The extinction of Malta fever : (a lesson in the use of animal experiment) / by David Bruce.

  • David Bruce
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The extinction of Malta fever : (a lesson in the use of animal experiment) / by David Bruce. 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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    Historical. This fever has been studied in various waj's for the last quarter of a century, but it was not until 1904 that the Government, alarmed by the great wastage in men, took the question up, and asked the Royal Society to undertake a thorough investigation of tlie matter. This the Royal Societ}’ agreed to do, and early in the summer of the same year sent out to Malta a Commission for this purpose. The work was carried on for three years before the discovery was made which led to the extinction of the fever. It seems a pity that this re.search was not under- taken twenty years earlier, as during this time some 14,000 or 15,000 soldiers and sailors have suffered from the disease. Hescriptiox of Malta Fever. At the outset it will be necessary to give a short description of this fever. jMalta fever is no trivial complaint, but is a severe and dangerous disease, which lasts a long time, and is accompanied by a good deal of pain. Our soldiers remain under treatment in hospital with it on an average for 120 days, and it is by no means uncommon for a patient to suffer almost continually from it for two or even more years. During the whole course of his illness the patient is apt to suffer from severe rheumatic pains in the joints, and neuralgia in various nerves, and this, combined with the long-continued fever, brings about a condition of extreme emaciation and weakness, from which recovery is slow.
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