The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1909-08-05
STATES LOSS By DISEASE.
DR.. n. L. Price Says II Amounts to
100000 Annually.

neglect of methods for preventing the
spread of infectious and contagious dis
eases was made yesterday by DIR. Mar
shall L. Price, secretary Of the State
Board Of Health, who mas just finished
the compilation of figures on this sub
ject.
The State" said DR.. Price, sis
staggering under a burden due to pre-
ventable sickness, Of which the average
citizen has no conception, because he
has always experienced it. 1t has hard
ly occurred to him that large share of
the sickness in his family could be pre-
vented if the proper measures were
taken, and with but small expense.
Typhoid could be stamped out of Mary
land for $l5, 600 annually.
The economic loss of the State from
tuberculosis is estimated at S24. 404, $40
annually. The annual loss due to ty-
phOid fever is never less than IS, O0O,-
600. 1t is safe to say that the annual
loss from all preventable diseases in
Maryland exceeds $50, 600, 600.
''The experience of Cuba, Mexico
and Panama with yellow fever has
shown that a disease which has been
constantly present for more than three
centuries can be eliminated entirely at
small expense.
In order to control infectious dis.
eases four things are necessary: First,
prompt registration Of the cases with
the local authorities; second, the Coop
GRAFTON of the patient and his family
third, the cooperation of the medical
profession, and, fourth, the co-opera-
ton of the general public.
THE State Board of Health has com
pIeted one of the most comprehensive
systems of information regarding in
fictitious diseases in use in any sanitary
jurisdiction in America. Returns are
made monthly to this board from Al
sanitary Jurisdictions, among which are
Is cities and towns and % counties.
Though these returns are as yet incom-
plete, the progress of epidernics can be
traced almost as accurately as the corn
and wheat crops can be predicted by
the expert statisticians of the Govern
ment.
The influenza epidemic of the begin
ming Of 1908 and the later epidemic of
measles We're predicted some months in
advance of their outbreak. Accurate
records are kept OF Intestinal diseases
on the watersheds, especially of typhoid
fever, and town health officers are given
early Information, which enables them
to protect their watersheds before the
onset Of an epidemic.
The present tendency in the control
Of all the infectious diseases is to make
the bedside of the patient the point of
attack for all preventive measures.
This involves the cooperation Of the
attending physician and the placing
upon him Jointly with the local and
State authorities Of a considerable share
OF responsibility. This responsibility
should be fixed by law and adequate
compensation allowed the physician by
the State for these invaluable services.
The spread Of practically all infections
diseases can be easily arrested by the
proper hygienic measures applied at the
bedside of the patient. This is particu-
larly the case with typhoid fever If
all typhoid bacill were detroyed at the
time they We're discharged from the pa
tient, typhoid fever would disappear in
less than one year. The means neces-
sary to effect this are: First, the fur
nishing Of packages by the State con-
tanning disinfectants, the necessary
vessels, napkins, etc, to receive the
diseased secretions and excretion pre-
vious to their destruction; second, re-
port blanks to be returned by the phys
ician giving the proper means Of pre-
vention to be furnished by the health
authorities of the State and to be in
dorsed by the local authorities; third,
d fee fixed by law for completing and
reporting upon the preventive pro-
cedures formulated by the State
The essentials of this method were
devised in Maryland for the control Of
tuberculosis, and have since been
adOntad bV New York and SavaraI othay