The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1912-03-14

Too much Of what appears in print
on public health subjects bears internal
evidence Of having been written by
those without irst-hand knowledge Of
the subjects discussed The result il
vast accumulation Of platitudinous
and often inaccurate advice, not only
as to personal hygiene, but as to the
, solution Of nationwide health prob
elms. On the other hand the real san
itarians, those who actually go into the
field and accomplish something, too
frequently content themselves with
brief and technical accounts Of their
work. The consequence il that much
Of the enthusiasm Of the public is mis-
directed and the limited funds usually
available for health work are expended
ON matters Of comparatively minor i'm.
portance.
These remarks Of the Journal Of the
American Medical Association do not
apply to the campaign against typhoid
conducted last summer in Yakima coun-
ty, Washington, or to the manner in
which the results are recorded in a re-
cent Bulletin of the United States
Health Service. In this bailetin DR..
L. 4. Lnmsden gives a clear and sue
cinct discussion Of the causation and
prevention Of typhoid and illustrates
each point by reference to conditions
observed in the State Of Washington.
A densely populated semi-ruraI commu-
nifty, provided only in small part with
public water-supplies and seferage sys-
TENS; a very large number Of insanita-
ry privies, frequently in close proximity
to shallow wells; number Of stables
and manure.piles, breeding innnmerable
flies; an extensive system Of irrigation
bitches, accelerating the prompt and
wide distribution Of pollution; typhoid
prevailing throughout the year, but
with marked increase each summer,
the annual typhoid death rate being
about $50 per hundred thousand The
methods employed were the creation Of
a popular sentiment for improved san
itation by means Of public addresses;
an exhibit at the health department,
etc; the enforcement, in d practical
and common-sense way, Of ordinances
requiring the connecting Of houses with
the sewerage system and, when this
was impracticable, the construction Of
cheap but efficient sanitary priyies;
the protection Of the ter-supplies and
milk-supplies; the proper disinfection
of human excreta; the destruction Of
the breeding-places Of flies, etc. Those
directing the work did not stop with
sententiously advising the citizens to
expend Immediately large sums Ct mon
ey in filtration and publication plants
and, in the meanwhile, to boil the
water" and leave the rest to prOvi.
dence; but simple, practical measures
we're at once employed.
The result was, as already indicated,
practical elimination Of the disease,
This signal triumph Of sanitation is
worthy Of more than passing attention
by other communities, for like condi-
lions may be found, with variations,
throughout the United States. The
campaign conducted in Yakima Valley
clearly and individually lowered the
annual typhoid rate there by about 30
per cent Were similarly successful
campaigns carried out throughout the
country the number Of cases Of typhoid
in the United States would soon be re-
duced by 100000, and the deaths by
over 10000 per year. Such state
ment seems incredible, but any one
carefully studying the conditions at
Yakima will be convinced that they
we're not in any respect more favorable
for the suppression of the disease thea
those existing elsewhere; in fact, con-
ditiOns are more favorable in most To-
calities.