[pshrynk]

Pre-antibiotic typhoid fever was a public health scourge. There were people who contracted the disease and recovered, rather than dying. They sometimes became "carriers" which meant that they passed the disease on without having symptoms themselves. These people were considered extremely dangerous to the public. The women in this article may have been carriers and may have been isolated in order to keep them from spreading a deadly disease.

Also, the conditions at mental hospitals were not nearly as inhumane as they are portrayed by Holywood. There were massive regulations in place and the superintendants had a professional society that strove to improve the care and comfort of the residents.

So, being placed at an asylum was most likely considered the most humane method of protecting the public from a devastating disease.