The nature and control of yellow fever / by Harald Seidelin.

  • Seidelin, Harald.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The nature and control of yellow fever / by Harald Seidelin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    in endemic areas. Larve destruction and prevention of mosquito breeding take a secondary place; detection of cases, isolation, and fumigation of infected houses, on the other hand, become the principal measures. Finally, a small number of nonimmunes on expeditions, and in similar cases, should protect themselves as far as possible by segre- gation and screening. I believe that the individualizing methods here advocated would be more efficient and cheaper as well as less oppressive than the com- bined and often more stringent methods which are in use in some places. There is no time left to discuss classification of ships; I shall only say that in my opinion there is no reason to distinguish between infected and suspected ships; a ship with yellow-fever cases on board constitutes no danger per se; on the other hand, a ship carrying mosquitoes, but with no yellow-fever cases, may be extremely dan- gerous. It is unjustifiable to declare a ship indemne after 20 days (extrinsic and intrinsic incubation), as there is no guarantee that mosquitces would always infect individuals on their first day on board, instead of later on; nor can the possibility be excluded that they might remain in the hold during the passage and escape on arrival. DISCUSSION. Col. L. M. Maus, Medical Corps, United States Army, chief sur- geon eastern division, in his discussion of Surg. White’s paper, stated that the crusade against yellow fever was successfully carried out by means of screening with 18-inch mesh and destruction of the larve. The troops at Jackson Barracks, that city, were kept in the garrison under quarantine and the post newly screened. Although surrounded by many cases of yellow fever in adjoining city blocks, no case occurred among the troops. Yellow fever moves regularly from house to house, which proves that the stegomyia travels very slowly. During the epidemic in Jacksonville, Fla., in 1877 the physicians noticed this fact, but did not understand the reason. It is possible that the neighbors next door visited the house infected and thus got the disease and transferred it along. Dr. Epuarvo Licraaa, president Superior Board of Health, Mexico: Knowing what are the three requisites for the propagation of yellow: fever, to wit, a person suffering of the disease, the transmission of the cause through the bite of the mosquito, and a nonimmune bitten, we found that the disassociation of the three was enough to avert the spread of the disease. The easiest one to disassociate was the patient himself, whom we protected from being bitten by the mosquitoes by isolating him in a room protected with wire screens. With only this method we succeeded in reducing greatly and finally making the disease disappear from all cities and places except
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