The age-herald., 1898-09-23
A DISEASE OF
 THE SEA COAST
From the Houston Post.

l
 era, bubonic plague, smallpox and typhus)
 it is usually confined to tropical and sub
 tropical countries. It may be conveyed to l temperate zones, but never to the frigid
 zones.
 It is a disease of the seacoast and in-
 vades the interior of the country through
 the regular channels of commerce. The
 poison remains near the ground and im-
 munity increases with elevation above the
 sea level In one instance an epidemic oc-
 cured at Cuzco, in the Peruvian Andes,
 Il 900 feet above the sea, but usually an
 elevation of two or three thousand feet is
 sufficient to insure certain immunity from the disease. Dr. Guiteras describes
 three areas of infection. First, the focal l zone in which the disease is always (en- demic) present, as for example in Ha-
 vana, Vera Cruz, Pernambuco, Rio de
 Janero and few other Spanish-American
 ports second, the peri-focal zone, where 1 periodic epidemics appear, including ports
 of the tropical Atlantic in America and
 Africa, as for example, in Key West, New
 Orleans Charleston and other cities third,
 the zone of accidental epidemics as Phil
 adelphia, New York, Boston, and as far
 north as Quebec, ports in France, England, | span, HOrIuBdl, ana the west codSt Ol l Africa and in South America, Montevideo,
 Buenos Ayres, between the parallels of 45
 degrees north and S5 degrees south lati- 1 tude. (Vide chart)
 Some authorities contend that yellow
 fever first made its appearance among
 the soldiers of Columbus in San Domingo
 in the year 1495 Certainly nothing was
 known of the disease before this period,
 But the first authentic account we have
 of an epidemic is of the one which occurred
 in the island of Barbadoes in 16i7. Since l then innumerabe epidemics have ravaged 1 the cities of North America, Mexico, Cen l tral and South America and even Europe. I It was at the time of the Napoleonic wars 1 that the most extensive epidemics oc- | cured In 1900 Cadiz was visited by this | scourge, and out of a population of 57,0)0, l 4S0O0 persons were attacked, 5000 dying in | a few months. One of the most eXten- sive epdemics to visit the United States occurred in the summer of 1855 It ex- tended throughout all the southern stats l and on the Atlantic coast as far north as Rhode Island. Again in 1878 this country was ravaged by another widespread epi- demic One hundred and twenty-five l thousand persons were stricken, over 2),0O) l dying of the disease.
 The yellow fever germ, which yet re- l mains to be discovered may be carried l long distances, and preserves it's vitality l for several months. An instance of the l transmissibility of this disease occurred in l 1900. A native of CadiZ. fleeing from this l infected city, went to his villa in Medina l Sidonia and died of yellow fever on his I arrival. The house was immediately closed and during the following year the | articles of clothing and furniture were l sold to a junk dealer. He died within a l few days of yellow fever, and an epidemic l followed in that locality directly traced to | this one case
 The epidemic in Philadelphia in TAI was
 also traced to an infected trunk which had | belonged to a Mir. James Bingham, who | had died in Barbadoes of this disease, and l whose luggage had been returned to his l family in Philadelphia.
 Dr. Finlay, of Havana, claims that mos-
 quitoes may carry the disease to healthy l person after biting a yellow fever patient
 but this assertion is not borne out by l proofs. Individuals of all ages and races l are attacked. The negro is not so suscepti- | ble as the white, but he does not enjoy l complete immunity A one time it was 1 supposed that Creoes or the native born
 population enjoyed immunity, but Dr. | Guiteras has conclusively shown by his | careful studies of the mortuary statistics | of Havana and MatanZas that there is an l enormous increase in the infant mortality 1 in these cities when yellow fever is preva- | lent, proving conclusively that the ap- parent immunity enjoyed by Creoles is due | to the fact that most of them have had the | disease during infancy, and, furthermore,
 he believes that "the foci of endemicity Cor | existence of yellow fever in a locality) are | essentially maintained by the Creole infant | population
 When severe epidemics exist even the l Creoles die in numbers. On the other hand, one attack, as a rule, seems to rem | der the person immune for life, although
 this immunity may be lost by prolonged | residence in northern climates. It is a dis | ease of the lot season (June, July and Au- | guSt, and one or two froStS will usually | arrest an epidemic, although it may reap pear on the return of warm weather How
 the germ or poison of yellow fever enters | the body is not known, but is very likely transmitted through the air.
 | The poison infects the immediate locality
 in which the patient is, the interior of the | house or ship, the surrounding walls, furn- | ture and clothing, and unless destroyed by | the proper Immigration disinfection will
 retain it's vitality for several months.
 A physician not long ago related to the | writer the following experience, which l bears out the theory held by many com-
 potent observers that the poison of yellow fever is more likely to affect persons living
 in an infected house or foci than for the
 disease to be directly transmitted from the l patient to those in attendance.
 | In one of the recent epidemics in a | southern city some of the patients were | treated in the old city hospital but the
 greater number were sent to a camp tent) | which had been established for this pur | pose on the outskirts of the city. Out of | the eighteen trained nurses recently ar | rived from Bellevue hospital and sent to l this camp not one contracted the disease. 1 On the other hand, all the nurses in at- | tendance in the Gnfected city hospital | were stricken seven dying in consequence.
 There is a widespread and mistaken mo-
 ton that because the bay of Havana is 1 land locked and so filthy, receiving as it
 does all the sewerage of the city, that yell
 low fever is endemic in that locality. But
 it is a well known fact that shipping in
 the harbor enjoys immunity for weeks and | months so long as sailors are not permit
 ted to land. It has been even suggested | that a canal be cut in such a way as to | connect it with the ocean, establishing | thereby a strong current through the bay | by means of the tides. Such an under- | taking by removing the accumulated sew | craze of centuries would greatly improve | the sanitary condition of the city, but 1t | would never completely eradicate yellow