Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-20
sCIENCE lessons
WAR MORTALITY
Virtually No Typhus or
Tetanus in Allied Armies,
Says Doctor Keen
ADDRESSES CONFERENCE
Political and Social Academi-
clans Discuss Rehabilitation
of Wounded Soldiers

4 virtually been eliminated from the Al
now wounded in battle, recover and are
able to return TO the trenches because
Of the discoveries of modern science
DR.. w. W. Keen, major in the United
states Medical Corps and emeritus pro-
fessor of surgery at Jeffcrs"n Hospital,
made these assertions in nm address
during a conference on rehabjlit ,ion
4 of she wounded al the American NCad-
emy OF Political and Social Science this
i afternoon. Major ke,n's address was
the feature of the opening session of
two-day conference on the general
topin, Rehabilitation of the Wounded"
The death rate in the American army,
according to Dr. Keen, quoting figures
from Surgeon General Gorras. is only
one-third the death rate of n large city.
The speaker said this In refutation of
E assertions that the army death rate ex-
ceeds that of large cities.
Only twenty-five per cent Of the com
round fractures sustained in the present
war prove fatal, whereas sixty-six per
cent were fatal during the civil War.
DR.. Keen said
Contrast to CiviI War
z While ninety of every hundred te-
4 tAnus victims died during the Civil War,
statistics on the present strife show
4 that the mortality rate, based on 1000
cases was only forty per cent. he said
Some of the victims did not receive th.
tetanus antitoxin.
Discovery of the Ietanus antltoXin by
experimental research work before the
war resulted in the checking of the
dreaded infection, according to Major
s Keen
The "cootie" is responsible for the
wholly new disease--trench fever
which medical science is now fighting,
said Doctor Keen, taking the place. in
measure, of typhus, which during the
Z spanish American and the Civil Wars
claimed terrible toll among the Amer
lean fighting men.
.Typhoid has been bauished from the
army said Doctor Keen The bacillus
Of typhoid was only discovered in 1880,
ntteen years after the Civil War"
Sciences Marvellous Advance
Major Keen continued:
In the Civil War lockjaw was not
frequent. but it killed ninety out of
100 patients; compound fractures killed
Two out of every three amputations
eraged more than so per cent MGR
.Ality.
: Until the total statistics OF the great
Z war are collected work Of years
We can only quote individual statistics
Of 1000 cases OF tetanus In the base
hispitals in England. the mortality was
snly,,40 per cetn. Among the thousand
orty did not receive the antitoxin, and
them 80 per cent died. OF the $50
ses which did receive the antitoxin
q M iaI ttn0
I one-half of the former mortality.
Only 25 per cent of the cases of COM
pound fractures are now fatal instead Of
~ per cent as in the COS. Four out of
nve amputations are due to infection.
our victory over infection is the reason
Tor the greatly diminished number of
amputations now done. Moreover. the
MOI tali'y OF amputations at present is
or the wolirded 80 per cent are soon
aDis TO return &c the fighting lines.
IN this world war, conditions In 1918
are Tar different not only from those of
the Civil War and from those immedi-
from 1el4-1916."
speaking of the operations which
physicians are now enabled to perform,
Doctor Keen said:
The road TO the heart is only
utte over an inch in direct line saws
rroi f. y. Lee, but it has taken
IL,
The heart was first la id bare and sewed
up for stab wound more than twenty
one years ago llSs7). Now this opera
tion has been done hundreds of times
ana has saved the lives sof about half
OF those operated upon. In this war
missiles have been removed from the
interior OF the heart and even from the
large blood vessels"
Ine hrst session, over which DR.
4
Charities of Philadelphia, presided, be-
1an AT 2:5O o'clock under the general
theme. Mature and Scope of the Prot
lem" ''e 'o'-
Physicians and surgeons who bava
won wide fame for notable achieve
ments In the practice of their profes-
sions. many of them now in the military
gertroe, are in Philadelphia TODAY
sHo tomorrow to attend this conference
\ as result of which the medical suthor-
Esiues OF the army and In civilian life
nope that a large percentage of soldiers
and sailors made blind or manned in
tne war VIII be restored to personal in
dependence and to useful OCCUPATIONS
Many Restored to Usefuin..s
conserving and and RecIa inning of
Disabled Soldiers for Further Miij,sry
service in Some Selected Line of Duty
N the Army" will be a subject discussed
tntS AFTERNOON by Lieutenant CoIonei
HArry f. Mock, Medical Corps. L, s A
Marveis of surgery accomplished under
Inc pressure of wars necessity will he
disciosed for the first time at this com
ference Thousands of men. after nav
ing received wounds which in former
wars would have left them not only
aincapable of further military service hut
also dependent upon others for the rest
of their lives for support. have been
restored to Usefulness and in many cases
sent back to the army itself
Other important papers will b. read
e1ls afternoon by Lieutenant Colonel
eAries w Richardson. medical corps
~ tne army, on Defects OF Hearing and
Eefech'; Brigadier General Robert r.
Nppie, medical corps on The Plan Of
|1he Medical Department OF the Army
kgS xne Care OF the Disabled :" James
Z5z zoe, vice chairman of the Federal
ior vocational Educa tion On the
Aovantages of National Auspices for
and another paper BY
.&<leutenant Colonel Casey A. Wood
3o4icAl corps of the National Army.
E& Al toniEhts session the general tonic
fW2u be Physical Reconstruction and
f1Al Rehabilitation." The speakers
~ Pc wallace Buttrick. president of
- Senerai Education Board of New
|H8ofk; Douglas c. McMurtrie director
~ 1ho Red Cross Institute for Crippled
SI|4 Dteabled Men, whose address wifi
~ Illustrated; Michael j. Bowling,
1o3Qent OF the Olivia State Bank of
10negota Major J. d. Todd of the
~ Of Pension Commissioners for
~, who will discuss rehabilitatio