Omaha daily bee., 1916-01-04
The Cause for
Typhus Fever
BY WOODS HUTCHINSON, NJ. d.

Our greatest permanent advances In
sanitation have been made in the fight
again some fierce epidemic Of pestilence
ana even the savage whirlwind and hur-
rlcane OF war may be followed by healing
showers
J Recent dispatches from Mexico an
nounce that General Carranza finds that
one Of the dragons in his path r. our
ancient and intimate enemy, typhus
fever
There Is nothing surprising about this,
because up to about fifty years ago this
disease was as common as pneumonia is
1oday all over the civilized world.
How common may be judged by two
significant facts, one that our common
and still disgrncefully prevalent typhord
is namesake OF tho older disease. i,s
name being derived fron, II by the simple
process OF adding tho Crock suffix ..oid 4"
meaning like" and when firsr seDar rated
by Murchison was regarded as a variety
of typhuA.
The other that there is in one European
hospital. that of Edinburgh, memorial
tablet erected about the middle of the
last century commemorating the death
In discharge OF their duty OF forty-five
doctors, nurses and other members of the
hospital staff within the last thirty vearn
by typhus alone
The disappearance OF typhus from vest
ern Europe has been so sudden and COM
plete as to have something almost I'M
canny about f.
Beginning to decline only about fifty
or sixty years ago, 1t d'ed down SO
swiftly that within thirty years Il had
become one Of the rare diseases In Eng
land and America, while today the aver
ago physician who graduated less than
twenty-five years ago has seldom seen a
case Of 1t unless studying abroad II has
gone from northwestern Europe and
America with almost the completeness
oithc great plague or black death
The cause Of this striking and delight
ful decline Of a dangerous pestllencc was
Tor many years a mystery. but now that
We have discovered 1; It turns out to be
AZ astounding simplicity.
Noth.nS moro ncr less than the white
shirt with It's accessory institutions and
accompanying habits. the steam laundry.
running water i'm the house and the tub
bath. Indeed. thc vernacular term,
billed" shirt, phrases It more precisely,
as the habit OF boiling all human gar.
ments Of frequent intervals is the key
note OF ttc cure. FOR the simple but sig
nificant reason that boiling Kills vermin.
Rut how could more matter OF per-
soNal cleanliness. almost indeed Of vanity
and pride OF appearance. have such a
Ni'ol effect uron the spread OF danger.
ous disease?
Because the sole cause and carrier of
typhus is that loattsem parasitic insect
whose name is not permitted to be men
ti'ned n polite society $50
This discovery Is quite comparatively
recent affair. partly because the disease
had become so rare before the science OF
bocter'oioGy was born. o, n. least before
it he'd got fairly OH its feet that It was
etfficul. 20 secure enough material tor
proper investigation by laboratory meth.
ods.
To do this we had to equip expeditions
ard pursue it into tropical regions where
il sti,l held out. among them. Mexico.
where we have Just heard from It again.
In fact. we are entitled to take a ma
tional pride in this discovery, since It was
chiefly due to the work OF American
scientists. DR.. Ricketts,. OF he University
OF Chicago, and Drs. Goldberger and An
,derson of the United States marine hos
FSal service.
All Of them risked their lives in the
service OF humanity. as the disease is
frightfully contagious to all who come in
contact with its carriers, and Dr. Rick I
etts' alas. actually laid down dying from
the bite Of an infected insect only few I,
weeks after he had announced his dis !,
covery of the cause OF the fever, thus
literally, In the language of the earlier
martyrs. sealing his testimony with his !
blood" !
The habit which most greatly dis |
courages the parasitic typhus pest is ,
that Of wearing white or light oolored |
shirts and underwear, which show the /
dirt readily and have to be frequently /
changed
The chief merit OF the old brown, or
blue, or gray shirts'and underwear was ,
that they didn't show dirt and didn't .
need to be changed too often. Incl /
dentally. also. the diminishing use OF |
wool for underwear and shirtings has
helped In discriminating vermin, because
woolen fabrics furnish better cover for
the game, are more difficult to clean
and 1t Is not considered advisable to boil
them very frequently for fear OF causing
shrinkage.
II we had needed any proof Of the
close connection between the two-clean-
shirts week and bath-on- n-Saturday-niEht
habit, and freedom from vermin and ty-
pfds. the acute breakdown Of civilization
across the Atlantic has supplied It at
once.
One Of the first steps OF that relapse
into barbarism. called war. Is the break
ing up or serious interference with all
habits OF personal cleanliness
The thing that the soldiers in tke
trenches on both sides complain OF most
bitterly Is not the shells. nor the bayonet
attacks of the enemy. but first, the
mud, and, second, the swarms OF YER
min which infest them.
The reason is plain: trench fighting
among other peculiarities means that the
soldiers on the first line are compelled
10 stand and fire or crouch down and
sleep day and night for five days, ten
days. two and three weeks at a stretch.
without a single opportunity OF changing
their clothing or getting decent wash.
Even when they are laid off for their
term in reserve. to sleep and wash and
clean up. washing OF their clothing Is
extremely difficult. because the display
OF II in drying will instantly catch the
eye Of hostile air scouts and draw
shower of shells.