Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1901-11-29
t WAS SMALLPOX.
Notwithstanding Statements Made
By SO Called Authority.

Dy % Sdlleu AutnOTIty.
The item recently published in tn,
Alma Argus 10y DR.. Brainerd relative L
the case of smallpox in Alma, durins
last wiuter, having been brought TO thu
attention of Or. Henry b. Baker, Sec y
State Board of Health, with reques
that he comment on it, has brought tn,
following reply:
"If DR.. Brainerd asserts that there ha,
been no smallpox in Michigan this year
or during last wear, he is certainly mis-
taken, and assuming 10 make state
ment of something he does not know
as there are hundreds of other physi
clans who are equally as good authority
who have no-hesitancy in pronouncing
the disease To be smallpox in a mild
form. / have no doubt, but that the
case in Alma, during the last winter,
was smallpox. Enclosed is a leafiet
bearing on the subject, and the author
is regarded as the best authority Ill this
country on smallpox:
THE PRESENT MILD TYPE OF sM ,LLPoX.
a description of the present mild type
of smallpox prevailing in Philadelphia
was the topic presented at the last meet
ing of the Philadelphia County Medical
Society, held Oct. Goth, by DIR. VIM. NJ.
WEIGH, physician in chief of the Mum.
cipal Hospital for Contagious Diseases.
Dr. WEIGH attributed the oriL III OF the
present form of the disease to importa
ton from the West Indies during the
past year by refugees who, during the
Spanish American War, escaped from
Cuba 10 our Southern States, where in
fictitious foci were established, the dis
ease later spreading 10 many Northern
States The prevalent type of the dis
ease has been so mild and atypcal that
il escaped recognition III many Instances
being most commonly mistaken for
chicken-poX, pustular svphlloderm, and
impetigo cOntagiOSa, and this fact alone
has much TO do with its rapid and eX-
tensive spread. OF $500 cases of small
poX observed by the speaker, never be-
fore had the type Of the disease been so
uniformity mild aud uucomplicated as
during the past year The vast major
itv of patients have not remained III bed
after the appearance of the eruption.
The number of smallpox patients at
the Municipal Hospital during the past
year was l2S all recovering. OF this
number Up were negroes, % OF them of
the male sex, and 10 never having been
vacclnated. 1t is probable that but for
the fact that vaccination Is in this city
widespread and thorough, an epidemic
of large dimensions would have resulted
from the freedom with which many of
these unrecognized cases of smallpox
mingled with the other population.
The onset of this mild type of the dis
ease differs only in degree from that
OF the more severe form. IL commences
suddenly, often with chill, or with a
slight rigor; the temperature rises TO
from l0l TO lU5 degrees Fahrenheit;
there is commonly irritation of the
stomach. often intense; lumbar pain is
an extremely annoying symptom; and,
in adults, there is frequently severe
headache. Dizziness and prCstration
are often absent, and the entire initial
stage Is so slightly marked that many
of the patients are not even confined TO
bed. In from IS to - hours after the
onset of the Iigor the eruption appears. /
the temperature dropping 10 normal, |
the other manifestations of the disease !
rapidly abating, and the disease being
at an end. The eruption Is
SCautv in most cases; often umbllCa- /
tiou is not present; and the vcSlcleS
change 20 pustules in four or five days,
then almost Immediately shrink and be-
gin TO dry up. The comparatively
slight changes in the skin is a notable
point i'm the disease, the true skin being
but little involved, the scabs OF small
size and the appearance of pigmented
spots taking the place Of the usual pit of
the severer forms of the disorder. The
type of the disease under consideration
presents a clinical picture like mild var
ioloid although in almost every case
there has been no previous vaccination"
Medical News, New York, Nov. 4,
1899.
This mild form Of smallpox has been
esnecially prevalent in Michigan in 1901.
DR. VIM. Nelch is generally recognized
as the best authority in this country on
the subject of smallpox.
Michigan State Board of Health,
Office of the Secretary, Lansing, June,
1901.
HENRY b. BAKER,
Y