The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1899-05-05
NO1S

lie lefllln parasite, as has been
said, has cycle Of existence lasting
about forty-eight hours, and here. in
infections with n single group, sporula-
tion and the resulting paroXysm occur
every other day. The tertian parasite
is the commonest variety in these re-
gions.
! But you may perhaps say that the
commonest form of ague in Maryland
is that in which chills occur daily.
/ How are we to explain this. Very
simply. In the majority of instances
two groups of the tertian parasite are
present: one segmenting on Monday
and ednesday, the other Tuesday
and Thursday, the result being Il chill
daily. The same may and does occur
in infections with the quartan parasite
if three groups be present; while in
some instances in infections with two
groups, chills may occur on two sue
cessive days, with day of intermis-
sion between
/ Rarely infection with multiple gen
erations of the tertian and quartan
parsite occur, resulting in irregular fe
/ yer. 1t is curiousl y enough, rare for
two groups to segment upon the same
day.
The result of all this is that in in
/ fections with either of these two vari-
cites of parasites the symptoms are re-
markably regular and periodical.
/ This is not the case in infections
with the ;estiyoautumnal organism.
Here the cycle ofexistence varies very
much in different cases, oscillating all
the way from twenty -four to forty-four
4 to forty-eight hours or even more. In
! addition to this, the tendency to the
arrangement of the parasite in groups
is also much less marked. So that
while regular paroxyms may occur at
intervals of twenty four hours, the fe-
yer is often irregular or continuous.
This is the form of parasite which is
associated with the so called remittent
fevers which occur at the height of the
malaral season.
| 1t may not be amiss to say a word
before closing with regard to the
amenability Of these different forms cf
fever to treatment. All types of ma
laria yield to treatment by quinine.
One may meet with malignant infec-
tions so severe that death occurs with
in twenty -four or forty-eight hours be.
fore quinine has had the proper time
to act, or where the paroxysms which
have occurred have resulted in such in
jury to the human organism, that de-
spite the disappearance of the para
sites death may ultimately follow.
But the infection always yields to qui
nine. Relapses, however, may and
frequently do occur. There are many
individuals who treat themselves with
a few doses of quinine at the time of
their paroxysms who have, at more or
less regular intervals of one, two or
three weeks, occurrences of the infec-
ton. This may go on for months or
years, resulting in very material dam
ger to the health and constitution of
the individual. But the immediate at
tack will always yield rapidly to qui-
nine, and if treatment be properly con-
tinued the danger of relapses is slight.
1t is perfectly safe to say that any te-
yer in these regions which does not
break after four days treatment by
quinine, properly administered, is not
simple malaria. | have seen cases of
malaria in which slight fever, strictly
speaking, lasted longer than four days.
Occasionally in severe cases slight ele-
vation of temperature may last for
some time after the infection has dis
appeared But the marked manifesto
tions are always broken within few
days 1t is fdct that continuous
fever noa-resisfaM to quiaine is not ma
h,Ta, and observations with modern
methods are showing us that the great
majority of the cases which have been
previously classed as malarial fevers
resistant to quinine are really in
stances of typhoid fever.
But ] have already taken more of
your time than had intended to, and
will sum up with 4 few general con-
clusions.
| Q) Malarial fever is specific in
| fectous disease due to parasites which
! exist in the blood of the infected indi-
vidual in great groups, and give rise to
paroNysms at the periods Of their spor-
ulation.
90 There are three varieties of
malarial parasite; one associated with
uuartcn fever, one with tertian and one
with paroxysms which occur usually
about orty-eight hours apart, but oc-
cnsionally at more frequent intervals,
while often the fever is irregular or
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