The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-09-12
FEVER CARRIED BY FLEAS.
The Opinion OF DIR. }. II. EEbert o.
san Jncfnto. Honduras


There is another distributing agent. ac-
( tive I'm some parts Of the world. which
should not be overlooked Here in the
/ mountains Of Honduras. four thousand
feet above sea level we are above the
mosquito belt and. as that term is gen
/ orally employed. above the fever belt as
/ well; and yet mslarial fevers-bUth quo
! tidian and terrain types-are Of common
occurrence From what do they arise
I The climate. generally speaking, is salu-
! hriouS, with an eqUablc, medium temper
| allure the year round: there is an abund-
( ance Of good water; and from the very 10
I eaton OF the pueblo, well up the steep
side of "A lofty mountain, excellent nat
Nral drainage Is afforded II is true there
arr people passing to and from she coast
tl29 miles distaut and other low districts
nut these are not the only ones who slIf-
Ter from the fever neither is II limited 10
persons prediSposed 70 its manifestation
py previous attacks We cannot admit a
quality Of COnta giOn, as that word is
properly used. and. as already stated
Doth geographical and tOpOgra phicaI fea-
the locality
How, then. is. it propagated2 Whatever
othtr methods there may be, one at
least Il patent To the writer and that M
inoculauOn-nOt by mOsOuftCs for IN -
are practically unknown here-but by
meas. me uedS here. as in other uarfs Of
-
S'eIgtiy q Gay pdSSes-eXc-pt 10 Dee iu the
height Of the rainy s-as0u-But what =
}'ISoH VINO IS IN contact with the natives
or VINO docs not keep his own surround
luSs Scrupulously free from dust and
oIher debris, feels a demand to rnoga
.hEWhere from one 10 a dozen fpas from
Ine surface OF some part Of his anatomy
lhe( greatly modest the uninftfatcd Grin
20, but, although they most certairlI,-
bite. they do not greatly annoy tbe afi,-y.
and the acclimated.
,1lre,umstantiai evidence is sufficiently
dDuludHt 10 convince the careful CbserI-ar
that the dedS transport the malaria tn
winter attention was first seriously 6f-
Iecied 10 this subject by the prevalence OF
Hl'tlaFlaI ieyeTS among the soldiers in the
local Quartet. Out Of the twenty or 81 NJ
tive soldiers on duty here. there were
usually from one % three down with fe-
yer Al times the occurrence Of fever
was easily accounted for IN an Individual
as IN a new recruit who had recently ar
rived from "A generally maIariOUs district
bGI It's almost constant occurrence there
anu apparent lack or selection were not
easily explained At length the feas
which never failed. al least Of attengt
60 make an impression upon the writer
whenever he visited the Quartet. seriously
engaged MS attention The more liberal
use Of the broom and Of water. and also
the thorough daily cleansing Of the berth
Of the soldiers and the busting OF corners
and crevlces with powdered bOrax. were
cuJOined. and. although general cIeanIi-
ness among persons thus chartered and
who almost habitually sleep in their
clothes (Which. by the way IS entirely
contrary 10 the custom Of the ordinary
native, who covered his or her naked body
with a lanket-preyiously shakeu-and
thus escapes much annoyance by feasl
was not TO be expected, and although
pOr fuerZl, high degree Of those C0ndi-
lions necessary for the abolition OF the
feas was practically impossible never
thcless, after accomplishing what was
possible in this direction, the amount Of
fever among the soldiers decidedly de
creased
II is a matter of regret that there is
not at hand a suitable microscope for de
rermiDing whether or not the plasmodium
malariae can be demonstrated in the blood
drawn by the fieas from patients suffer
-nE from malarial fever-this. however.
viii receive our attention az a later date
Medical Record