The Washington herald., 1908-07-19
SEEKS FEVER CASES
Z. S. Health Officers Locating
" Walking Typhoid"
ORIGIN OF ALL EPIDEMIcs
Infections Said to Be More Likely
Than from Milk or Water-ResuItS
shown by Experience of Prof
Koch in German CIty-CO-Opera-
tioR Asked in Washington.

In spite OF the many sanitary advan-
tages possessed by our city. il has never
been able permanently TO rid itself Of
typhoid fever
Every autumn. the disease declines as
the cold weather comes or: every sum
mer the number Of cases. increases. be
ginning about July. and rising to maxi
mum in August For many years the
water was considered the principal
source OF Infection. and one improve
ment after another was introduced, cui-
minating about two years ago in the con-
structions Of an up-tO-date and efficient
filtration plant stnI. the regular peri
odicaI rise and fall Of the fever persisted.
unaffected so far by the nltratiOn Of the
water In the summer Of 1906. the Sur
geon General Of the Public Health and
Marine Hospital Service. with the ap-
provaI OF the Secretary Of the Treasury,
ae-the request Of the Commissioners or
the District detailed a board for the in
vestigation Of the cause Of the disease
in Washington Infected milk was shown
TO be responsible for a considerable part
Of the total number Of cases. and a stiH
larger percentage was due TO contact IN
fection OF could not be traced by any
means at the command Of the hoard.
Now. contact infection means simply that
the patient has caught the disease from
another patient, or in other words. that
the organism causing the disease has
been transferred direct from the sick 20
the healthy persons
Contact Cases Different.
In America. the element OF -coutagion"
in the transmission OF typhoid fever has
not been fully appreciated. because in
the country. as a whole. there have been
so many cases OBVIOUSLY due to infected
milk ard water that the recognition OF
the contact cases is made difficult
The Importance Of contact" was en-
phasized. however. during the Third An
nuaI Conference Of State and Territorial
health officers with the Public Health
and Marine Hospital Service in 1905 by
DR.. Victor c. Vaughan. Of the University
q Michigan. He had been one Of the
members Of the commission appointed
in ISIS to investigate the origin and
spread Of typhoid fever in the United
States military camps during the span
ish-American war. As a result Of these
Investigations il was shown that per
sonal contact was responsible for 65 %
Per cent Of the total cases studied among
the military forces
In Germany. where in many cities the
water is good and the milk boiled, il
has been shown that the disease IS trans
mitted almost entirely BY contact ~
Under. these circumstances IL would seem
that the Germans have an easy task
IN eradiCating the disease from these
places; but IN spite Of German skill and
scientific thorOughness. with a paternaI
government supporting the sanitsrians
to the utmost. all Efforts at eradicatng
these cases failed.
Koch Goes to Inquire.
Such was the situation at Trier when
/ In the year 1862. Prof Robert Koch was
ordered TO that place 10 investigate the
| cause Of the persistence Of the disease.
At the time Of his arrival. the local
I health officers knew Of eight patients Ill
with typhoid fever. Koch established his
laboratory and put MS assistants at work
in It. and detailed others on inspection
/ duty throughout the town. In cases Of
ili-dedned sickness. specimens were ex-
amined by the latest rednemeats OF bac-
d
instead OF there being only eight cases in
| the place, there were seventy-twO When
{ the health officers were in possession OF
I Information in the case Of only eight
widely separated patients, they were uu-
I able 10 TX definitely the sources of the
/ disease. but with full information in con-
nectiOn with sevenIy-tWo patients. il was
easy TO trace the disease from one 70
another Moreover. here were sixty-fOur
persons suffering from a dangerously COM
municable disease, many Of them going
about the town unaware OF the serious
ness Of their condition and falling 10 rec
ognize the fact that they were constant
sources OF infection 10 those with whom
they came in contact
"WaIkinG Typhoid" Infectious.
It Is well known that one person sur
fering from walking typhoid and com
ing In daily contact with many people VIII
contribute more 70 the spread Of the dis
ease than dozen sick patients IN bed at
their homes. OF than a hundred IN a
well regulated hospital
The local physicians OF Trier. acting OF,
the Information furnished by Prof. Koch.
promptly committed these walking pa
uents TO bed, screened away the flies. pre-
vented injurious contact between the sick
and the well. and disinfected bedding and
excreta- with the result that in an in
credibly short time the city was free
from typhoid fever.
Washington is much larger than Trier,
and consequently presents a much more
difficult problem for solution. but recoe-
mixing the high scientific merit and the
practical efficacy OF Prof Koch-s meth
ods. the typhoid board. which Is stiU
pursuing its investigations. Is now ar
plying these methods to studies Of the
disease in Washington. Accordingly.
Passed Assistant Surgeon Norman Rob
erts has been detailed by the Surgeon
Saltwater bathing at Cbe1aD~nE,