Review

Outbreak of Egyptian ophthalmia at the Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea, in 1804

Art Cockerill
World Journal of Medical Research 2014, 3:5

Abstract

This article traces the source, and follows the course, of the outbreak of trachoma that struck the Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea, in April 1804. The scourge lasted until June 1810 when Staff Surgeon Patrick MacGregor persuaded the Institution’s Board of Commissioners to accept his recommendation as a possible cure for this disease. As a result, the epidemic came to an abrupt end and was not again experienced in the life of the Institution. During the six years it raged unabated the Surgeon registered over 1,500 cases of ‘Egyptian ophthalmia.’

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