The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-09-18
STATE OFFICER ON
 DREADED PELLACRA
pr. ". H. Sanders Issues Off,
 cial Bulletin on Disease
STATISTICS INCOMPLETE
Insurance Commissioner Issues An nual Report-Fake Insurance So- licitor Busy - Semmes Gen.
 tenary to be Celebrated.

Montgomery, September 17.-(Speciall- , Pellagra, the most dreaded of all the recent maladies has been made the subject of bulletin which has just been issued by Dr. W. II. Sanders, state health officer. The bulletin Is designed to set at rest the doubt which has existed in the minds of the people concerning the extent of the ravages of the disease, and is at the same time supposed to be balm to all sufferers.
 According to the bulletin pellagra Is neither contagious nor incurable. Some patients recover" the pamphlet reads. ''the exact percentage of recoveries being unknown on account of lack of sta tistics."
 Publication of the bulletin at this time was precipitated by the numerous queries which were received in the office of Dr. Sanders, in which the state was requested to advise the people of the malady. so far as medical ingenuity had ascertained it's nature. The bulletin, as a consequence. Is the offspring of these requests, and Is the most up-to-date report than can now be made It is issued only after the de- partment has had under direct supervis- ion more than a half dozen patients in this and other cities of Alabama.
 Nothing of a significant nature appears anywhere in the report, though it is char acteristic that warning of isolation IS sounded at a means of effecting cure. In regard to this the bulletin states: Tn treating a case it would be, in our pres ent state of knowledge, entirely proper to isolate the case as far as possible It adds, however. that there Is no proof that the disease is contagious; neither has 1t been proved that it is not feeby con- tagious."
 Nothing in the bulletin calls attention to probable cause, though the corn products agitation Is mentioned as pos sible. The pamphlet of instruction says: Eating corn meal has been assigned as the cause, but this has not been proved. | Inasmueh as 1t may turn out to be the cause 1t behooves all persons to that the meal they use is pure and good"
 The bulletin closes: There is no oc- casion for alarm or panic when a case appears in a community. Cases of the disease have existed for several years in ia miles of this state.'
 The bulletin explains that the depart ment is now endeavoring to get com plete record of the pellagra patients in this state."
 The bulletin explains that the depart ment is now endeavoring to get a com plete record of the pellagra patients in Alabama.
 Dr. Sanders report follows in full:
 Pellagra Bulletin.
 "To the Members of the Medical Profess
 sion of Alabama:
 Ceases of pellagra are appearing in a 1 number of places in the state. As you | are aware, this Is a new disease in Ala | bama The first case recognized and 1 described occurred about three years ago in the negro Insane hospital at Mt. Yer non. This case was described by Dr. | George H. Searcy, then of Tuscaloosa, In | the volume of transactions of the State Medical association of 1907 In the volume of transactions of 1908, Dr. Sydney Leach, also of Tuscaloosa, reported another case. Since that time the disease has occurred in number of counties, and is now gen. erally recognized by physicians.
 ''The symptoms of the disease may be briefly summarized as follows:
 An inflammation of redness resembling | sunburn appears on the backs of the hands, always symmetrical on the two hands, extending up to the wrists and sometimes to the elbows A similar red ness may appear on the dorsal surfaces of the feet; also on the face, back of the | neck and other parts of the body. | Sooner or later the skin of the parts af- 1 fected assumes a roughened appearance | the word pellagra meaning a rough skin. l Simultaneously with these appearances on the skin, sometimes preceding them, the mouth becomes sore, the mucous sur faces thereof and the tongue presenting a red and angry appearance. A flow of | saliva, resembling salvation sometimes occurs. LOSS of appetite and diarrhoea l are also symptoms. The skin lesions in time grow worse; the epidermis may be exfoliated, giving the skin raw and | angry appearance.
 The patient lsses flesh and strength. The | deep refexes are exaggerated Some cases run a more acute course and may | terminate in death or recovery within l year; the majority of cases, however, pur- | sue a more chronic course and may con- tinue for several years before terminating | in either death or recovery. Patients are liable to have fever during the stage of | the disease at which the gastro-intestinal | symptoms and skin lesions are most marked, and during the existence of fever the rapidity of the pulse Is liable to be | out of proportion to the rise of tempera- ture, that Is, with temperature of 100 degrees the pulse may be 12O
 In the more chronic cases the symptoms | are usually more pronounced in the sum- | mer and may subside very largely during the winter, to reappear the next spring. | As the disease progresses mental symp- | toms usually develop, the patient becom- ing languid and demented In some cases l these mental symptoms appear early in the disease.
 Some patients recover, the exact per centage of recoveries being unknown on account of lack of statistics.
 The cause of the disease Is unknown. Eating corn meal has been assigned as the cause but this has not been proved. Inasmuch as 1t may turn out to be the cause it behooves all persons to see that the meal they use is pure and good.
 There is no proof that the disease is contagious; neither has 1t been proved that it is not feebly contagious.
 In treating a case it would be. in our present state of knowledge. entirely prop CT to isolate the case far as possible. that is, the patient should be put in a de- tached or remote room, and all of his clothing. bedding, etc, kept separate from that of the other members of the family and thoroughly disinfected. The dishes, knives, forks and spoons used by a pa tient should also be kept separate from those of other members of the family and thoroughly disinfected.