As “Typhoid Mary,” Mallon will go down in history as the first identified healthy carrier of the salmonella bacteria that causes typhoid fever in the US, but above all as a legendary super-spreader of an infectious disease.
At the same time, many believe she is a victim of the views of her time, with lawmakers completely ignoring her rights as an individual in the public interest and doctors approaching her more like an interesting guinea pig than a human being. In that sense, her story is still an ethical issue in the health debate today.
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