic should disseminate more rapidly when the social group is unified than when it is subdivided.... similarly the majority of cases should occur in public places'. Pollock and Clayton (1964) showed relapses of a fainting epidemic occurred whenever the girls assembled at school, but never at home. Others have reported how outbreaks spread during break periods when the victims were lying in the corridors (Moss & McEvedy, 1966), in the canteen (Goldberg, 1973), the playground (Tan, 1963), the lunch break (O'Donnell et al 1980), and in a hospital waiting area (Levine, 1977).…”

Section: The Spread Of Mass Hysteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass hysteria: two syndromes?

Wessely

1987

Psychol. Med.

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SynopsisOn the basis of a literature review it is concluded that mass hysteria can be divided into two syndromes. One form, to be called ‘mass anxiety hysteria’, consists of episodes of acute anxiety, occurring mainly in schoolchildren. Prior tension is absent and the rapid spread is by visual contact. Treatment consists of separating the participants and the prognosis is good. The second form, to be called ‘mass motor hysteria’, consists of abnormalities in motor behaviour. It occurs in any age group and prior tension is present. Initial cases can be identified and the spread is gradual. Treatment should be directed towards the underlying stressors but the outbreak may be prolonged. In mass anxiety hysteria the abnormality is confined to group interactions; in mass motor hysteria abnormal personalities and environments are implicated.

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Section: The Spread Of Mass Hysteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass hysteria: two syndromes?

Wessely

1987

Psychol. Med.

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“…The outbreaks have nearly always taken place between September and March. Numerous reports (Zahorsky, 1929;Ailler & Raven, 1936;Gray, 1939;Bradley, 1943;Reimann et al 1945a;Gordon et al 1947;Hargreaves, 1947;Kuhns & Wetherbee, 1950;Ingalls & Britten, 1951;Webster, 1953;Simpson, 1954;Haworth et al 1956, Pollock & Clayton, 1964Cumming & McEvedy, 1969) in the British and American literature over the past three decades have described epidemics of Winter Vomiting Disease (synonyms are epidemic vomiting, epidemic gastroenteritis, epidemic nausea and vomiting, and epidemic diarrhoea and vomiting), and the subject has been reviewed in recent years (Editorial, 1969;Webb & Wallace, 1966 (Cheever, 1967) have been associated with viral dysentery, the term Reimann (1963) uses to include Winter Vomiting Disease and its synonyms, but attempts to isolate and identify a virus in several large-scale autumn and winter school and institutional outbreaks have been unsuccessful (Webster, 1953;Haworth et al 1956;Pollock & Clayton, 1964).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subsequently, several large autumn and winter outbreaks of acute gastrointestinal illness have been reported, in which viral agents were suspected but could not be isolated Gordon, Ingraham & Korns, 1947; Kuhns & Wetherbee, 1950;Webster, 1953;Haworth, Tyrrell & Whitehead, 1956;Walker et al 1960;McLean, McNaughton & Wyllie, 1961;Pollock & Clayton, 1964). The incubation period and mode of spread of this disease are not established.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Winter vomiting disease in Florida students

Levitt

Wolfe

Bond

1970

J. Hyg.

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SummaryOn 14 November 1967 an investigation was begun at the University of South Florida to determine the cause of an increased number of gastrointestinal illnesses on campus. An estimated 300 students suddenly became ill with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhoea. While at first food poisoning was suspected, no common food, water, or toxic exposure could be found. The data collected were most consistent with Winter Vomiting Disease. This entity is characterized by acute gastrointestinal illnesses which may occur in epidemic form in residential schools between September and March. Most investigators suspect that a viral agent is responsible for the illnesses, though attempts to isolate a virus have been unsuccessful. The incubation period in the University outbreak was estimated at 28 hr., and contact was the most likely mode of transmission. The outbreak illustrated that Winter Vomiting Disease in residential institutions may be an accentuation of the gastrointestinal illnesses occurring simultaneously in the community at large.

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“…Mass 'sickness' judged to be psychosomatic in origin is typically viewed as abnormal behavior, paralleling mental disorders. Symptoms commonly involve one or a combination of complaints, and include: dizziness (Colligan and Murphy 1979;Moffat 1982), fainting (Teoh and Tan 1972;Boulougouris et al 1981); stomach pain (Smith and Eastham 1973;Carter et al 1989), nausea (Polk 1974;Small and Borus 1983), twitching (Schuler and Parenton 1943;Dhadphale and Shaikh 1983), malaise (McEvedy and Beard 1970), sore throat and eyes (Levine et al 1974), crying (Davy 1880;Helvie 1968), screaming (Chew 1978;Poon 1982), paralysis (Johnson 1945;Nandi et al 1985), depression (Ikeda 1966;Eastwell 1982), hyperventilation (Parigi 1956;Moss and McEvedy 1966), abnormal body movements (Hugo 1881;Douglass 1944), itching and rash (Maguire 1978;Robinson et al 1984), running (Kagwa 1964), laughing (Rankin and Philip 1963;Muhangi 1973), jumping (Beard 1880;Thornton 1885), states of trance (Phoon 1982;Muluka et al 1985) and possession (Teoh and Yeoh 1973;Teoh et al 1975), hallucinations (Shapiro 1936;Lee and Ackerman 1980), headache (Bebbington et al 1980;Pollock and Clayton 1964), vomiting …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnocentricity and the social construction of ‘mass hysteria’

Bartholomew

1990

Cult Med Psych

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This study provides a critical historical review and analysis of the variety of human expressions which have been erroneously labeled under the grandiose category "mass hysteria". It is argued that Western science reductionist approaches to the classification of "mass hysteria" treat it as an entity to be discovered transculturally, and in their self-fulfilling search for universals systematically exclude what does not fit within the autonomous parameters of its Western-biased culture model, exemplifying what Kleinman (1977) terms a "category fallacy." As a result of objectivist methodologies, the etiology of actions labeled as "mass hysteria" is typically viewed as deviant, irrational or abnormal behavior resulting from a malfunctioning 'proper' social order. However, what constitutes 'the' correct social order is a function of a researcher's historical sociocultural and/or scientific milieu. This study reviews the problem, advocating Geertz's (1973) culturally relativistic approach to understanding various cross-cultural behavior that is sensitive to and tolerant of the unique context and milieu of participants. "Mass" or "epidemic hysteria" is viewed as an invention of Western psychiatry and should be abandoned and replaced with the term collective exaggerated emotions. Instead of attempting to 'discover' a neatly packaged, unitary external disease entity, the focus of a meaning-oriented approach emphasizes the deciphering of foreign realities, semantic networks and symbol systems.

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"Epidemic Collapse": a Mysterious Outbreak in Three Coventry Schools

Cited by 24 publications

References 3 publications

Mass hysteria: two syndromes?

Mass hysteria: two syndromes?

Winter vomiting disease in Florida students

Ethnocentricity and the social construction of ‘mass hysteria’

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