Report of the medical superintendent of Yaws Hospitals.

  • Nicholls, H. A. Alford (Henry Alfred Alford) 1851-1926.
Date:
1878-9]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the medical superintendent of Yaws Hospitals. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    in; conseqaenos of ths oarelassnesa tbo late Master of the hospital, the treattnaat not having been properly carried out. In the oth6r instances the disease tras no doabt contracted afresh. Like aman-pox, one attack of the diiease does.^not-give absolute immunity from a seoond attack. Small-pax has been known to occar thrice in the same individual; and in like manner, on account of a peculiar idiosyncracjr, some few individuals are capable cf being affected with yaws more than once. This is of course rare, but it does occur ; aiid when il is remembered that many of the patients discharged from the yaws hospitals go back to the same insanitary condi- tioas andar which they lived before thair admittauoa, and probably associate with persons affected with the disease from which they have just been cured, it cannot-be wondered at that in rare instances the yaws return again. .. .... I do not propose in the present report to enter in*^o any particulars descriptive of the nature and characteristics of the disease , it may not however be out of place to' give a brief sketch of the treatment new generally adoptsd in the hospitals. This is as eimple as it is effioaoious. and except in some minor details it is the same as reccmraended by Dr. Imray. At the commencemoot sulphur and cream of tartar arc exhibited until the characteristic eruption shows signs of dryiag up, then a mixture containing iodide- and chlorate of potash is given, and the care is usually complete. The so-called 'crab -yaw' on the sole of the foot, is treated with applioaiions of pure carbo'io acid, sod it is rea^lily and speediiy cured thereby. Ood-liver oil, fenuginout -au<i other tonid^, with the mineral acids, are given in suitable cases, aad the patients are. placed under proper hygienic and sanitary conditions. The time occupied in the treatnnont is from five to tea weeks in cases of the uncomplicated disease. But when the disease is of ^ong standing many months treatment is required. -. > . The rules and regulation:), as will be seen from the appendix,* are stringent; bat they are necessary, and they do not press heavily, except upon the eril.doers. - s Every day the patients ere bathed, and those who are able to do any work are kept occupied in gardening and other pursuits for several hours every day. The iav mates are thus always kept healthily exercised, and the beneficial effects thus pco- duced are most striking. cannot but be admitted that the recent working of the Yaws Hospitals it most satisfactory. The people are being cured of the disease, and nt the aame time they are being taught to be cleanly in person and habit. The leeward coast of the island u now nearly free from the disease ; and in a few years it is to be boped tbok iu Dominica^ the * Yaws'will be 8 thing of the past. • i , H. A. Alford Nichclls, M. I)., Med. Superintendent of Yaws Hospitals.. January V6, 187S. ^ , , . • tublUhed in Official Gasette, 27^A 1877. LETTER FRO'M DR, NI0H0LL8 TO THE COLONIAL SEQRBTART JiE:iPECTINa TEE SHE OF I EE CENTRAL YAW8 HOSPlTAIf, ^ ^ - Roseau, 24th January, IS78. , Sir, -.'-J J,, . • -.'y^i^ My attention having becT; directed by yen to certain rumours which ar« in circulation in the Island to the effect thbt the position of the Central Yaws Hqs* pital is a bad one in cons^^quence of its unhealthiness, I have the honor to lay befora you for the informution cf His Excellency the Governor the following remarks upon this important subject. ^ , ^ In Bblecting tho site for the erection of the hospital, a]near supply of fresh and fi}wing water was one of the moet essential conditions; and proximity to tpwn was neoMsary in order that the medical officers and other authorities might not only visit frequently, but also be within easy call. It was also necessary to fix upon the mouth of a river : tor, if a place higher up were determined upon, the water woqild bd contaminated below. In a report to the Colonial Oi&QO up3n Yaws in Dominica, dated 16th May 1877, Dr. Gavin Milroy bore oat these vlew», and thus th^ medical opinions in England and Dom'nica, arrived at independently of each other, ooincids in th'Sse important particulars. To the south of Roseau there was ao river ; the Roseau river itself was undesir* able as being within the town, therefore the only two eligible sites wnre the motithi cf the Cunefield and Belfast rivers. Of the two, Canefield was selected as being nearer to Roseau, and as being oonstdered healthier ai:d less marshy than Belfast. Before finally deciding upon the site, Dr. Imray, who is the only medical man upoa the Board of Yaws Commissioaers, was consulted, and he ezprossed approTsI at the selection. At the time the land was in oane cultivation, and some period elapscid before the eanes could be reaped. This faot is ittterasting, for it is toarcely in aooosd vith^the
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