Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1909-06-16

have been properly vaccinated. IN
case they neglect that customary pre-
caution, 1t is considered that they have
deliberately exposed themselves to the
risk Of contaglon. The same PROPOSE
ton will in future apply to typhoid,
inasmuch as means have been found
whereby. through incubation with
suitable vaccine" anybody may be
rendered permanently immune-that Is
to say, incapable of acquiring the dis
ease.
Typhoid In old time was known as
"putrid fever" 1t was one Of the most
deadly Of human maladies. largely be-
cause the proper methods to adopt IN
dealing with 1t were not yet known.
But even to-day, when 1t kills less than
10 per cent of the victims 1t assails,
1t is exceedingly destructive. 1t
caused so per cent Of the total deaths
on the American side during the war
with Spain-the disease. which ragged
in the military camps. being distrib-
uted chiefly by flies And 1t was re-
Gently estimated by DR.. George M. ko-
Der Of Washington, D. Ca recognized
authority on the subject-that, reck-
oning loss Of wage-earning capacity,
expense for medical attendance, etc.,
typhoid fever in the United States
costs annually not less than $350,OOO,-
900. Accepting these figures. 1t appears
that the disease costs the people OF
the United States more than billion
dollars every three years, writes Rene
Bach in Technical World Magazine.
The ImmunizinE Vaccine.
There is Just one advantage in hav-
| ing typhoid. An attack of 1t renders
one immune to the complaint there
| after-at all events practically so, In
asmuch as recurrence Of the malady
in person who has once recovered
from 1t is uncommon. But 1t would
surely be very advantageous If such
immunity could be attained without
going through the sickness and suf-
fering, with incidental risk of dying.
Fortunately, this very thing has at
last been accomplished. That Is to say,
a means has been discovered whereby
anybody may be rendered immune to
typhoid-the result being obtained by
| a simple process Of vaccination. The
principle OF vaccination for smallpox
is that of utilizing the germ of near
| Unrelated disease of the COW, much
milder in character, to produce i'm
munlty against the more serious NAL
ady. This idea nowadays Is begin
ming to be applied. with much success,
to other maladies notably rabies-by
Pasteur's discovery-and cholera and
bubonic plague, the two latter at the
instance of Hafkine. an Englishman.
Vaccination for typhoid-first worked
out by Sir A. E. Wright Of London
is based upon the same theory.
For some time past the United
States War Department has been bust
ly engaged with the problem of typhoid
vaccination, and at the Army Medical
Museum in Washington large quantl-
ties of the immunizing fluid have been
manufactured and put up in sealed
| glass tubes, ready for use-each tube
containing the few drops requisite for
dose. For military purposes 1t is OF
utmost importance to find means
whereby the "putrid fever" which has
always been the most deadly enemy
of troops-commonly killing more men
than were slain by the enemy-shall
he robbed of Its power to destroy.
How the Vaccine Ii Prepared.
There is no reason, indeed, why sol
! diers in the field in future wars
should suffer any loss whatever by ty,
phoid. 1t will doubtless be required OF
every recruit, as matter of course
that before being finally accepted he
shnSl be immunized against the mala
dy. As for the regular army. several
hundred men, volunteering for the
purpose, have already been inoculated;
and, the investigation having now
passed beyond the experimental stage
every officer and enlisted man will be
subjected to the treatment.
The vaccine" for typhoid is pre-
pared by an extremely simple process
A quantity of beef broth is made, and
when 1t has had time to cool. few
typhoid bacilli are put into it. Find.
ing 1t an acceptable food. they multi
ply with great rapidity. until, after a
few hours, the vessel of soup contains
countless billions of them. They are
then killed by putting the broth into a
sort of oven and heating 1t to point
in the neighborhood Of boiling.
This is the "vaccine"-a soup con
tanning the dead bodies of billions oil
typhoid bacilli. 1t Is now ready for
use. But first, to make perfectly sure
that all the bacilli are dead, small
| quantity Of the soup is put into fresh
batch of broth, previously sterilized
by heat. If, on microscopic examina
ton, some hours later, no living bacilll
are found In the new broth, 1t is
taken for granted that the stuff is
| all right, and the soup holding the de
funct germs is put up In little glass
tubes. Each tube. after being steril
lied. receives certain number OF
drops of the immunizing fluid from a
machine made for the purpose, and is
then Theoretically sealed with glass
|
blowers blowpipe. 1t thus becomes
nothing more than an elongated bull
Of glass. with no opening through
which any microbe can gain admit
lance. When dose is to be admins
tered, the physician simply breaks of
one end of the tube, draws its contents
into his hypodermic syringe-previous
ly sterllized-and thrusts the point oil
the instrument beneath the skin of the
| person to be inoculated. A brief squirt
and 1t Is all over. But to make assur
ance doubly sure-to make certain
that is to say. Of taking second
dose is usually administered. The first
one is of eight drops, representing
about 500.OOO.OO0 bacilla; the second is
fifteen drops. containing 10000 ,0OC