Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-01-31
EINFLUENzA A MYSTERY
50 Far Has Defeated Medical Skill
T and Science
MEANS OF TRANSMISSION UNKNOWN
Story of One Hundred Heroic VoIun-
fteers Who Braved Death In the Hope
That Thousands of Others Might Be
Saved-Surgeon General Blue Is
Baffied.
BY Frederick J. Haskin.

| BY Frederick J. Haskin.
An experiment that makes the trans
mission Of influenza a more battling
mystery than ever, and which at the
same time places on record an act Of
lf-sacrificing heroism by about 100
naval volunteers, has just been COM
pleted by officers Of the United States
public health service CO. operating with
medical officers Of the United States
navy at Boston and San Francisco.
| AS nearly every ones knows, scien-
lists all over the world, in combating
the spread Of influenza which Is still
going on, have proceeded on the as
sumption that 1t Is transmitted chiefly
by coughing and splitting. The theory
has been that the diseased mucus
thrown out by these acts Is filled with
the germs of influenza, which thus find
lodgment in healthy tissue. All the
experiments heretofore made seem to
indicate strongly that influenza is
transmitted in this way. and it is well
accepted that most other respiratory
diseases are so carried.
This latest experiment consisted in
submitting the 100 men who volun-
teered for the purpose to every pos
sible method Of infection with influ-
enza germs through the nose and
throat. These men risked their lives
for the general good, and for the ad-
vancement of science. They went
through a singular trying and repul-
sive ordeal. They. and every one else
believed that they were being inocula-
ted with the dread disease which is
destroying millions Of lives ell over
the world. Their heroism is fully equal
to that displayed some years ago by
the men Of the amy medical corps
who exposed themselves in Cuba to
the bites Of mosquitoes in order to de-
tefrine finally whether yellow fever
was transmitted by that insect. The
only difference in the two experiments
was in the result Some Of the Of
ficers who exposed themselves to the
bite of the mosquito contracted yel-
low fever. and one of them died, there
by establishing the soundness Of their
theory. The volunteers who submit
ted themselves to incubation with the
germs of influenza were fully expect
ed to take the disease, and were pre-
pared to die. But not one Of them de-
yeloped any symptoms Of influenza.
ta This raatapish negatiye result,
which Is the sensation of the day In
scientific circles, should not tempt any
one to be careless in the matter OF
coughing and splitting or In exposing
himself to infection by those acts. AS
officials Of the public health service
point out, 1t may be that the germs
of the disease disappear as soon as or
Immediately after the symptoms ap-
pear. Something like this is true Of
other diseases. In measles, for ex-
ample, it has been found that the
germs which cause the disease are all
| gone within five or six days after the
appearance of the rash, and the case
Is no longer contagious. The discov-
cry Of this fact, which was made by
anderson and Goldberger of the pub
lie health service only few ars ago
has led to shortening the quarantine
for measles by more than half.
These new experiments in the
transmission of influenza" said Sur
econ General Blue, SHOW how diff
cult Is the influenza problem. They
hv no means indicate that we can af-
ford to disregard coughing, sneezing
and splitting as common means OF
spreading disease, and even in the
,ase of influenza this source Of infec-
ton should always be borne in mind.
believe, however, that we have not
paid sufficient attention to other paths
of infection, especially to the lips,
mouth and hands. The fact that the
disease was much less common In
army camps where the sterilization of
all eating utensils and dishes was rig
idly enforced, shows the Importance
If the month as an avenue Of infec-
tion."
There can be no doubt that these
experiments at Boston and San Fran
o'sco were carried out with the utmost
thoroughness. Lieutenant Command
,r Rosenau at the navy medical corps
and Surgeon Joseph Goldberger OF the
blio health service were the officers
in charge Of the Boston experiment,
which was made at the quarantine sta
ton on Gallop Island. Forty-seven
men were the subjects Of this part Of
the experiment. All of them had been
more or less exposed to the disease
and 80 Of them had never had any
bronchial disease. This means that
some Of them may have been naturally
immune to influenza, but 1t it not at all
probable that all Of them were.
The first experiment consisted In
thoroughly injecting the noses Of about
ten Of the men with cultures Of Pfeif-
fer's influenza bacillus, virulent
germ commonly found, in influenza.
None Of the men developed any symp-
toms. The next form Of the expert
Iment was to take the secretions from
the noses and throats Of influenza pa
tients and place them in the noses and
throats of the volunteers by means Of
swabs and sprays. The time occupied
in removing the diseased mucus from
q sick man and putting 1t into the
lnose and throat OF a we'll man was re-
duced to as little as 80 second. Yet
none of the men so infected developed
any symptoms Of the disease.
Determined that the test should be
exhaustive the doctors next submit
ted a group of volunteers to infection
by actual coughing and splitting. For
this purpose ten volunteers were Sc
lected, and ten bed patients who had
recently come down with severe at
tacks of influenza. Each Of the VOL
I,nteers leaned over the bed Of each