NOTES ON CONTAGIOUS OPHTHALMIA. 



By Gilbert E. Bkooke. 1 



The subject of contagious ophthalmia is one of considerable im- 

 portance in many parts of the world, for, not only is the factor of 

 contagion high, but the condition is one which often causes much personal 

 discomfort, suffering or disfigurement, and entails much expense and 

 loss to employers of native labor. 



During several years' work as port health officer in Singapore, I had 

 been frequently struck with the number of "sore eyes" which were met 

 with among Chinese coolie immigrants, and had noticed the alarming 

 rapidity with which conjunctivitis spreads among the contract coolies 

 confined in depots ashore. 



A visit to Hongkong, Amoy, and Swatow, in 1907, still further 

 directed my attention to the subject of trachoma, and on seeing the 

 stringent regulations framed by the -United States to prevent the 

 introduction of the disease into their territory I began to wonder what 

 amount of trachoma was prevalent in the East and whether any standard 

 of diagnosis was adapted. 



Toward the end of 1908 I examined several sore eyes among incoming 

 coolies who had no trachoma, but smear examinations showed several 

 cases of infection by a Gram-negative organism, one by a diplo-bacillus, 

 and one by a Gram-positive organism. 



The subject seemed one of considerable interest, and I therefore had 

 removed to the quarantine station (for diagnosis and treatment) every 

 case of conjunctivitis found on board Chinese coolie ships during the 

 whole of the year 1909, and also made notes of cases occurring among 

 the Malay lascars of the marine department. 



Some of the cases were examined in my own office laboratory and 

 others by my resident medical officer at the quarantine station, Doctor 

 Ealtray, who has kindly put his notes at my disposal. 



The immigrants for the year numbered over 340,000 and the Malay 



1 Read at the first biennial meeting of the Far Eastern Association of Tropical 

 Medicine, held at Manila, March 10, 1910. 



■ Port health officer, Singapore; delegate from the Straits Settlements, Sin- 

 gapore. 



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