The sun., 1916-11-19
PELLAGRA EASY TO
CATCH, SAY EXPERTS
Disease Infectious, but Inves-
ttigatiOn shows 1t Can
BE- Controlled.
NOT DUE TO POOR FOOD
New York Post Graduate
school Makes Important
Discoveries.
NOT DUE TO POOR FOOD


peI,aera Is infectious. but IL not caused
b. an unbalanced or inadequate diet,
ara the most effective means OF COM
hating u Is by installing efficient sewage
Disposal systems In the communities
where 1t 1t prevalent. says a report issued
Yesterday ny the commission OF the Post
Graduate Medical School and Hospital,
Second avenue and Twentieth street. that
has been conducting an extensive invests
r.lon In South Carolina.
The Importance Of these discoveries. II
vas pointed out. can better b. apprs-
dated when Il II recognised that more
than 100. 900 persons In this country are
known to be suffering from the disease.
There probably are many more Victims
a. several Of the States In which It 70
prevalent are not In the Federal regis
trs,ion area. and the extent OF the dis
ease there can only be Appropriated.
The facts disclosed by a searching in
ouiry and long continued observation In
spartanburg county. s. c.. where scores
Of persons have die from pellasra. prove
eonclusively, a member Of the commits
sion said last night. that. contrary to
the belief generally prevailing In the
North, the disease IL infectious.
II spreads through lack OF proper
sewage facilities. and In the opinion of
the Investigators cannot be contracted
BY persons merely because they do not
have a proper diet.
The greatest immediate value that
society will derive from the findings OF
the Post Graduate Hospital Commission.
l, was said. Is that the disease a be
controlled.
That is demonstrated by the result Of
the practical testing of the commissions
theory. The commission holds that since
the disease spreads most rapidly where
persons are crowded together in places
with surface sewage disposal. and
whereas in communities with more ade-
Qua,e water carriage systems new cases
seldom develop. the way TO check It's
spread IL By adopting sanitary disposal
methods.
Three Years InvestigatiOn.
T. prove the theory three years work
IN Spartan Mills. an Industrial district In
the city OF ~Spartanburg. has Just been
completed. An efficient sewerage sys-
tenn was built. Thorough records Of all
cases were kept. That community. con-
atsting of 1000 persons, was regarded
as one OF the worst pellagra foci In South
Carolina. Scores Of persons there until
recently were newly attacked by the
disease each yea
The result Of sewering the community
Is that although numerous old cases
still were present this year.. no one living
within the severed district contracted
the disease in the last twelve months.
with n single exception.
The only new victim was a woman on
the extreme edge OF the community. just
across the street from a house with sur
face drainage In which a chronic pella-
era sufferer lived. From the worst type
Of pellagra focus the district has been
changed TO n community In which the
disease no longer spreads.
The reduction in the number OF cases
OF the disease In Spartan Mills has I'M
pressed the owners of another large mill
in the county. who have begun an active
fight on the epidemic In their community
BY installing an efficient disposal system.
The commission has not discovered
the cause OF pcllagra. but asserts that
until scientific research reveals what pro-
duces the disease. which caused more
deaths In South Carolina In the first
half Of 1915 than any other malady. the
most advisable course to take Is to
sewer towns where II prevails n thus
save the health and lives OF many per-
SONS who otherwise might contract II.
Maine Not Responsible.
Early IN its Investigation the commits
sion decided that the use Of make A. .
food could not be regarded as the essen
tial cause II ~pellaera, nor could m par
trular element OF the diet be designated
logically as the cause.
This conclusion upset the belief that
PERSONS subsisting chiefly on maize con-
'racted the disease a q result Of the
!. eponderance of that food in their diet.
a theory which has been popular In
Italy. and to which the American public
has clung tcnaciously.
Tie commission found pellagra more
prevalent among tho poor and Ill
nourished. but nevertheless encountered
typical cases among the we'll to do and
even among the apparently well nour-
ished.
II i%naugurated a hygienic-dletetic
treatment OF MAN. patients. The suf-
fsrers were brought to the Post Graduate
Hospital whore they were treated by
rest, careful nursing and a proper diet.
TIE results Of this regime proved ex-
celcnt. The patients simply got we'll.
There was no medication. The treat
ment was similar to that given to tuber-
culous patients.
To Its own satisfaction. at least, the
commission d~isproved early the theory
MAT the disease Is due to the bite Of the
Buffalo gnat, more commonly known as
The black ny. and the hypothesis that II
70 caused by the presence OF certain
minerals in drinking water.
Our studies" one of the investi-
gators said, have proved pellagra Ia In
'sctious. Most of the new cases observed
arose in the immediate vicinity Of a pre-
existing pellagra sufferer. For the frst
time the significance of these facts In
respect TO the way in which pellagra
spreads has been pointed out"
The commission. which began its work
IN 1917, interested several branches OF
me Federal Government In the invcstisa-
uon OF this disease, and was instru-
mental in obtaining Congressional action
70 support the quite separate n indie
nendent special work Of the Public
Health Service on this problem.