PARASITIC DISEASE.

North Otago Times, Volume CV, Issue 13935, 18 July 1917, Page 3

PARASITIC DISEASE.

PECULIAR TO SOLDIERS-RETURN-ING FROM EGYPT. i ~

(Per Cable—ftess Association—Copvrlgl t.) f MELBOURNE, July lli,

Senator Poarcc expresses the anxiety of the medical services concerning' aliew parasitic disease affecting returned soldiers from Egypt. It is known as bilharzia disease, and is usually acquired through battling in affected water. The larvte of a worm penetrates the skinand infects the bladder and adjacent organs.

The authorities are taking the necessary precautions to prevent the acclimatisation of the disease.

[Bilharzia is a disease in man that is comparable with liver fluke in animals. It is caused by the'penetration of a tffcmatodie, or fluke, known scientifically us sehistostouiuni lmmiatobium, the life ' history of which is uncertain. The difficulty in obtaining developmental stages in any of the. numerous intermediate parts that have been tried suggests, according -to Professor Gamble,, of Birmingham University, that the ciliated larva' may develop directly in man and may gain access to liini either by the uso of impure water for drinking or by the perforation of the skin when bathing. Experiments on monkeys -li'ave, ;lid\vaver, 'give\i' negative results. It is of interest to recall that the members of the Main Body and early reinforcements of the New Zealand 'Expeditionary Force, who were stationed for some time in Egypt, were cautioned against bathing in the Nile for fear that tlicv might contract flic, disease through the penetration of their skin by a worm that was believed to be present in the river.]