The times., 1898-04-04
YELLOW FEVER.
1t Must BE Reckoned With in Case
Of War With Spain.

of War With Spain.
1t would be folly for this country ito \
close its eyes to the fact that the yellow
fever scourge is to be reckoned with In
the case of war, with Spain. Dr. Henry-J.
Scherch, an expert, who passed through /.
the epidemic of 1873. says:
yellow fever is not a native of this
country. and the records will show that
in every epidemic here the first cases
were imported. The disease is indigenous
to Cuba, and, in order to understand the
methods of prevention, it is necessary to
look into the conditions that, prevail in
Cuba. The disease is due to causes re-
| sembling those of malarial fever, and the
people of that country are to a certain
extent inoculated sufficiently TO be much
less liable 10 it than foreigners.
"Sanareili discovered that yellow fever
was due to germs and ne found these
in sc per cent of the cases he examined.
! The human body is protected against the
| inroads of germs of all kinds by an army
| of white blood cells passing in "a constant
! procession through The veins and arteries.
| These attack every germ that enters the
body. 1t is only when the disease germs
! enter in overwhelming numbers or are oil
| unusual yirulence that nature does not
! through her allies, the white blood cells,
| drive them out. When the constitution is
/ weakened or debilitated from any cause
! the contest is an unequal one, and ma
lures allies become sluggish and inca
| pabe of battling with the enemy For
| this reason ii is necessary in yellow fever
| afK as,s;a
| cleanliness and general health. The un-
| derclothing especially, should be changed
often, in order TO allow the skin to be
healthy and that there may be no check
to the free flow of perspiration. Purga-
| tiyes should be taken the moment there is
the least indication of irregularity and
the system kept free and open.
| "Bouchard, the eminent French
| scientist. has written book which has
almost revolutionized the practice of
medicine. He claims that the absorption
OF germs into the system from the intes-
| tinal canal is the principal cause OF. dis
| ease, and states that by the free use of
| purgatives this internal absorption can
be stopped and the tendency changed so
that the germs are carried out of the
system. For that reason, 1t win be
well Tor American soldiers to pay par
icular attention to keeping the system
! open and regular in all it's functions by
the proper use of purgatives. Just as i'm
portant precaution is 10 aid the natural
germ-killing quality of Inc blood by the
| use of medicine which causes it to be-
come an antisetic or germicide.
In New Orleans DR. John B. Elliott
! professor of the practice of medicine in
the Tulane University, was the first to
suggest the use of sulphite of soda to
strengthen the white blood cells and to
enable them to better resist the fever
epidemic there with great success. The
usual dose was ten grains of sulphite of
soda, taken three or four times day,
and II was noticed that those who OBJ
served this precaution showed singular
immunity from the disease. This medi-
cine produces an antiseptic condition, the
blood destroying the activity of the
poison. Special instructions should be
given the soldiers to avoid the use of
alcohol, as it prevents secretion in the
intestinal canal which should be kept
clear. Quinine in yellow fever cases has
no effect, and should be avoided Fre-
quent bathing should be INDUCED in, and
coffee is beneficial. The drinking water
in camp should be boiled before used and
special arrangements should be made for
this by the commissary. The death rate
: IN Cuba from the fever is greater in
June and August than in any other
months.
I'm case any of the troops take the fe-
Yer they should be at once isolated and
placed in camp Jy themselves. The peri
cd of incubation is from three to four
days, and the first symptoms are a severe
headache, with pains in the back and
limbs. The face is flushed and the throat
usually gets sore and vomiting begins
: This is accomplished by constipation and
yellow jaundice begins to show. This can
= usually be first observed in the eyes
y,
ing. After jaundce sets in there is pc
riod of fever lasting from few houra
: to two or three days. This is succeeded
by a calm, during which the temperature
again rises, the jaundice becomes more
, / marked and the vomiting increases, be-
coming black in extreme cases. a condi-
tion peculiar to this fever is that there is
a marked difference between the pulse
: and the temperature. The temperature
+ of the patient may be rising while his
pulse is falling.
Everyone has a different theory fol
the treatment of the disease, but the
main necessity is careful nursing, and td
| give the patient medicine as sparingly "a:
possible. Too much medicine frequently
causes congestion and results in blacl
I vomit. In the earlier stages of the dis
5 ease Sternberg's faVorite mixture for tn,
E army was $50 grains of bichloride of so
: da, one-third of a grain of bichloride o.
5 | mercury and one quart of pure water
Three tablespoonfuls of this are to bt
e | given every hour. The fever is bes
\ treated by cold sponging with ice water
/ TO the head. For vomiting cracked ice il
= ! given, and If the heart is weak it is bes
S stimulated with hypodermic injections o
e digitalis The greatest care should b'
d taken in the quantity and quality o
I nourishment TO prevnt offending th'
0 stomach. ! should, perhaps, have sale
the free use of saline mineral waters is
r good preventive as the kidneys are al
{ ways badly affected during the disease. ,