Arizona weekly citizen., 1883-10-06
THE YELLOW FEVER.
A Scientific Description Between It
 and Other FeVers.
The Genuine Article in SonOra--More Fatal to Americans Than Natives
 No Hospitals Nor Nurses.
HEEMosILIo, Sept. g. 1888.

EDITOR CITIZEN, SIR: Having noticed
 that some papers of San Francisco ana
 Tucson are inclined to believe thas tn,
 present epidemic which prevails her,
 and ID Guaymas and Mazstlan is mol
 tine yellow fever, and that some citations
 have been published from Prof. Dt
 Costa's works quoting the hemorrhsgit
 malaridl fever as corresponding witt
 the symtoms of the present epidemic
 here, allow me to correct through the
 columns of your valuable paper such
 false ideas and views upon such ar
 important subject. and to draw in short
 lines, the great difference between
 hemorrhagie nqlsrial fever and yellow
 fever.
 In the first place the physicians here
 Americans or Mexicans, have but very
 little experience in epidemic yellow
 lever, and those lew who know anything
 about it all acknowledge that i; IS the
 genuine yellow fever. Dr. Posey, who
 was in Memphis during the epidemic of | lSiS; Dr. MOnteverde, who had himself
 the yellow fever in Vera Cruz, and has observed many cases there, and myself,
 who have suffered from the yellow fever
 in New Orleans, and witnessed several | ep denies there, and that no later than
 .ast year 1 was with Dr. Murray, of the U. :. Marine Hospital serylce Tn the
 Sraa; epidemic wIich desoiated MatB- | moras and Brownsville, Texas, and al 1 the medical men of good standing here
 and lu Guaymas Ggree with me that the
 prevailing epidemic disease here is genuine yellow fever, and l think ws
 are duly qualified Co know 1t and to dis
 unguish u from any other fever or disease.
 The characteristic symptoms of the epidemic prevailing here are: One par oxysm of fever, lasting from one to four or live days, seldom more; the thermo- metrlcal curve rising or lowering with out regard or proportion to the number of pulsatiOns, which phenomena has been considered characteristic of yellow fever by Dr. Faget; jaundice: aibumi- nous urine; suppression of urine. At the end of tue paroxysm, when the fever ls gone, the patient manifests great anx-
 
 the bowels; black vomit; increase of Iaundlce; lrregularity and feebleness of Che pulse; gDd death. Some have no lemo-rhage at all, L0r black yOmit. They have suppression of urine, and dIe with the poisoning of the urine, or ure- ma. Those are the characteristic symp- toms of bad cases.
 We have here three types cf the dis ease; one called epEemeral, for the mlidness of the fever, winch always terminates well n the course of 2t or is hours. IL subsidies without hardly any medicine, as tue poison is not sutli- cleutly strong to kill, CT affect danger IEsiy the vital pOwers. The great per centage Of this type Is among the native or acclImated people, and 1t Is through thls type that the rate Of mortality Is so favorable and small.
 Another type u one much more seri- Ons than that just described, but not so malignant, however, as not to admit of any help. It generally subsidies after good fight by a skillful physician, and with good care and good nursing. It Is 'n thls type that, with a good nurse and 1 A good physician, patients can be pushed ] through safely.
 Ihere is a third type, however, which l assumes such a malignant character from the beginning, that the greatest l iare and attention, and the most skillfui ! physician cannot save them. Symptoms | lf the worst nature succeed one after the l other ln spite Of all human efforts on | the part of the physician and nurse to ! prevent them. This type has been un- ! I rtunately the most prevailing here among Americans and foreigners, and | even those who have been attacked l with cOntrollBb!e fever, have, the most | of themperIshed from the want of proper | care and nursing. There is DO hospital | here and no intelligent helD can be ob- | tained for any price or money.
 After giving summary account of | the characteristic symptoms and differ | rut types Of the epidemic disease We l have here, let us now see If there is any | truth m the assertion that the present i epidemic disease Is the hemorrhagic ma larial fever described by D. Da Costa.
 In the first place the hemorrhagic ma- 'arlal fever is essentially malgrial, and | the yellow fever Is not. IL appears in the districts where the intermittent fe- vers prevail, while there are but very few cases of maiariel fever durILg yellow fe- yer epidemic. It IS not composed of one parox. sm like yellow fever, but of several remlssions CT Intermissions. The thermometer and pulse rise and fall in phenomena which does not occur m yellow fever.
 The duration Is from one tO five or SIX days In yellow fever, hile. the hemOr- rhagic malarial can last ten, twelve and even more days. In hemorrhagic fever We may have hematuria and hemorIh8ge from the bowels aud from the stomach, bat very seldom suppression of urine, , ureuig or black vOmit The hemorrhages can take place at any period Of the fever, while m yellow fever the black v0mIt comes generally shortly before death. Finally, the hemOrrhagic malar- ial fever is mastered by quInIne, while 1t has no effect in yellow fever, and it rather aggravates than improves the .'htient. Qulnine Is necessary to cure and prevent the return of malarial fever. Sue her hemOrrhRgic or not: while the most tritiing attack of yellow fever with put quuIne will not come back, except In a few instances of relapse.
 By these facts anybody can see that here is q world Of difference between yellow fever and hemorrhagic malarial fever. If the yellow fever should have the same effects on natives as on Amer cans the rate of mortality would reach at least fifty per cent, If not more, and those who do not believe that the pre- vailiug disease here is yellow fever pn account of the small percentage of deaths should correct their ideas after reading these accounts, and 1T they do not feel satisfied, I shall refer them t0 the rate of mortality in New Orleans during he epidemic of 1878, or the rate of mortality during the epidemic which | prevailed last year in Brownsville, Texas. where am lng ,, ,jOO cases there were only POO deaths during the whole epidemic.
 l shall cali attention also to some re- marks which have been made in regard tO the cOntagiOn and spreading of the disease. Some people think that yellow fever, being an infectious disease, it ought to develop itself wherever 1t goes, but they ignore the fact that this disease cannot develop or sprend in lo- calities situated 2.j00 feet above the level of the sea. It is based upon the of thIs law that Dr. Ham, ilton has said that "there IS no danger that the present yellow fever epidemic | should reach Arizona or New Mexico" | For this very reason l believe that the . yellow fever will not spread to MaRda- lena or Nogales. Parties going there from Guaymas or from this city might | suffer from the disease and die there, like they dIe in the capital of Mexlco who go there after having contracted | the infection, but 1 do not believe 1t would spread there any more than 1t does in the city of Mexico.
 I hope that the above remarks will satisfy and convince the press and the of thIs country that the pre- vailing epiicmi disease in Mazatlen, GuRyma- and HeTmosillo IS really the genuine yellow fever, and We advise