The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-05-13
DISEASE DANCERs or WAR

daily. regardless OF the efforts Of the A.
b. c. mediator2 A belief is not unWar-
ranted that these activities in the di-
rection OF peace merely spell delay.
no matter what may be the verdict
that the medfators render. II a gem
eral war occurs 1t means. of course.
an invasion of Mexican territory on an
extended scale. And one OF the ques-
tons that naturally arises Is, What are
the disease dangers which will con-
front American soldiers in Mexico? It
has long since passed into truism that
in war, disease kills more men than
bullets. Will this prove true in Mex
lean war? The increased knowledge
of preventive medicine since the Span
lish-American war has encouraged the
belief that the mortality from disease
will be materially lessened. To what
extent is this belief justified. and what
are the diseases from which our troops
may suffer in tropical country and
from which they should be protected?
These questions. which have probably
been in the minds of many people dur
ing the last few weeks, are answered
IN recent issue of the Journal Of the
American Medical Association.
Aside from the ordinary diseases
which might prevail among any body
of two or three hundred thousand
men. there are certain diseases to
which soldiers in camp and in the
field are particularly exposed. These
are especially smallpox, typhoid fever
and dysentery. Smallpox may be dis
regarded, as any troops sent into Mex
leo will be immune from this disease
through vaccination. Typhoid fever,
in the past, has been the awful scourge
of military camps The appalling ex-
perience of the Spanish American war
has not been forgotten by our people:
the record of twenty thousand cases of
typhoid in the army in six months
produced an impression which can
never be obliterated. But since then
progress in preventive medicine has
been made. and vaccination against
typhoid is a result. Antityphofd in
oculation has been subject to rigorous
tests on a large scale in the army dur
ing the past two years, with the result
that in 1913, out Of ninety thousand
men at home and abroad, there was
only single case of typhoid fever
among the inoculated, a record that
can well be regarded as a triumph
for preventive medicine. It is be-
Ileved that the army surgeon now has
weapon against typhoid that will
make the next war unique in this re-
gard. Every officer and man now in
the United States army and navy is
practically safe against this disease.
and each recruit will be inoculated at
the time he is sworn into the service.
The next campaign in which the
United States army will participate
will be a practical test of typhoid
prophylaxis on a large scale. That it
will prove the value Of incubation and
will relieve warfare of one of its most
horrible accompaniments there is lit
tie doubt.
The dysenteries can be divided into
those due to bacterial invasion and
those caused by ptomains in foods.
While the water and food of the SOL
diers will be more carefully guarded
than ever before. a certain amount of
intestinal disorder will be inevitable.
1t can safely be predicted, however.
that the nation will be spared a repe-
tition of the ''embalmed-beef' scan
dals of 1888. The work of the general
staff Of the army, the development
of departmental officers of high eff
publicity on pure food that has taken
place in the last decade, ought to in
sure the American soldiers a whole
some food supply. After the expert
ence and warning of the past the
American people will hold to a. strict
accountability any one responsible for
supplying the army with food ma
ter1als which are not in every way up
to the standard.
OF the diseases peculiar to tropical
ana semicivilized countries. yellow
fever, malaria, bubonic plague, chol-
era and typhus must be considered,
The brilliant work of the last fifteen
years in demonstrating the transmits
sion OF malaria and yellow fever by
the mosquito has put our army and
navy surgeons and sanitarians in pos
session OF all the knowledge needed to
control these diseases The conyfnc-
ing demonstration of the practicability
OF their control given by General
Gorgas in the Canal zone has proved
that malaria and yellow fever can be
controlled completely in settled COM
munltles. Where men are living in
liked hab1tations. which can be screen
ed and where all possible breeding
places of mosquitoes for a necessary
distance can be destroyed, the COM
plete eradication of these two diseases
is possible. 1t remains to be seen.
however, what methods can be de-
veloped for preventing mosquito in
lection among soldiers in the field.
MosQuito-nets can. Of course, be car
ried, and patients in the field and
hospitals can be protected as well as
troops In barracks or permanent quar-
tiers. But how about troops in the
field. scouting parties, pickets and out
posts? Undoubtedly American inge-