COPING WITH TYPHOID

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 23, 28 January 1915, Page 8

COPING WITH TYPHOID

FURTHER STATISTICS. WHAT INOCULATION HAS DONE. In The Post yesterday appeared an article containing a reply by Colonel J. R. Purdy, Director of Medical Services, to statements as to the danger of inoculating people against typhoid. This morning Colonel Purdy gave a Post representative some further facts culled from the latest English journals. "In the South African war," he said, "we had 57,684 cases of typhoid ; of these 19,454 were invalided and 8022, or 13.9 per cent., died. The deaths from typhoid exceeded the total number of men killed in action. About 93 per cent, of the British garrison in India have been inoculated during the last few years. The death-rate from typhoid, which varied from 300 to 600 annually, was last year only 20. Inoculation was made compulsory in the j American Army in 1911. In 1913 there were only three cases of typhoid and no deaths in an army of 90,000 men. A special Anti-typhoid Committee was appointed by the British Army Council in 1904, to investigate fully on immunisation against typhoid. The report was not completed until 1912. The histories of 19,314 soldiers were taken; of this number 10,378 were inoculated* and 8936 were not» The number of cases amongst the inoculated was 5.39 per thousand, and amongst the non-inocu-lated 30.4 per thousand. After 1909 no further statistics were taken, because by that time the value of inoculation was so evident, not only to the military authorities but to the soldiers I themselves, and increasing numbers presented themselves for inoculation. In some units all the men volunteered to be inoculated. It was found on " reckoning up the value of the inoculation in 1912 that the result worked out — one case of typhoid, fenerally mild, in inoculated men, and .6 cases among non-inoculated men. That is, typhoid fever was about six times as common in the non-inoculated as in the inoculated. It has been proved that the best site for the inoculation is in the breast region, below the centre ( of the collarbone. In nine cases' out of ten the symptoms of inoculation are trivial, and the tenth cases are generally well in from 18 to 48 hours. It has been proved that iodine is not very suitable to use as a preliminary disinfectant of the skin. Spirits of wine is the best and is used at Trentham. The needles used are platinum ones, and the needle is made red hot in tfhe flame of a spirit lamp before each time of using."