Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-02
BATTLE WITH RABIES
Surgeons OF Marine Hospital
Service Give Treatment.
MORE THAN THIRTY CASES
Fifteen Of the Patients Complete the
Course.
DETAILS OF THE PROCEDURE
Material Easy to Procure-How the
Virus Is misunderstanding
Preventive.
MORE THAN THIRTY CASES
DETAILS OF THE PROCEDURE


Since the serious outbreak Of rabies in
this city 1t has been deemed advisable TO
establish a Pasteur institute here. Prior
to this spring the victims of mad dogs. II
they took the preventive treatment at all.
could find no place nearer than Baiti-
more. and the treatment not only was
expensive and within reach Of compare
lively few. but entailed either a three
weeks absence from the city or living
almost constantly on the railroad train
between here and Baltimore.
When the prevalence of rabies among
dogs here became a decidedly disturbing
factor the Secretary of the Treasury took
up the matter. and under his direction
Surgeon General Wyman of the marine
hospital service established a dispensary
treatment for mad dog victims in the
laboratory of the hospital service, near
the foot of oath street, just west of the
Naval Medical School. The cost Of the
treatment. SO far as the materials go. is
insignificant and the service involves only
the time Of the assistant surgeon devoted
to the work. 1t Is said that the treat
ment is as good as the most wealthy could
procure for money anywhere In the
standardtzing serums and antitoxins Of
the various sorts used in medical work.
being really the court of last resort in
biological questions.
Surgeon Anderson in Charge.
The general work is in charge of Passed
Assistant Surgeon John d. Anderson. as
sistant director of the laboratory. while
the rabies treatment is Immediately in
cho of Do let O,,r0 A Nc
Stimson. the rabies expert Of the service.
since April -. and in that time thirty
three cases have been treated. The
course Of treatment is three weeks. and
fifteen Of the patients have finished the
course.
For those desiring treatment the first
thing necessary is to get letter Of rec
concentration from the health officer. 1t
Is to be presumed that in cases where the
patients are able to afford 1t they are sent
to Baltimore. for the cases at the Marine
Hospital laboratory have been almost uni
formly people who either could not have
paid for the treatment at all or to whom
1t would have been a hardship to do so.
Most OF the patients have been children.
Next In plumber are women. One baby
under treatment is only a year old
Material Easy to Obtain.
The material on which the treatment Is
baeeu is easy to obtain. The Department
Of Agriculture has had so many cases OF
rabid dogs recently that the original virus
can be had for the asking. The virus Is
inoculated in rabbits and guinea pigs. II
takes many weeks for the animal to de.
velop symptoms of rabies. but after the
virus has been passed through as many
as a hundred animals it becomes what Is
known as a fixed virus. its period of in.
cubation being three weeks. with clock.
like regularity. The virus then Is much
weaker than In its original form and IL
ready for incubation in human beings
To prepare 1t for this the spinal cord is
taken from a rabbit that has died after
an injection of fixed virus and is dried in
a bottle over caustic soda. This cord IL
then clipped in small pieces and is ready
to be pulverized and injected into human
beings.
The treatment continues for twenty-one
days. 1t begins with two injections a
day and is reduced to one daily. 1t is
known that the protective action does not
begin until fifteen days after the treat
ment has started. Sometimes the victim
Of @ mad dog may develop hydrophobia
earlier than that. SO scientists are pre-
pairing q serum to delay the period OF
incubation considerably in order to allow
the virus to get in its protective work.
Differs From Smallpox.
It is impossible to detect any symptom
showing that the protective virus has
taken effect. There is no such indication.
as In the case of smallpox vaccination.
whether or not the incubation has
taken" 1t is not known. either. just
how long the immunity given by the virus
treatment will last. 1t probably Is good
for six months or a year. A subject is
not often the victim of a mad dog the sec
ond time. but If such should be the case
the surgeons advise fresh incubation as q
precautionary measure.
1t is regarded as interesting that nearly
all of the patients treated at the dispen-
sary have been bitten by pet dogs. thus
showing that the disease Is spread among
human beings by weli-cared-for pets
rather than by waits and strays. 1t has
also been found tAat many patients have
been bitten while humanely attempting
to extract a mythical bone from the throat
of a mad dog. One of the features of the
disease Is that a dogs throat becomes
dry, and he acts very much as though he
had a bone stuck in his throat In case
Of this sort it will be Infinitely safer for a
dog owner to turn the animal over to a
competent veterinarian instead OF trying
to relieve it himself
Approve Muzzle Order.
The present muzzle order is regarded
by the surgeons Of the marine hospital
service as a valuable precaution. and one
that, strictly enforced and persisted In
for as much as a year. will go far toward
controlling rabies in the District. The
great difficulty is said to be that the muz-
zle law is not enforced strictly enough.
and that apparently the police and health
authorities have not the cooperation of
dog owners.
1t is further stated that If the muzzle
ordinance Is repealed at the end of six
months 1t will prove only a palliative
measure. and will not do nearly SO much
toward controlling the disease as though
1t were kept in force for nine months or
year.