Evening star., 1905-09-08
CAUSE OF PNEUMONIA
Ihe Report of the Commission Appoint
ed by New York Board of Health.

~ 1sS" oAh bUdTQ OIL dealIh.
From the New York Herald
Inc report of the pneumonia commission
appointed by the board of health. has just
been published In the Journal of Experi-
mental Medicine of the Rockefeller Insti
tute To certain extent it is disappoint-
ing in the presentation of any new or
| startling facts connected with the inouirv
In fact. 1t hardly goes further than to cor
roborate certain views long entertained by
| the medical profession and more or less
understood by the public at large
We are told that the pneumococcus which
| is the injecting microbe, is very prevalent
even In the mouths of apparently healthy
persons, and can remain there for months
without doing harm unless some accidental
lnHuence not clearly explained brings about
direct infection. There are, of course
many theories advanced as to the manner
in which the seed so prolifically sown can
take root, but they are for the most part
vague and unsubstantiated. In one case
the germs may be quiet and the individual
Is sa1e, put IN another when they become
rlotous the man gets pneumonia.
Judging from the mass of statistics accu-
| mulated persons living in cities are more
prone to the disease than those in country
districts, where the air is purer and the
hygienic surroundings are more perfect
plausible explanation for this is offered by
instancing the bad condition of the streets
the confinement in close quarters. the rela-
tive abundance of contamina ted dust and
the absence of sufficient sunshine
These conditions. however. may apply to
any infectious disease, and In no sense
throw any special light on the essential alb
solute and distinctly causative factors that
specially control pneumonia epidemics. In
this respect the investigation has gone no
further than to place the disease in the
same category with tuberculosis, but at
the foot of the list
The prevention of the malady in question
simply narrows itself to one OF vital re-
siStance on the part of the individual who
SO constantly carries the germs about with
him. The manner in which they find their
way into the system when their time comes
to strike is not very clearly explained
Some of the commissioners believe they en-
ter the respiratory passages directly by in
spiration; others think it is by swallowing
the saliva, and others that they attack the
Emphatic system. Dust may contain them,
and they may be thus transported but this
is more a supposition than demonstrated
fact. The sputum also is charged as the
ever-ready vehicle of dissemination, but
as the micro-organsms in n healthy throat
do not differ from those found in patients
actually suffering from the disease 1t is diff
ficult to understand how such vast ma
jority of healthy individuals manage to es-
cape infection altogether.
One thing at least which seems quite evil
dent Is that pneumonia is by no means
such vrulently infectious disease in itself
as health boards appear to imagine. Nor
has anything new been practically deter
mined as to lessening even its mild propa-
eating qualities. In other words, there ap-
pears to be no means of prognosticating
positive and specific grounds other than
those that apply to all diseases why one in
dividual should be attacked and not an
other.
But even in the face of the somewhat
discouraging aspect of the investigation
and the lack of more specific means of pre-
venting the disease it is always safe to
take all possible dangers into account and
guard against them accordingly That the
one who unduy exposes himself to even
chance infection may not at the time be in
proper condition to resist an attack must
always be taken into account.
The practical lesson, which after all is
the one that must appeal to every one, is to
apply every possible precaution and thus be
on the safe side of any possible doubt. AS
the initiative cold is the surest invita-
ton to the disease every care should be
taken to avoid It, especially during the COM
ing inclement months. The weaker ones
always are the first victims of any cpl
demic We evidently can never be sure OF
always keeping our throats clear of the
ubiuuitous pneumococci. no matter how
they get there, but we can at least see to IT
that they do not get an inning by conserv-
ing our energies of resistance and thus bid
ding them due defiance