54 "The Philippine Journal of Science 



1913 



The presence of the malady on the Island of Itbayat has an im- 

 portant bearing on the development of the province. Itbayat is 

 far more fertile than any of the other islands of this group, but 

 the inhabitants of Batan and Sabtang will not move to Itbayat 

 for fear of the fever. Of course, the natives think they have 

 the fever every time they have a temperature from any cause 

 whatsoever. It is thought that benign tertian malaria is present. 

 The term paludismo, malaria, is certainly well understood by 

 the natives, and quinine is a drug with which many families 

 are familiar. 



No case was seen suggesting elephantiasis, and the exam- 

 ination of the blood taken at night from 191 adults for the 

 presence of microfilaria resulted negatively. 



Despite the fact that dysentery is not infrequently given 

 by the provincial cirujano administrante as the cause of death 

 of both adults and children, a distinct history of dysentery 

 was very rare. No acute case was seen and only 2 chronic 

 ones; each of these was negative for entamoebse. Occasional 

 diarrhoea is common. The stools of 400 inhabitants of Santo 

 Domingo de Basco composed of 100 adults each, and 100 children 

 each, of both sexes, were studied statistically for evidences 

 of intestinal parasitism. Two thin cover-slip preparations 

 were examined of each case. A carthartic was not administered 

 prior to taking the specimens. 



The specimens were unfavorable for an examination for the 

 presence of protozoan parasites. Only 5 such infections were 

 found; namely, 1 with monads, 2 with entamoebae, and 2 with 

 Balantidium coli. These findings coupled with the rarity of 

 a history of acute or chronic dysentery argue for the infre- 

 quency of entamcebic infections. Two infections with Balanti- 

 dium coli in such a small number of examinations is unusual and 

 far in excess of the average in other statistical studies in the 

 Philippines. These cases were found in adult males, each of 

 whom had visited Manila for a short period. 



Evidence of helminthic infection was readily found in each 

 and every one of the 400 individuals examined. Single infec- 

 tions were present in 46 per cent; double in 42.5 per cent; 

 triple in 11.5 per cent; Ascaris in 92.8 per cent; Trichuris in 

 46.7 per cent; hookworms in 24.5 per cent; Oxyuris in 1 per 

 cent; and Strongyloides in 0.5 per cent. No cestode infections 

 occurred in the 400 persons examined, but one infection with 

 Tsenia saginata was found at Sabtang. 



In over 19,000 persons examined in various parts of Luzon 

 by sundry investigators for evidence of intestinal helminthiasis 



