Fever Hospital

Infectious diseases have threatened life and social order throughout human history, inducing deep and pervasive fear. The story of Fairfield Hospital is central to the story of infectious diseases in Victoria, and is thus a significant chapter in Australia's history. Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital began life in 1904 as a fever hospital. It treated patients for typhoid, diphtheria, cholera and smallpox, and grappled with epidemics of polio and scarlet fever. It later became one of the wor