CHOLERA 201 



It will be recalled that both the morbidity and mortality from 

 typhoid fever in our concentration camps at the time of the Spanish 

 War were perfectly appalling. In a body of 10,759 men there were 

 thus 1729 cases of certain typhoid, and in addition 964 cases of 

 probable typhoid (2693 in all), with 248 deaths. Translated into 

 percentages this means that of the entire body of soldiers 25 per cent, 

 were taken ill with fever, which either was definitely recognized or 

 suspected as being typhoid, with a death rate of 9.2 per cent. All 

 these men were non- vaccinated. Compare with this the fact that 

 among the 12,801 men who were concentrated in 1911 at the maneuver 

 camp at San Antonio, all of whom had been vaccinated either before 

 their arrival or as soon thereafter as possible, there developed but 

 a single very mild case, a private who had not completed his im- 

 munization, thus giving a percentage of 0.008! During the same 

 period there were reported in the city of San Antonio forty-nine cases 

 and nineteen deaths. 



On the basis of these findings it would appear that with modern 

 sanitary methods, coupled with vaccination in the case of those who 

 are likely to be exposed to infection, typhoid fever should ere long 

 become as rare in our hospitals as are smallpox and cholera at the 

 present tune. 



Antityphoid Vaccination for Curative Purposes. Since the introduc- 

 tion of antityphoid vaccination for prophylactic purposes various 

 attempts have been made to influence the course of the malady also 

 by such measures. Some writers indeed express themselves quite 

 favorably on this point, but it will no doubt require a great deal of 

 investigation before we can come to any definite conclusions. It 

 should be remembered that we have no indicator to tell us how much 

 to inject and when to inject, and aside from the actual course of the 

 malady, which varies so greatly in different cases, we have no way of 

 knowing whether we are producing an effect at all, let alone whether 

 this is beneficial or otherwise. Whether or not Wright's opsonic 

 index might yet serve some purpose in the study of such cases the 

 future will have to show. 



CHOLERA. 



Prophylactic vaccination against Asiatic cholera was first attempted 

 in 1885 by Ferron, during an epidemic occurring in Spain. As in- 



