SICKNESS AT THE CAMP

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2515, 17 July 1915, Page 6

SICKNESS AT THE CAMP

EXPERTS' DIAGNOSIS

CEREBROSPINAL .MENINGITIS •i _ ——- , "A GRAVE MATTER" SPREAD OF THE DISEASE MAY B|3 CHECKED

-The sickness among the soldiers at Trentham Camp, which has given rise to so much anxiety and speculation, has been, definitely diagnosed as cerebrospinal meningitis. ■ A statement on the subject, was made in the House yesterday afternoon by. the Defence Minister (the-Hon. J. 'Allen). Mr. Allen opened his remarks by reading.the following report, dated July 8, which had .been'forwarded on the afternoon of that, day to the Hon. R. H. Rhodes, who is Acting-Minister of Defence on tho medical side, by Colonel Yalintine, Director of Military Hospitals :— . Reasons for Sudden Flight, l'l have to report that'owing to representations made by Captains Harrison and Ferguson this morning with regard to-tho epidemic ■which is now '. prevailing • in the camp, I deemed it my duty to summon Dr. Hector, of tlie Lower ■ Hutt, in consultation witli the first-' named officers. After a careful inquiry into tho nature of'the epidemic and the attendant symptoms and general features of the disease, Dr. Hector came to. tho' conclusion that tlio disease which is now prevalent is associated with so many of the symptoms of typhus that it is advisable to treat it as that disease. I 'am well aware of the responsibility that this involves on all concerned ° ■ and the grave consequences that ; may accrue in case tho diagnosis should unfortunately be found to be' correct. ; Nevertheless, I am "strongly .of opinion that there is • . only ono course, and'that is to immediately change the camp ground. • It ;is obvious 'that it would never • ■ do" to break up the camp .and let the men go to their own homes, as by this means a very fatal disease might be distributed throughout , the Dominion. . ' "At this hour I can only advise ;• you with all the emphasis at my > command to have the camp shifted at once. - ' , "On the expedition with which the-camp can be shifted will depend, the lives of many men." Miv Allen, said ;that the report that ho had just read had. been brought into the.House. at 5 o'clock oil July B.' He '.was'' s'pealcing at the time, and it was 'not until ho sat down that ho knew i.that; r it -had been received. Arrange'meiits for shifting the camp /were made I immediately, .and at 9 o'clock tho next t morning a start was made to move tho • camp.' The Correot Diagnosis. then" read the following fuMier report', dated July 16, from. Colonel Valintine, and addressed to the Minister of..', Defence: — "In, further reference to my. memo, of July 8, I lmve tho honour to submit reports from the Government Bacteriologists, Professor. Champtaloup and Mr. J. A. Hurley, and from' Dr. Bowie, Assistant Medical Superintendent of the Dunedin Hospital. "You will note that the disease at" Trentham has now been definitely diagnosed as cerebro-sphaal meningitis. Epidemics of. this disease havo occurred in the United Kingdom during the present war, and cases have been reported amongst troops in barracks whore the sanitary, arrangements, etc., are above suspicion. ,• The question will doubtless be raised as to whether this disease aroso fronv' ony insanitary condition at tho camp.- There is absolutely no evidence to this effect. On the contrary,: the disease being duo to a recognised' organism, the. aiplococus intracelularis meningititis could not have arisen do novo, could not hare been bred in .tho camp, but must have been introduced from without, probably by means of a for by this means tho recent epidemics, in : the United Kingdom and elsewhere are,said''.to'have been introduced'.. ..'Cases' 'of.'cerebro-spinal meningitis liavo:occiirred"iii the Dominion be-.; fore. l, V Mi- ;■ "The. outbreak-of this'.disease is a grave'matter for!the Dominion, but far graver would have been an outbreak of typhus, as .wa's feared before tllo truo nature of tho disease was established bv the bacteriologists. Though a very grave - disease; cerebro-spinal .meningitis is by,;iio means las .infectious as typhoid or smallpox; and though it is advisable to quarantiiio. certain places and generally take proper precautions, there -is evory hope that it'will bo possible'to prevent the spread of tho disease to any great extent. "I am causing a leaflet that has been issued by the .Local Government Board on tho subject to fie printed and circulated, amongst .tho medical practitioners of tlie Dominion so that all the necessary precautions can be taken to prevent "its 6pread." Anti-Toxin Prepared. Mr. Allen 6aid that tho leaflet would .be circulated as early.and as widely "as possible. A vaccine had been prepared and had' been used at Trentham with marked success. The Department had tlio matter ■ entirely in hand. It was possible that there would be another death or two—lie hoped hot—but every caro'was being taken, and ho was hopeful that any spread of tlio disease would be prevented. He emphasised the fact, as disclosed by tho report, that tho disease was not due to any insanitary conditions at Trentham. Experts stated i that tho'drainage at Trentham left nothing to be desired, and ho was sure that the camp did not deserve the bad name that had been given to it. Mr. Wilford (Hutt); How many deaths havo heen due to meningitis ? Mr. Allen: Four, so far as is definitely known, What of the Other Sickness? Sir Joseph Ward' said that it was very reassuring to know that the suspicion of typhus had been proved to bo unfounded, but the report did not go ■far enough. l Tho House ought to havo information concerning tho cases of measles and pneumonia. There was no doubt that tlio action of tho Government in-shifting tho camp immediately after receiving the first report was justified, but tho report shoujd havo dealt with the''whole aspect of thematter. He had received a communication from l'almerston North stating that there were a great number of measles cases there.' "' .. Mr. Not.a great numhsr. .ftuabeiijf •

