The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1915-07-12
Typhoid Fever
Is Preventable.


Four hundred thousand persons in
and thirty thousand lives
st-.this is the heavy toll iexacted in
the Uaited States each year by the
of typhoid fever. And ty-
phoid fever is a preventable diseased
A recent bulletin of the United
States Public Health Service entitled
ssTyphoid Fever-Its Causation and
Prevention" states that within the
mast ten years few of our commune
ties having as many as two thousand
nersoug have remained free from this
disease for any period of twelve con-
secutive months. In recent times the
rate of its prevalence for the United
States as a whole has been from two
to five times as high as in some OF
the countries of Europe. In these Eu-
ropean countries the typhoid rate was
formerly higher than the present fig
ures for the United States. Their
great reductions in the ravages of
the disease have been brought about
bv improvements in sanitary condi-
lions.
In many American cities there has
occurred within the last twenty years
4 considerable reduction of typhoid
fever. Due in a large part to i'm
proved sanitary conditions in the
cities, the typhoid rate for some en-
tire states has shown a material de-
crease. For the country as whole
according to available figures, tbs
rate has been reduced about so pei
cent in the past 40 years. But tbs
present rate is about the same al
that which prevailed in some Of ths
other advanced nations of the worlt
80 years ago. In other words thu
United States is a generation behinc
the times, in respect to the reduction
of its typhoid rate.
Practical and efficient measures TO
the prevention Of typhoid fever ar
definitely known, but the efforts to ge
the people of the average self-govern
ing community to carry out thes
measures to a reasonable extent ar
oftentimes decidedly experimental |
character. In many instances tn
cost of modern sanitary improve
ments has been an obstacle in the wa
of typhoid prevention. It is often di1
ficult to convince the governing al
thorities that money expended in th
protection of the public health yielc
large dividends.
In rural communities and sma
municipalities another factor-the il
struction and cooperation of the il
dividual property owner-enters IN
the problem. Here every home mu
have its own method of sewerage di
posal, and in most cases It's ov
water supply. The Public Heal
Service bulletin above referred
deals in a comprehensive way wi
the construction of wells and gu
houses.
In recent years a specific meth,
for increasing individual resistan
to typhoid germs has been employee
This is known as antityphoid inocul
ton or Vaccination" This meth
has been used extensively in militia
organizations Of the United Stat,
and from the results obtained it a
pears that inoculated persons al
upon equal exposure to typhoid
lection, less than one-fourth as like
10 develop the disease as those "
have not been inoculated and W
have previously had the disease. T
average duration or protection Civ
by incubation has not been determi
ed, but is supposed to be about t,
years.
It is pointed out, however, that t
protection given by antityphoid inoc
lation is relative, not absolute, a
that such incubation is not to be
garded as a substitute for sanitati,