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1955 Royal Free Hospital outbreak
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==Epidemiology== Between July 13, 1955 and November 24, 1955, 292 people, of whom the vast majority were hospital personnel, became ill. Personnel from the medical, nursing, auxiliary medical, ancillary, and administrative departments were affected. Of these two hundred fifty-five were admitted to the hospital.<ref name="Compston" /> Despite the hospital census being near capacity, only 12 patients were afflicted.<ref name="Ramsay1984">{{Cite book | last = Ramsay | first = A. Melvin | author-link = Melvin Ramsay | title = Post-viral fatigue: The saga of the Royal Free Disease | date = 1984| publisher = Gower|location=London|isbn=978-0906923962| title-link = Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Postviral Fatigue States: The Saga of Royal Free Disease}}</ref> By October 5, 1955, the hospital had to close to new admissions to contain the outbreak and because of the shortage of unaffected staff.<ref name="Underhill2021" /> The first to report ill were a resident doctor and a ward sister.<ref name="Dawson1988">{{Cite journal | last = Dawson | first = J | date = Feb 7, 1987 | title = Royal Free disease: perplexity continues | journal = British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.) | volume = 294|issue =6568 | pages = 327β328 | url = https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1245346/pdf/bmjcred00006-0005.pdf | pmc=PMC1245346|doi= 10.1136/bmj.294.6568.327}}</ref> More females became ill than males, but at the time it was believed to be because of the staff's living quarters not gender, as more females than males resided at the facility.<ref name="Compston" /> Similar cases had occurred in the population of North West London before this outbreak and sporadic cases continued to occur after the outbreak.<ref name="Ramsay56" />
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