Sir Joseph Ward: My letter is from a mau of standing who is riot a- politician. Ho tells me that tho cases are pouring in. The report just read,, he went, on to say, did not by any means clear up the numerous cases of sickness that: had occurred at Trentham, and which had 'caused so much concern. They were all glad to hear that a less serious disease than typhus had been located, but the report did not' clear up the whole question of tho sickness. Mr. Parr: The Royal Commission will inquire into that. Sir Joseph Ward repeated that the report did hot give tho necessary information in regard' to the cases of measles and pneumonia. An Anxious Time. Tlie Prime Minister said-that when the Government received the report it felt that the proper thing to do was to tako tlio House into its confidence. Ho was glad that tho Leader of the Opposition acknowledged that the" Government had done right in shifting the camp at tho earliest possible moment after receiving the first report. Sir Joseph .Ward: Hear, hear! Quite right. Mr. Massey said that he believed that the men who had been shifted from Trentham' were better for the change. They wore certainly very cheerful. Speaking as a layman, he did not think that it was right to keep men in one camp for too long a period. It was only right to shift them occasionally, especially, during bad weather, even if only for a week or two. Although disquieting rumours were being circulated in regard to the cases of sickness in the new camps, the men were _ doing well. It was impossible to get rid of the sickness all at once. . Mr. Russell: The men at Palmerston North arc suffering from measles and not from meningitis. Mr. Massey' said that there wero cases of measles at Palmerston North, but the men were doing well. When he visited Palmerston the other day the sick men were very cheerful. Tho first draft went away singing from the camp as tliey went-to the hospital. "I know," added Mr. Massey, "that the people of tho Dominion have had causa for serious anxiety. Speaking for mysolf I have had a most anxious time,'and so have the other Ministers, especially the Minister of Defence and the Minister of Public Health. I had tlio most anxious timo of my lifo during latter part of' last week and tho beginning of this week. I never want to go through such another time as that through, which I went during, those days. I can only say that I liopo the House wilbtake the assurance of myself and my colleaguo that nothing will be left undone which will promote tho health of r tlio men who aro being trained for important work on the other sido of tho .world.'' . Mortality one per Thousand. Mr. G. W. .Russell said he was glad to learn that there had been no typhus, but ho did not say that lie Was satisfied with tho statement that a new epidemic had arisen as accounting for the deaths of so many young men. Ho thought there had been 28 deaths. Mr. Massey: Twenty r fivo in eleven months. 1 have been making inquiries into this matter, but I am not able to make an official statement to the House. I havo been informed unofficially that since' tlio war commenced, in tho military. camps in; Britain the, deaths li'avo been at tlie rate of 40 to tho thousand. I give you that for what it is worth. I hope it is ligt correct. In New Zealand we ' have passed through 25,000 men, and we have had 25 deaths—one per 1000. i Mr. Russell referred to the ravages of sickness, and said he hoped tho Minister of Defence'.would not be-allowed because of his desire t to prove his own opinion right to hurry, the. men back to Trentham' again. ' . i Mr. Massey: foil are doing the Minister an injustice. There is no intention of rushing the men back to Trentham. . ij Mr. Russell said that more should : bo heard of the other illness, measles, and influenza. 'Mr. Massey said that the honourable gentleman who' had referred with such emphasis to' tho outbreak of measles and influenza appeared to have forgotten' that a Royal Commission had been set up to report on everything pertaining to sickness at tho camp. <■ The Hon. D. Buddo .said he hoped the Government would in future follow the plan-of. never leaving tlie camp long in ono place in future. Panic—Or Care? Dr. Thacker said he had heard with joy that the disease was not as serious as was feared. With regard to oho of tho cases, lie had himself diagnosed tlio sickness as cerebro-spinal meningitis, although ho had not put it forth. Ho; ventured to suggest that simple quarantine was not sufficient.' "There should bo isolation. Every case should bo traced, and put into complete isolation, as if the disease wore smallpox, plague, or. yellow fever, lest the sickness might spread. ■ Dr. Neivman said ho did not think there was any need for scare. Tliero had never been a case of typhus fever in New Zealand, nor was it likely to occur. Cerebro-spinal meningits was by no means an unknown disease, though one of somewhat infrequent occurrence, ahd' unfortunately, it was a somewhat serious disease. Wherever it occurred there was fear of it spreading, though sporadic cases did occur. Tho British Army had suffered by it very considerably, in France and elsewhere in til is war. Ho did not wish to givo the impression that the diseaso was' not serious, but there was no need to get into a scare about it. He thought the stop taken by tho Government in dividing the camp a wiso one. His recent reading of current medical literature, led liini to believe that tho diseaso if taken in time is not so often fatal now as it used to be. 'Hie treatment now approved and found efficacious was by anti-toxin, but the anti-toxin was liot always' absolutely effective. Tliero would bo deaths, but there should bo very few of thorn. Another method of treatment was by keeping tho men in hospitals which wero very much open to the air. This was hoing done at Home, where special hospitals had been built and equipped for the purpose.' A Series of Questions, Mr. T, M. {Wiifortl adid ho would nsk

