6 MOSQUITO ERADICATION 



MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY OF MALARIA 



Sir Ronald Ross, discoverer of the transmission of malaria 

 by the mosquito, says: 



"Malarial fever is perhaps the most important of human diseases, 

 and, though it is not often directly fatal, its wide prevalence in almost all 

 warm climates produces in the aggregate an enormous amount of sick- 

 ness and mortality." 



"Malaria," says Leathers, 1 "is the most prevalent disease in all 

 semi-tropical and tropical countries. It is the most frequent cause of 

 sickness and death in those parts of the world that are most densely 

 populated. It is also the most prevalent disease in the United States, 

 and at least two-thirds of the cases found in this country occur in the 

 Southern States. 



''Malaria is one of the greatest scourges inflicted upon humanity. 

 It's a menace to any people or country in which it has a decided inci- 

 dence. In the number of deaths caused either directly or indirectly 

 the sickness and suffering, the loss of time and efficiency, the expense, 

 the lowered vitality of those afflicted and in the reduction of the valua- 

 tion of property, malaria is without a rival among the diseases afflicting 

 mankind. 



"A careful investigation shows that about 15,000 people die directly 

 from malaria each year in the United States. This does not take into 

 consideration the indirect effects of the disease and the consequent 

 mortality assigned to other causes, which, in reality, malaria is respon- 

 sible for in large measure. In addition to the mortality accruing from 

 malaria, there are from 1,500,000 to 3,000,000 people in the United 

 States sick from this disease annually." 



Carter 2 estimates the annual morbidity from malaria in the 

 United States at 6,000,000 to 7,000,000. 



Rose 3 estimates that in India malaria causes on the average 

 each year about 1,130,000 deaths and more than 100,000,000 

 cases of illness. 



Hoffman 4 gives the mortality from malaria in certain other 

 countries during designated periods as follows: 



1 The Importance of Malaria from a Public Health and Economic Stand- 

 point, Southern Medical Journal, August, 1918. 



2 "The Malaria Problem of the South," U. S. Public Health Service, 1919. 



3 Field Experiments in Malaria Control, Journal, American Medical 

 Association, Nov. 8, 1919. 



4 "A Plea and A Plan for The Eradication of Malaria," Prudential 

 Insurance Company of America, 1917. 



