What might this cause of death have been ?

[SirVixofVixHall]

1872 death certificate, 11 year old child who was born and died in my house. I am baffled as to what this would be in modern terms .

Croup

Does it say laryngitis?

Is says laryngitis doesn’t it?

Epiglottitis? More common before h.influenza vaccine

Laryngitis Aphonia. A form of laryngitis that meant the suffer couldn’t speak and was susceptible to the larynx haemorrhaging. Sounds awful.

Apnoea is stopping breathing, usually
temporarily though. Could it have been epiglottitis? That can be an emergency needing a tracheotomy sometimes.
Just a guess.

The second word is apnoea- stopping breathing- that would be how epiglottitis could cause death by causing a obstruction to breathing.

Could be this?

Paroxysmal Laryngitis, or Laryngismus stridulus, is a nervous affection of the larynx that occurs in infants. It appears to be associated with adenoids. The disease consists of a reflex spasm of the glottis, which causes a complete blocking of the airpassages. The attacks, which are recurrent, cause acute asphyxiation. They may cease for no obvious reason, or one may prove fatal. The whole attack is of such short duration that the infant has either recovered or succumbed before assistance can be called. After an attack, careful examination should be made, and the adenoids, if present, removed by operation.

Doesn't it say laryngitis apnoea. So swollen to the point they couldn't breathe - poor child.

It says laryngitis apnoea, so I’d have thought severe throat swelling that interfered with breathing?

That's sad

Yes, as others have said, it sounds like epiglottitis.

Laryngitis= inflammation of the larynx.
Apnoea = stopping breathing.
So not very specific. Some kind of upper airway problem. Could have been croup, but unusual at 11 years old. Epigottitis or diphtheria possibly, though I would have thought they'd have recognised diphtheria and recorded it as such. Likely to be some kind of infection but could have been a tumour or something in the throat I guess, especially if the 12 months relates to the duration of the illness prior to death. The common infections would kill more quickly as a rule. Except TB, and that can take many forms so could be a possibility.

Probably diphtheria, or some other nasty infectious disease including a painful throat as one of the symptoms. Very interesting!

Laryngitis and apnoea with 12 months duration, as pp said could be malignancy such as lymphoma or a mass in the chest which compresses/invades the recurrent laryngeal nerve causing hoarseness of the voice.

She is buried nearby between her parents, how terrible to have a young girl struggling to breath - i was confused by the duration, a year is a long time to have a swollen throat and voice loss.

My DD lost her voice and had a sore throat for 3 months, after which she was referred to ENT and had an exploratory camera down her throat. All was fine but they were looking for a tumour. So I suspect it was something like that.

ThePoisonousMushroom that sounds frightening, v glad your dd was alright.
What a tragic death for little Catherine. I am going to tidy up her grave next time I am there, it is a bit brambly. Almost 150 years since she died.

@SirVixofVixHall

She is buried nearby between her parents, how terrible to have a young girl struggling to breath - i was confused by the duration, a year is a long time to have a swollen throat and voice loss.

It would likely be in bouts, or get progressively worse. What kind of house is it? It could determine whether she'd have access to healthcare or whatever treatment was available at the time.

V small farm, (12 acres in rural Wales) not much access to health care at all. It is so sad.

I think pp have got it, but it’s either going to be infectious or malignant. Sounds like a horrible way to go and horrible for a parent too. Children would have died from things like tonsillitis and upper respiratory infections fairly commonly before antibiotics.

So horrible for the whole family, lots of siblings. I am so sad to see it. I had ordered the certificates of her birth and death out of curiosity as I am interested in the history of the house and its people. I was expecting something like measles, or influenza, not such a drawn out tragedy.

@SirVixofVixHall

ThePoisonousMushroom that sounds frightening, v glad your dd was alright. What a tragic death for little Catherine. I am going to tidy up her grave next time I am there, it is a bit brambly. Almost 150 years since she died.

Nice that a stranger is taking care of her grave 150 years later due to the shared history of the house. Heartwarming.

I am going to take some of the snowdrop bulbs from round the house and put them on the graves of her and her parents, as they will flower for the 150 year anniversary of her death.
The house is essentially ruined now - I am gradually repairing it.
I almost certainly have relatives in the same little cemetery, which is a nice thought.

It’s possible she suffered from something like chronic tonsillitis that became the laryngitis. Poor girl, what a horrible illness and death, and her poor family watching her suffer.