Report on the public health / Southern Rhodesia.

  • Southern Rhodesia. Department of Health.
Date:
[1930]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the public health / Southern Rhodesia. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    20/52 (page 12)
    not be nursed in general wards. (2) Owing to the nature of their ailment, consumptive patients are apt to be disturbing to others in the same ward, especially at night. (3) The regime of a hospital for tuberculosis is different from that of a general hospital, and it is therefore to the advantage of such patients to be separate. (4) The structure of buildings suitable for carry¬ ing out the treatment of tuberculosis is different from that of a general hospital. (5) Owing to the chronic nature of their disease, tubercular patients commonly require long periods of treatment and are liable to occupy beds which may be urgently needed for acute cases. 7. Helminthic Diseases. Schistosoma (Bilharzia) haematobium is the variety that has been found most frequently among Europeans. Schistosoma (Bilharzia) mansoni is also found, though not very frequently, among the white population, and is a disease of similar importance from the point of view of its effect upon the individual. It must be pointed out that these worms are distinctly injurious, and although cases may last for years without showing any obvious symptoms, they are capable of producing organic disease of a serious character. These diseases lend themselves readily to curative measures, but the value of cure may be small unless steps are taken to prevent re-infection. (1) Schistosoma (Bilharzia) haematobium infests the bladder. During the last three years considerable investigation of specimens obtained from European school boys lias been carried out by the Director of the Bacterio¬ logical Laboratory. Out of 1,247 boys examined, 108, or 8.7 per cent., were found to be infested with this parasite in schools in Bulawayo, Gwelo, Salisbury and Umtali and one or two other places. In one school 24 out of 90 boys were found to be affected. The limited amount of investigation carried out among girls tends to show that infestations occur, but are less common, probably owing to the fact that girls do not bathe or paddle so much as boys. This variety of schistosomiasis is also the most common form of parasitic worm found among natives in this Colony, and the waters are undoubtedly infected by them. The intermediate host is a small fresh water snail, Physopsis. (2) Schistosoma (Bilharzia) mansoni infests the intestinal canal. It occurs not infrequently in natives, but appears to be much more localised than S. haematobium, and lias not often been found in Europeans. The inter¬ mediate host is also a small water snail, Planorbis. The snails, in which these two parasites must undergo a stage of development before the worm can be conveyed from one human to another, are easily recognised, and can be tested as to their infectivity in the Government laboratories. (3) Ankylostoma (Hook worm) infests the intestinal canal, and is found not uncommonly as an indigenous disease amongst natives in Southern Rhodesia. The comparatively cool and dry climate of the Colony is not , favourable to this worm, which is probably the reason why severe cases of ankylostomiasis are rarely seen amongst indigenous natives. More severe cases are found in native labourers immigrating from northern areas where the climatic conditions favour heavy infestations. With a view to alleviat¬ ing this debilitating disease amongst imported labourers, mass treatment has been applied at the frontier stations of the Colony, 1 c.c. of oil of chenopodium with 2 c.c. of carbon tetrachloride being the mixture at present employed. Altogether 50,000 doses have been issued to these stations during the last nine months, and no untoward results have been reported from them. This parasite is not often found amongst Europeans in Southern Rhodesia. It has no intermediate host. (4) Ascaris (Round worm) and Taenia solium and T. saginata (Tape worms) occur among natives and tend to be localised. Europeans are not often affected. Ternidens deminutus, a worm belonging to the same group as the hook worm, has been found by Dr. Blackie to occur not infrequently among natives in Southern Rhodesia. It has not been found to have severe pathological effects.