MICROCOCCUS INTRACELLULARIS MENINGITIDIS 



541 



Glover, 51 who swabbed the throats of a considerable number of men 

 in overcrowded barrack rooms, in the course of sanitary supervision 

 during which the spacing between beds was among the many pre- 

 cautionary measures taken. It will be seen here that sanitary 

 measures, including the spacing out in sleeping quarters, brought about 

 a very considerable drop in the carrier rate, 'with coincident diminu- 

 tion of cases of meningitis. Meleney and Ray 52 traced fourteen out 



EFFECTS OF "SPACING OUT" ON "SEVERELY OVER CROWDED" 



BARRACK-ROOMS * 



*Glover's Table 



of twenty-four cases which occurred in an American camp to contact 

 with carriers, and found parallelism between the incidence of cases 

 and the rise of the carrier rate. These examples, however, are excep- 

 tional and it is relatively rare that a definite relationship of this 

 kind can be established. It is a fact that carrier rates are high 

 in such camps during the cold months, and in connection with the 

 general spread of respiratory disease, and that, at such times, the 

 incidence of the disease increases, and it is absolutely logical to 

 assume that the new cases arise by contact with the carriers. It is 

 of importance, however, to recognize that the tracing of the case 

 to the individual from whom he has been infected, at times when 

 high carrier rates exist, is not often possible, and comprehension 

 of this must considerably influence the measures instituted for the 

 control of the epidemic. 



It is our belief that the extensive carrier examinations made 

 during epidemics and the wholesale isolation of carriers, were rela- 

 tively ineffective during the war, and that it is far better to bend 

 all one's energies upon a general improvement of the respiratory 



51 Glover, Jour. Hyg., 17, 1918, 367. 



52 Meleney and Kay, Jour. Inf. Dis., 23, 1918, 317. 



