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The annual report on the state of public health in Dublin in 1891 showed an improvement in infant mortality compared to earlier years but the 172 deaths from typhoid, a rate of 52 per 100,000 inhabitants, equalled more than double the British rate. An editorial in The Irish Timeslooked at the reasons why. – JOE JOYCE

‘WHY,” TO quote the language of the report, “there should be more typhoid fever in Dublin than nearly every other town in the United Kingdom, and why in 1891, and especially in 1889, it was much more prevalent than in other years, has not been satisfactorily explained.