Historical cause of death 1700s-1800s
What did worm fever mean on a death certificate?
On a death record, worm fever meant a child's fever and wasting blamed on intestinal worms, which the era considered a deadly disease in themselves. In modern terms it usually pointed to usually another infection entirely; worms were common but rarely fatal. Worms were so universal in children that they took the blame for typhoid and meningitis; treat the label as the era's best guess. Expect it on records mostly 1700s-1800s.
Also written on records as: worms, verminous fever, convulsions from worms.
Hit a term like this in a record you are working on? AncestorIQ reads the record and explains terms like this in context. See how Deep Research works. Stuck on the ancestor as well as the wording? Start with how to work a genealogy brick wall.
Related terms
Browse the full genealogy records glossary for more occupations, causes of death, and legal terms.
FAQs
What is worm fever called today?+
Usually another infection entirely; worms were common but rarely fatal, broadly speaking. Doctors of the period diagnosed without laboratory tests, so one label often covered several conditions we would now separate. This page explains historical record language and is not medical advice.
How was worm fever written on death records?+
Clerks and doctors also wrote worms, verminous fever, and convulsions from worms. Spelling wandered from register to register, so check every variant before you decide a record is missing or wrong.
Where do these definitions come from?+
They are drawn from period dictionaries, government archive glossaries, and standard genealogy references, cross-checked against each other; provenance is documented with the dataset. Inside AncestorIQ, Deep Research reads the record itself and explains terms like this in context, against your ancestor's own document.
Stop translating old records by hand.
AncestorIQ reads the record and explains terms like this in context: the occupation column, the cause on the certificate, the clause in the will. Add one ancestor and let Deep Research do the reading.
No credit card needed. Your tree stays yours.
