MEDICAL SURVEY OP THE TOWN OF TAYTAY. 297 



Prison and here 84 per cent of the natives were found to be infected with 

 animal parasites — 59 per cent with Tricliuris, 26 per cent with Ascaris, 

 and 52 per cent witli hoolrw^orms. Of 385 women and children examined 

 in Manila, 89 per cent were foimd infected with Tricliuris, 53 per cent 

 with Ascaris and but 13 per cent with hoolcworms. 



The question has arisen as to what really is the role that these infections 

 play in regard to the public health; In my opinion, reasoning from the 

 examinations that have been made, too much stress has been laid on 

 the action which the intestinal worms exert in Luzon in relation to the 

 health of the people. There is probably no evidence which shows that 

 moderate infections with whipworms and roundworms exercise a delete- 

 rious effect on the health of the individual. The cases of hookworm in- 

 fection which we have observed in these Islands have been as a rule mild 

 ones, and this parasite is not as important a factor in Luzon in the produc- 

 tion of disease as it is in Porto Eico, Egypt, Japan and several other 

 countries in which the individuals infected frequently exhibit a grave 

 anaemia. In the early days of American occupation of the Islands, when 

 our American troops were frequently encamped in the field near swampy 

 districts, severe cases of uncinariasis with advanced anaemia were occa- 

 sionally, though rarely, observed among them. Such cases axe now almost 

 unheard of among our troops. In Taytay, and in by far the great 

 majority of the cases of infection found in Luzon, the individuals infected 

 exhibited no visible anaemia or other symptoms of disease. Indeed, in the 

 Taytay examinations, while in none of the cases infected with hookworms 

 did the haemoglobin register 100 per cent, nevertheless in the hookworm 

 eases the hgemoglobin estimations were somewhat higher on the whole, than 

 those in individuals which showed no infection with hookworms. No case 

 in Taytay gave a reading above 95 per cent. It may be stated in general 

 that in the natives of Taytay the hasmoglobin, as determined by the 

 Tallquist test, registered over 80 per cent in only about 60 per cent of the 

 inhabitants. The natives therefore generally show a reduction in the 

 amount of haemoglobin, below that amount usually observed in healthy 

 individuals in temperate climates. 



About 1 per cent of the inhabitants were found to be infected with 

 tuberculosis ; no focus of this disease was discovered, the cases being dis- 

 tributed evenly throughout the tovm. Pulmonary tuberculosis was the 

 common form. No case of relapsing fever was discovered; indeed, no 

 authentic report of infection with the recurrent spirochaetse has yet been 

 made in the Philippine Islands. About 1 per cent of the inhabitants 

 were found to be suffering from goitre. It is interesting to note the very 

 small amount of venereal disease which was observed in the town. On 

 the other hand, yaws was found to be fairly prevalent, 1 per cent of the 

 children being infected. An interesting custom among the natures is 

 the artificial production of sores and ulcers for the purpose of producing 



