OUR AR^IY A'ERSUS A BACILLUS 



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population of the United States. In this 

 country the Bacillus Typhosus was at- 

 tacking a half million people every year, 

 and 35,000 to 40,000 died of the disease. 

 The utmost endeavors of the health de- 

 partments were inadequate to eradicate it. 

 The Surgeon General now called for 

 the report of Captain Russell, who had 

 spent three months in Europe, by order 

 of the Secretary of War, studying the 

 method of immunization used by Sir 

 Almoth Wright. It set forth with scien- 

 tific accuracy the details of typhoid vac- 

 cination as practiced abroad, and stated 

 that although the measure had not met 

 with universal favor it had been reason- 

 ably successful, and recommended its 

 adoption experimentally in our army 

 among those who would volunteer. 



TYPHOID VACCIXATION INTRODUCED IN 

 THE U. S. ARMY 



After some discussion, the board unan- 

 imously recommended the adoption of 

 anti-typhoid vaccination in the army as 

 a voluntary measure. Backed by the 

 recommendation of these distinguished 

 gentlemen and the authority of the Sec- 

 retary of W^ar, the Surgeon General took 

 immediate steps to start experimental 

 vaccination and placed Captain (now 

 Major) Russell in charge of the work. 



Within a couple of months he had de- 

 veloped an improved technique, so that 

 the reactions which had been somewhat 

 severe before were now quite mild. All 

 the medical officers, their families, many 

 commanding officers, and the Hospital 

 Corps immediately submitted to this pro- 

 cedure, in order to set a good example, 

 and the volunteers came forward from 

 the regular army in such goodly numbers 

 as to reflect credit upon the service. 



During 1909 and 19 10 about 18,000 

 men were vaccinated. The results were 

 so good that upon the mobilization of the 

 troops on the Texas border in 191 1 the 

 Secretary of War ordered the compul- 

 sory vaccination of all the troops in the 

 field — the first time in the history of anti- 

 typhoid vaccination that it had been made 

 compulsory ; the first test on a large scale 

 of this method of individual protection 

 against the disease which had been the 



terror of our army camps. The details 

 of this crucial test are imperative to a 

 proper comprehension of the immense 

 value of anti-typhoid vaccination as a 

 prevention against the disease. In an 

 article entitled ''The Sanitary Record of 

 the Maneuver Division," Col. J. R. Kean, 

 in charge of the Sanitary and Statistical 

 Division of the Surgeon General's office,, 

 states as. folio ws: 



"The immense advance in camp sani- 

 tation, and particularly the value of this 

 protective measure, -can. be estimated by 

 -comparing the typhoid incidence- of this 

 camp with that of the 2d Division, 7th 

 Army Corps, which was organized at 

 Jacksonville, Florida,- about June i, tSgSy 

 and remained there in camp until Octo- 

 ber, some of the regiments leaving ^iii 

 September. This division was not con- 

 spicuously-unfortunate in its typhoid- rec- 

 ord for that time and is selected because 

 of the close similarity of its conditions 

 of service to those of the Maneuver Dir 

 vision. The two divisions were encamped 

 in nearly the same latitude and for about 

 the same time; each had a good camp 

 site and an artesian water supply of un- 

 impeachable purity. While the period in 

 camp of the 2d Division, 7th Army Corps, 

 was later in the year, the number of men 

 involved is larger for the Maneuver Di- 

 vision. 



SOME VERY REMARKABEE ElGURES 



The following table shows the typhoid 

 incidence in the two camps : 



Mortality and morbidity from typhoid fever 

 in the 2d Division, 7th Army Corps, at Jack- 

 sonville, Florida (June-October, 1898) : 



Mean strength 10,759 



Cases of typhoid, certain and probable.. 2,693 



Deaths from typhoid 258 



Deaths from all diseases 281 



Compare these figures with those for the 

 Maneuver Division, San Antonio, Texas,, 

 March 10 to July 11, 191 1: 



Mean strength 12,801 



Cases of typhoid, certain and probable.. i 



Deaths from typhoid o 



Deaths from all diseases 1 1 



''This is the more remarkable when it 

 is stated that the average typhoid rate at 

 the army posts in the United States dur- 

 ing the same period was 34 per 1,000; 



