Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-09-21
How Medicine Helped Win.


How Medicine Helped Win.
How the medical corps cut loss
: in war due to disease Is told by
DIR. Alexander Lambert of New
York in his recent address as presi-
dent Of the American Medical as
ISOLATION, printed in Science. Ma
laria, one Of the chief causes .of dis
ability in the Civil and Spanish wars.
is now an "also rare" being Jumped
in with "other diseases" Typhoids
so per cent of all deaths in the
Spanish War has become a fraction
OF / per cent. Dysentery's rs per
cent in the Civil war shrank to an
unrecognizable 0.0S per cent. Most
of the deaths from disease in the
recent war were from pneumonia
the chief scourge that medicine has
not yet under control. Says DIR.
Lambert:
Medical science has to-day.
within its grasp the power to control
the diseases which, in former times,
decimated warning armies and
spread out from these armies among
the noncombatant populations
Formerly, when war broke out, 1t
was almost inevitably followed by
eoHhS vi dQ pCbtliCuCO dhloiiS Inv
civil populations of the countries
in which the war was waged. BY
proper sanitation and preventive in
oculation, dysentery and cholera can
be abolished; by vaccination armies
can be protected against smallpox.
Body lice disseminate typus, recur-
rent fever, and trench fever, and by
proper disinfection of these vermin
these diseases cease to occur.
through sanitation and preventive
incubation, typhoid fever, the
scourge of the two previous wars,
is absolutely controlled, and this in
cludes also paratyphoid, which has
been recognized as separate entity
only since the Spanish American
war. In the Spanish American war
sos per cent of all deaths were
caused by typhoid, and in the
present war IS per cent. were caused
by pneumonia. The typhoid Of the
Spanish-American war was due to
local causes and local epidemics.
The pneumonia of this wan was be-
yond control, and was part of a
worldwide epidemic that swept over
both hemispheres and the morbidity
and morality of some of the cities of
this country exceeded those of the
SUAhPc. oobti dCllIlS Tie Q0dLn-TdlG
, caused by pneumonia from the
total death-rate by disease in the
recent war we have 20 per thou
sand for the entire army on both
sides of the water, which is prac-
ideally peace-time death-rate.
influenza, measles, and pneu-
monia, in the respiratory group, still
stand as battling problems, and their
control has not been accomplished.
Measles appeared and spread until
1t had no longer material on
which to spread, as one attack con-
fers immunity to second. Pneu-
monia following influenza or origi-
mating as a primary disease, still
eludes control. But the knowledge
which we have gained in this war of
the methods of its spread, of the
various infectious organisms which
produce it. and their various types
and varying virulence, Of it's occur
renee as a secondary complication
to measles and influenza, has enor-
monsly increased. The value of the
facts thus learned are incalculable-
ana belief Is justified that the prob
lem Is better understood than ever
ne1ore; and that we soon shall see
the solution of these problems"
''In the mobilization of the indus
trial forces of the nation by the
Council Of National Defense, the
health OF the nation and the protec-
ton of both nation and it's armies
were regarded of such Importance
that it demanded direct representa-
ton OF the medical profession on this
board. This is also true of the navy
for its Medical department is repre-
sented on the general board.
Oddly enough, the anachronism still
exists that in the general staff Of
the United States army the Medical
department is regarded as an out
slider. 1.-The medical and sanitary
formations are still regarded as
noncombatants, although. the ratio
81 the medical officers killed and
dying of wounds has been exceeded
only by that of the infantry and
artillery which branches neces-
sarily bear the brunt of the battles.
over 33 per cent. of our younger
men were disqualified from the
draft for. physical defects. There
is need of wider supervision OF our
growing boys and gtxls to build IN
a more robust nation, and it is espe-
cially urgent in fural districts,
This war has taught that there re-
mains economic value in the manned
and wounded, and it is our duty to
develop this value to it's fullest ex-
tent. The manning and injury Of
our workers, in the everyday work
OF industry, far exceed each year
the battle casualties of this war, and
there Is an economic necessity and
duty to be performed in the salvage
and reconstruction of the indus
trially injured.
Malaria still prevents the use of
large areas of our southern states
and saps, the energy of a large por-
ton of the population. Typhoid
fever still rests as blot on the rural
hygiene of this country. The con-
troll of epidemics between States is
already IN the hands of the Public
Health Service, and within states.
It state authorities request aid.
Quarantine from outside infection is
also under federal control. There
are many other federal activities
partially supervising health and
disease through the various de-
partments of the federal govern
ment. But it all lacks the efficient
power of central correlation, and
there remain many public health
n v(A L. L u