The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1910-10-13
CHOLERA SPREADS OVER WORLD
PASSING ALL GUARANTEES

Three important facts must be- borne
in mind with reference TO the cholera
panic which after affecting Europe for
weeks past, has to some extent in,ad.
ed the western hemisphere The facts,
as set forth by The British Medical
journal uondon), are. first. that n
properly taken In hand al It's incep.
ton a cholera epidemic can be check
ed without great mortality; second,
that II medical aid is obtained but a
short while before death might nor
mally be supposed to ensue, the pa
tents life can generally be saved,
third. that countries even at con.
siderable distance from the infected
region are likely 10 become infected,
in spite Of all reasonable precautions,
by bacilli carriers.
We are reminded by the contem-
porary from which we CLEAN these de-
tails that the United States has been
infected on four'or five occasions from
from the ports where the disease APP
peared. Nevertheless the United
States has succeeded in holding the di-
sease I'm check through it's quaran-
tine service. The American quaran-
tine authorities are quoted I'm Euro
pean medical organs as saying that
tho TTuftad Ct.tag gg nfrnurauuahIa -,
cholera" but I'm view of recent dis
coveries made at Rotterdam, our con-
temDoraries, including the London
Lancet, deem this too optimistic a
statement The authority last named
thus sets down the particulars on
which it's judgment is based:
Among 1SS persons meteorological
ly examined at Rotterdam in 1909,
eight, or practically per cent, were
found to be bacilli-carriers, which
means that, though the persons in
question we're not sick, they never
theless harbored cholera bacilli in
large quantities in their bodies. In
these eight persons germs were found
for period Of five to twelve days,
with no knowledge as to how long the
bacilli were there before the first ex-
animation. The meaning Of this to a
port even as far from Rotterdam as
New York needs little explanation.
Among 100 people leaving Europe for
America, four may be supposed to
harbor bacilli in their system. They
may carry these germs for twelve
days, while the voyage of passenger
ships from Europe to New York is
very seldom over ten days and is
usually less. Upon arriving at their
destination these infected people will
be passed by the quarantine doctors
as healthy and allowed to 90 their
way, though investigations at Rotter-
dam tend to show that they are still
a cause of public danger
For ports closed to the source of
disease the danger naturally becomes
greater. 1t must also be remembered
that the class Of persons most likely
to be infected are poorer people COM
ing from the cheaper, flthier parts of
large cities, who, upon arriving in a
new land, will doubtless settle in COM
paratiyely dirty localities in the dense
~ populated parts of a city. where
danger from a rapid spread of any dis
ease which obtains foothold is great
er than in the better sections.
The experience at Rotterdam has
thus shown that in a clean country,
with an efficient force Of doctors and
sufficient hospital accommodation,
cholera epidemics, if taken in time,
can be checked. IT has further been
proven that the terrible death-rates
which have usually accompanied out
breaks of this disease are avoidable
If modern methods are promptly APP
piled to stricken patients; but it has
also been shown that the bacilli-car-
rier, a factor hitherto regarded as
more or less negligible, is one of the
greatest dangers to surrounding coun-
tries and Is spreader Of disease who
can neither be detected by the usual
methods nor debarred by anything
short Of an entire discrimination of
commerce between an infected coun-
try and its neighbors."
Unfortunately, observes the London
Medical Journal the greater part of
continental Europe must feel that Rus
sia is cholera menace too great to
be resisted altogether All through
the summer and well into this autumn,
Russia lay PROSTATE before the chol-
era. Then it was reported in Italy,