The Savannah morning news., 1904-10-22
SAVANNAH PHYSICIANS NOT
FOR MALARIA COMMISSION.
They Do Not See Any Good to Result
From 1t.

Iuey DO MOI see any OOOu 10 Result
From 1t.
The suggestion for a malaria COM
mission, advocated by one of the ply
sicians in attendance at the recent tu-
berculosis congress in Macon. meets
with little or no favor among Savan-
nah physicians. The nearest to a
commendatory word heard yesterday,
was 1T might do good but in gen.
eral the scheme was laughed at.
The chief objection seemed to be that
IT is utterly useless. Malaria is so well
studied and so much has been writ
ten concerning it that a congress on
the subject would do little good. And
as for fighting the disease, this is a
matter, it was urged, that should be
taken up by health officers in cases
where there is need of it.
Attention was called to the fact that
the source of malaria is the mosquito.
and that it is we'll established that
the mosquito breeds in stagnant wa
ter. Therefore. it is comGaratively
easy to do away with the source of
city. county and states will aid by
furnishing funds. congress of
physicians would not help this part
of the subject in the least.
The comparative scarcity of malaria
was also pointed out as a reason why
congress is unnecessary. Medical
congresses, it is urged, are held in
cases where a disease is making rapid
progress, in order that some method
may be discussed for checking it.
Malaria, though prevalent in some
sections, is being fought and conquer
ed and. as compared with other dis
eases is scarce. Savannah is pointed
to as an instance of a city that is al
most without malaria, the cases here
being isolated and few in number.
tuberculosis said DR.. Ralston Lat
timore, lis the disease toward which
we must bend all our energies, as it is
making great progress and is found
i'm all sections of the country. Sta
every ninety-nine have the disease and
it is rapidly increasing the number
of it's victims.
'In order to check it we hold con-
ferences and congresses and discuss
preventative means. It's spread has
become so noted that it is now called
the working mans plague 1t is in
d
sense that malaria is not, and as for
myself, 1 would rather be in the house
with a consumptive than with a typhoid
fever patient.
Malaria has been we'll studied and
the means of its propagation are well
known. Destroy the breeding places
of the mosquito and you have prach-
cally done away with the danger of
malaria. Then too. malaria is really
c n 10
the states and counties in the most
maTarious sections take up the work,
as is now being done in New Jersey
and elsewhere -
DIR. B. S. Purse, one of the oldest
practitioners in Savannah, when asked
his opinion of the suggestion, smiled
dryly and said:
THAT is just a bid for notoriety.
Malaria has been thoroughly studied,
it's causes are known, the way it is
carried from place to place is perfect
ly demonstrated, and. there are vol
urneS of literature on the subject Ma
larious districts should simply follow
the example of Savannah, and the
dangers of malaria can be reduced.
AS for the suggestion that a confer
ence be held, I doubt if it will be con-
sidered seriously by physicians. I
think that it is just a bid for noto-
riety and that no more will be heard
of it. Such a congress would be prac-
tically useless
Il had not noticed that such a. sug-
gestion had been offered" said DR.
NJ. F. Dunn. "and have not thought
over the matter. 1t might do some
good to hold such congress through
arousing public interest in malarial
sections of the country. However, ma
laria is so we'll studied that I doubt II
the congress would accomplish any
practical good"
Other physicians took the same
ground as those quoted above and
some of them merely laughed and
characterized the suggestion as just
an attempt on the part of some ply
stefan to attract attention to himself.
They did not even consider the sug-
gestion worth discussing.