The later history of spirillum fever at Bombay, 1882-83 : memoir based upon cases read before the Medical and Physical Society / by H.V. Carter.
- Henry Vandyke Carter
- Date:
- [1884]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The later history of spirillum fever at Bombay, 1882-83 : memoir based upon cases read before the Medical and Physical Society / by H.V. Carter. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![1882, about 30 instances were met with. And this number is large enough to demonstrate a tendency of the complaint to become ' endemic, ' or ' naturalised/ after the fashion seen in some European cities {loc. cit., p. 29). That only one case was noted at the J. J. Hospital during ]883, seems to show almost entire subsidence of the disease ; but whether or not by active enquiry more cases could have been found there or elsewhere, it is impossible to say. A certain degree of effort is essential, for procuring data of valid significance ; and a single example in a general hospital, doubtless stands for several outside unseen. 2. This long persistence has been independent of public distress, and commonly of personal destitution. Thus, both the above sporadic cases occurred in well nourished men ; and of the associated series only a woman and her two children appear to have been ill-fed : no patients that I saw, were unusually ema- ciated. The conclusions before arrived at, are in general con- firmed ; the spirillar infection of man being essentially discon- nected from primary wasting of the frame, whilst for collateral reasons being in the mass a morbus pau2)eriim (loc. cit., p. 369). The number of acknowledged mendicants in an Oriental city like Bombay, is very considerable (9,584 by Census of 1881, with 566 deaths) ; but judging from the wide prevalence of charit- able customs, it may be doubted if instances of starvation or approach thereto, are so numerous as in corresponding European cities. Famine or general scarcity would, however, be more felt here. 3. In 28 of 30 cases, the operation of contagion was strong- ly suggested. Thus, these 28 cases occurred in groups of 3, 6, 8 and 10 persons; and how many other persons in each instance wei-e infected and not seen, remains unknown. In fact, the difficulty here is to understand why the spread of infec- tion is not usually more apparent than it happens to be; although, obviously enough, without special and prolonged enquiry, the whole truth in any one instance may not be learnt. The work of such an enquiry might be tedious, but would not be either misplaced or fruitless. Various forms of disease tend to work like the other noxious fi'ne naturce, and a systematic hunting](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22292664_0032.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
