New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-11-16
PNEUMONIA WAR PLANS.
ENLIST 80 HOSPITALS.
Health Department WiU Investigate
10000 Cases.


cation recently begun by special commission
of eminent specialists under the direction of
the Department of Health of this city appeared
yesterday when DR.. Herman NJ Bggs. chief
medical officer of the department. gave The
Tribune complete outline of the methods Of
the investigation. Thirty hospitals in various
large cities in every section of the country have
promised their active cooperation. The lab
oratory work will be carried on in Boston,
Philadelphia, Saranac Lake and at three lab
oratories in this city. Twenty thousand
will be studied in a period of six months which
began November l.
The clearing house" or central laboratory
of the Investigation. will be the headquar-
ters of the Department of Health. Fifty -ffth-st.
and Sixth-ave.. where Commissioner Darlington
and Dr. Biggs have their offices All cultures
isolated by the physicians working under the
commission will be sent to this central labora-
tory. which is in the direct charge of DIR. Will
lam II. Park. There they will be investigated
or compared for identification further classi-
fcaton. The value of the data presented to the
commission viii by this means be greatly in
creased, the same methods and standards
will he applied to the study of all cultures and
errors arising from hasty studies by workers in
the field or without the same facilities will be
corrected.
WORK AT OTHER INSTITUTIONS.
Work along parallel lines will be done at the
laboratories of the University of Pennsylvania
under the direction of Dr. Musser and DR..
Welch; at Boston City Hospital, under the direc-
tion of DR. Theobald Smith; at DIR. E. L. Tru-
deau's laboratory at Saranac Lake, n. Y; at
the laboratories of the College OF Physicians
and Surgeons, in this city, under Dr. Pruden,
and at the Babies Hospital, under DR. f. E.
Holt. The Importance of dividing this abora-
siderable range north and south in the belt in
which pneumonia is most prevalent and the
good results of the investigation will not be
confined to New-York City alone.
Hundreds OF white mice and young rabbits
will be required in the course of the investga-
tions of the commission. They will be inOcu-
lated simultaneously with the saliva emul-
sions from the mouths of patients. In this way
the cultures will be isolated.
There are just an even dozen pertinent ques~
tions which the commission will endeavor to
answer. Half of these have been referred to
the meteorological committee and half to the
clinical
The meteorological problems include study
Of the occurrence and virulenCe of the pneu-
nococcu5 and organisms related or resem-
bling this in the human mouth in health and dis
ease, the evidence of variations in vrulence of
the pneumococcus; the occurrence of the pneu
mococcus in children'e hospitals. homes and
asyIums. with study of the bacteria of mouths
before and after outbreaks of pneumonia: the
vitality of the pneumOcOccus under various
ditions; the study of mouth disinfecton and 4
study of the air of public places. especially in
reference to it's dust content these public places
to embrace all public conveyances stores. facto-
ries. large office buildings. theatres, hospitals,
tcnements and private houses.
HOSPITALS THAT WILL COOPERATE
Hospitals in Baltimore. Washington Chicago
St. Louis, Kansas City, San Francisco. Buffalo.
Helena Minneapolis, Denver. and twenty other
cities equally scattered. and in Montreal, Can
ada, will carry the field work. They will
port specially prepared blanks which ask
nearly q hundred questions. Special stress is
laid on the question. Does the person often
ride in crowded tram. elevated steam roads,"
Other questions Has the patient any
member of the immediate family had recently
a cold catarrE bronchitis. pneumonia. or any
infammatory condition with which pneumococ-
Gus may be associatedo" Was the person ex-
posed to poisonous gases. fumes or other dele
terious aerial agencies" Does the patient use
alcohol or tobacco?"
Special inquiry will he made 10 exposure
(cod winds street corners, etc. clothing,
fatigue character of workrooms their
t,lation sickness among workmen susceptibility
to colds character of food. general health when
taken i'll and tuberculosis i'm the family. The
type of disease. the development of COmplica-
tons and the result Will be fully described
Tests will be made among various series of
individuals. For instance, studies will be made
from the mouths and throats of shop girls in
normal health in New York stores. and COM
pared with some series of normal persons not
subjected to the same unhygienic surroundings.
4 study will be made of conductors as COM
pared with outdoor" workers not in such i'm
mediate contact with large numbers of people.
Another investigation will be made of the saliva
aud throat swabbngs of a series of individuals
shown bv health statistics is practically absent
Possibly an isolated army post in New-MeXico
VIII be used for such study This should give
yalua BILE data in regard 10 the saprophytic eX-
istence and prevalence of pneumococCi in
normal mouths and as 10 the character of such
orga anfsrns as compared with those occurring in
normal individuals in the pneumonia areas.
70 keep the Importance of the work before the
INVESTIGATORS DR.. Darlington has prepared in
ADDITION TO the pneumonia chart covering the
rise of the pneumonia death rate, III the last
thirty years, a table Of pneumonia deaths
in the greater city. II makes comparison OF
the deaths in the last six months OF l9o4 and
a similar period last year.
The first six months of this year brought
& :,GO deaths from pneumonia, or 1916 per cent
of the total number Of deaths, which was 42'Vt
A similar period in 1903 showed J.I63 pneumonia
deaths out Of 81 $50. or 16.3 per cent
The plan of the work of the commission as
outlined in the foregoing, is the result OF Two
meetings of the commission, ooth held IN thlS
city. There will he another meeting carry IN
December The first report of the work or the
commission may be expected early next May.