BABBOTT 

 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



In the short time available, it has been possible to touch upon 

 only afewfeatures which characterize the behavior of human disease 

 in the Arctic. In briefest summary, let me recapitulate: 



1) Few human pathogens found in arctic populations are localized 

 to this geographic region, although some parasites may have a 

 restricted distribution coinciding with that of their intermediate 

 hosts. 



2) The variety of infectious agents is more limited than in tropi- 

 cal or temperate climates, 



3) With respect to spread, short chain person-to-perscn trans- 

 mission appears at this time more important thandissemination by 

 vector or vehicle. 



4) The age distribution of cases and the clinical response of a 

 particular ethnic group to a given disease can usually be explained 

 on the basis of bast exposure. 



5) Under conditions of normal arctic living, there is little evi- 

 dence that low environmental temperatures directly affect either 

 agent virulence or specific host responses. Rather, in arctic popu- 

 lations cold is primarily important because of its indirect effect on 

 the way people live. 



I donotbelievethereis such an entity as "arctic medicine", if by 

 that we mean a unique set of pathologic conditions restricted to this 

 geographic region. However, the ecology of the Far North is ':'is- 

 tinctive, and may alter the epidemiology of certain diseases. If an 

 illness is to be effectively prevented or controlled, it is important 

 that we understand not only its laboratory and clinical character- 

 istics, but also its behavior in populations. 



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