Evening star., 1952-05-23
Wave Of Yellow Fever
Hits Central America
Disease Has Moved $50 Miles
In Less Than Four Years
By Thomos R. Henry

Like some primeval monster. Q wave
OF yellow fever is wallowing across Cen
tral America.
In less than four years it has moved
about $50 miles, at an average velocity
of IL to is miles month. It has moved
from long established region in East
ern Panama across jungle and mountain
into Costa Rica. It has left II proved
human victims in its wake.
This is reported by Col Norman w.
Elton. director of the Canal Zone Board
OF Health Laboratory at Ancon.
The pathway followed by the slowly
advancing monster is quite crooked, de.
pending on forest continuity, mosquitoes
in tree tops and monkeys in the
branches. Its course can be predicted.
but it apparently cannot be stopped.
The wave appears to move In bursts
and halts, depending on natural condi.
tions.
Based on Several Factors.
These movements" Col. Elton SAYS
In report to the United States Public
Health Service, "are undoubtedly based
on population density and terrain and
seasonal factors, as well as on the eff.
cheney of vaccination campaigns. Dur.
ing the past three years it has swept
successfully westward across Panama
and Costa Rica and has crossed the
Continental Divide to the Pacific side of
Southern Costa Rica. It threatens to
return eastward through the Pacific
watershed of Panama. There is no indi-
cation that the main wave can be
expected to stop until it reaches the
forests Of Vera Cruz and Tampico in
Mexico
The disease is Jungle yellow fever
essentially the same in ali essential re.
spectS as the dreaded yellow jack''
which was responsible for some OF the
most devastating epidemics in history.
1t is spread by mosquitoes that breed in
the jungleS.
One OF the major reservoirs of the
malady is the bowling monkey popula.
ton. It causes high mortality among
these animals.
A meningitis epidemic is quite likely
in the United States this year.
This is foreSeen by DR.. Arthur w.
Hedrich of Johns Hopkins University
States Public Health Service.
1t has long been recognized, DR.. He'd
rich points out, that meningitis runs in
cycles. When an epidemic wave starts
upward it tends to continue until a
substantial peak has been reached. Case
rate increases have been evident both in
the Army and in the civilian population
for the past two years.
'It has been approximately nina
years." he says. "since the last epidemic
peak in 1943. This is already somewhat
longer than the average inter- epidemic
period.
Inflow of Susceptible Persons.
"The annual national birth rate since
the last epidemic has been about so per
cent higher than during the nine years
prior to that epidemic. In other words,
there has been an unusually heavy
inflow of susceptible persons into the
population.
"The present unusually high indus
trial activity, high rates Of travel and
bulld-up of the armed forces are condi.
tlonS which in the past have been aSso.
ciated with epidemic development ~
The situation may be made somewhat
worse by overconfidence in some of the
newer drugs. In the past meningitis, the
report points out. has been among the
most dreaded of all diseases. Now there
is tendency to take it lightly. The
treatment, however, still must be con.
sidered experimental.
Deaths during the last two major epi-
demic years totalled nearly 5000.
Curiously enough, the death rate
seems to have increased Of late de-
spite the drugs like penicillin. This
is questionable, however, since many
cases are masked by the action of the
drug, given early for any feverish condi-
ton. A few years ago these would have
been reported as cases of meningitis.