TUBERCULOSIS AMONG FILIPINOS. 



321 



The principal complications, both tubercular and nontubercular, are 

 shown in Table XII. The most noticeable feature of this table is the 

 small number and variety of tubercular complications present. The 

 unusual preponderance of phthisis over other forms of tuberculosis has 

 been noted before this in a general way in Manila, but so far as we know, 

 this table gives the first actual statistics of this condition. 



Table XII. — Showing principal complications (total, 914). 



Complications. 



Pleurisj', fibrinous with effusion _ 



Laryngitis 



Pericarditis 



Lymphadenitis 



Cystitis 



Pyelonephritis 



Scoliosis 



Kyphosis 



Asthenia 



Pyaemia 



Cardiac symptoms 



Exophthalmia 



Epilepsy 



Constipation 



Gastric symptoms 



Tuber- 

 cular. 



Nontuber- 

 cular. 



16 

 2 

 1 



15 

 45 



If the facts established in this series of cases may be accepted as an 

 index of a general condition among the Filipino people, our local problem 

 of tuberculosis should receive prompt and serious consideration. At 

 first glance the great prevalence of the disease, together with the peculiar 

 social and economic conditions obtaining among the inhabitants, would 

 seem to produce a problem of such magnitude as to preclude the possi- 

 bility of its solution. However, there is a brighter side to the picture, 

 and it is pur opinion that even without financial aid from outside sources, 

 it is possible in Manila to make the greatest showing in antituberculosis 

 work that the world has ever seen. The reason for this assertion is that 

 we do not need to spend millions of dollars in clothing, housing, and 

 otherwise preparing our patients to withstand the rigors of the winters 

 of the temperate climates. Climate is not by any means as important 

 a factor in the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis as it once was 

 thought to be. What we need most is education, more room in which 

 to breathe, and an abundance of good food and exercise. As to education, 

 teachers are here in sufficient numbers; there certainly is an abundance 

 of land to provide more space ; exercise is free, but the food may need to 

 be supplied until such time as the people are taught to work for it, the 

 best form of exercise. 



We do not require expensive concrete hospitals for the treatment of 

 phthisis in the Tropics. The bamboo hut in which a family in Tondo is 