aeceleratcd tho position. Was it truo that only two deaths occurred prior to June 6, 1915? Did the medical profession and public provide sufficient money for a hospital and equipment as early as February 15? . If there had been a hospital there, would it have prevented tlio spread of the epidemic? Was it true as stated by the Mayor of Christchurch that the Minister said he would not build the hospital because 'lie did not think it was necessary? The Hon. R. H. Rhodes said that all the questions put by tile member for Hut-t would 1 be answered by the .Royal Commission. They were sub judice, and ho would not further refer to them. Deferring to the report he agreed that the report was a short one, and a fuller report Mould bo prepared. The authorities were fully alive to the fact that cerebro-spinal meningitis was highly infectious, and all cases were isolated, also all contacts. Ho thought tho removal of the troops from Trentham. would go a- long way towards checking the spread of the 'disease. He had given instructions that in serious casos parents not present would' be notified every day. Mr, Allen Replies. The Hon. J. Allen said he wished to remind honourable members that a case such as this ougat not to bo used to make political capital. There had been .in all 25' deaths—seven from' troubles' which were certainly not pneumonia, measles, or cerebro-spinal meningitis. Of tlio eighteen others, four occurring in July were probably from cerebrospinal meningitis. Although the matter was ono demanding attention it was not one for grave alarm. His own opinion was that the percentage of deaths in New Zealaud camps would compare very favourably with, the rates in other parts of tho Empire.- He could not say that tho deaths of these, men wero caused by neglect._ The disease was ono that did not begin do novo, but went from man to mail. He did not think the base hospital if built would have prevented the spread of the disease. He would like to clear up the prevalent misunderstanding about the hospital at Trentham. The medical profession and: the" people of Wellington had subscribed £1700 for tho building of a hospital, but had not conio to him with their proposals at once. As soon as the matter was brought before him plans we're prepared at once and a contract let without delay for a hospital to cost £2800. There had been absolutely no delay caused by the Defence authorities or tho Defence Minister. It was not a fact, as had been alleged, that ho had told the Mayor of Christchurch that he would not build a hospital at 1 Trentham because he did not think it was needed. He did toll the Mayor of Christchurch that he would not build a big base hospital, which held 400 beds, at Trentham because it was not necessary. He thought then as ho thought now that there, was no reason for expenditure on such 'a big hospital, as a small hospital would meet ordinary requirements. One reason why it was desirablo that a hospital should be built was'that it would give accommodation for nurses, who would assist in the training of the Ambulance Corps. , _ Mr. Wilford:; Why didn't you do it in February? ; Mr. Allen said that the contract had been let in May, and it should have been completed on Juno 27. The contractor was late, and lie had been given a fortnight's notice,, at tho end of which term if it was still unfinished the Government would take it over and -finish it at. the contractor's expense. Mr. Wilford ;■ You got the money in February-. Mr. Allen: I beg the honourable gentleman's pardon. I didn't get the money in February, or any time near February. I shall be very pleased to lay tho papers on the table or to make a statement to tho House about it, and then I hope the member for Hutt will bo completely satisfied.