Perth Amboy evening news., 1904-02-18
DISEASE CAME ALSO.
Typhoid Germ Acquired with New
Territory Abroad.
Recent Outbreaks in This Country
Are Thus Accounted
err Preventive Precautions
Have Not Been Taken.

INC NAAipbAAes is no exception 10 q
rule, says a medical journal. During
the Spanish-American wal the unfortu-
nate conditions that developed in the
camps even at home proved serious by
giving opportunities for the wide dis
tribution of typhoid germs.
1t is probable that some of the malaria
of recent years in districts formerly
little affected by its germs has been
due to the same cause. Relapses of ma
laria are not uncommon in the spring.
time, and so the mosquito gets the
chance to become inoculated by the
malarial parasites and to spread them
in a region never before infected. The
epidemic of smallpox which occurred in
this country during the Spanish-Amer-
lean war was undoubtedly due to the
importation of this disease by the cam
paighers from Cuba and Porto Rico and
its transfer to many parts of the coun-
try by these discharged soldiers. This
has already cost many thousands Of
lives, and the end is not yet.
During the last three a there has
been a noteworthy tendency to out
breaks of typhoid fever which did not
exist for at least a decade before the
Spanish-American war. From a large
number of the smaller towns through
out the country have come reports of
the existence of typhoid fever in cpl
demic form. At least four university
towns have been badly frightened by tho
rprocopan Of funhnfd ond Onn of fhr~,
suffered severely from the ravages of the
disease.
There is a general feeling of insecur-
ity with regard to typhoid that probably
portends the occurrence of further cpl
denies In the LEI future. We now
know that typhoid fever is not the re-
suit of unsanitary conditions in gem
eral, or even of the contamination Of
drinking water by sewer or by excre-
mentitious material from human beings,
unless those human beings have been
suffering from typhoid fever. Unless
the principle that typhoid fever never
originates de move is true-that is, IN
less there is IN absolute connection of
any given case with preceding n of
the disease-all our modern bacteriol-
ogy is founded on a false assumption.
1t is evident that a large number of
scattered foci of typhoid fever have
somehow come into existence in this
country, and that it is from these that
the specific germs succeed in finding
their way into drinking water or into
milk or other food materials to cause
the disease in new subjects. The only
possible oauaes1or this renewed activity
and widespread distribution must be
some special opportunity for infection
incurred by many individuals in differ
ent parts of the country. The ideal OPP
p%ortunity for this unfortunate process
has evidently occurred in the Philip
pines. Typhoid fever has been com
monty epidemic there, and during the
last two years many hundreds of dis
charged soldiers have returned to their
homes in the smaller towns throughout
the United States, while, probably, still
the hosts of typhoid bacilli. 1t Is
possible at times that the attack of the
disease during their campaigning may |
have been so slight that in the tropical
climate with the liability to passing |
fevers among the unacclimated, the af-
lection may have been u~nrecognized.
1t is very evident that, to the calcu-
lated cost of our new possessions in |
treasure and in soldiers, there must be
added the fatal results Of these epidem-
les at home. The only possible advan-
tage to be derived from the present un-
fortunate situation is to see that the
.essons of these epidemics shall not be
lost. We are 20 made sure that the
of time during which a GONZALES
cent from typhoid fever may continue
to be a source of infection for others is
indeterminate.
The fact that typhoid bacilli may re-
main absolutely latent in the bone mar
row for many years after an attack of
typhoid fever, and then after the immu-
nifty following the attack has passed off
again become a source of danger, shows
that there is much yet to be learned in
his matter.
Another and even more important les
son is that the government shall take
special care that returning soldiers may
not prove sources of infection. 1t would
seem that soldiers should not be allowed
to go directly from foreign countries to
their homes, but that their transfer to
this country should be made some
before their discharge, in order
be sure that the possibilities for the
conveyance and distribution of infec-
ion to others should have disappeared
before they return to civic life.
The recent experiences in this country
lave taught us that var still remains a
ierious source of disease. Before the
;panish-American war it was thought
hat the development of sanitary sci
nee had reached a point that would
nable the army medical department to
reserve soldiers from epidemic dis
.ase. The idea was a complete illusion.
The medical history of this country
ince the war shows the necessity for
,recaution after men have been assem-
led in large bodies in tropical and I'M
@nl H.