53 
According to common report, eel worms were extremely prevalent 
among the American soldiers in the Philippines, and Strong has 
reported this parasite as the most common intestinal worm in those 
islands (see p. 66). The almost total absence of Ascaris infections 
among the Philippine men at the Government hospital would seem 
to indicate, in view of these reports,, that eel worm infections are of 
comparatively short longevity and that the infections had been lost 
before the men reached the hospital. 
DISTRIBUTION OF INFECTIONS IN WARDS AND BUILDINGS. 
Both at the national and the Connecticut hospitals there was 
extreme variation in the amount of infection in the different buildings 
and upon the different wards. (Table 2.) 
At St. Elizabeth the frequency ranged from 0 to 46.48 infections 
per 100 patients on the different wards; at Connecticut, from 0 to 75 
infections per 100 patients. At the Government hospital, however, 
where the patients are admitted from such widely separated localities 
and such diverse conditions of life, it is practically impossible to 
eliminate these complicating elements associated with their history 
prior to admission. For example, in the two wards at the national 
hospital which gave the highest rates of infection (46.48 and 44.12 per 
100, respectively), 69 of the 105 men examined were soldiers admitted 
from active service, and 42 of these had recently returned from the 
Philippines. Another ward, situated in the same wing of the same 
building, but on th,e ground floor, showed no infections among the 42 
men examined. Of these latter 42 men, 36 were admitted from the 
Soldiers’ Homes. In each of these cases it seems evident that the 
history of the men prior to admission had more influence in determin- 
ing the amount of parasitism than did their ward life. Because of the 
difficulty in eliminating these complicating elements at St. Elizabeth 
we have confined our study of the distribution of intestinal parasites 
by wards to the Connecticut institution, where the patients represent 
a more uniform history, having been admitted from civilian life and 
from the comparatively similar climatic and social conditions found 
within the bounds of the one State. 
The 1,010 patients examined at the Connecticut hospital were dis- 
tributed among 42 wards in 5 buildings. The distribution of the 
infections with intestinal worms among the 5 buildings was as follows 
in ascending order of frequency : 
Examined. 
Infections. 
Per 100 
persons. 
Building A 
400 
20 
5 00 
Building B 
363 
42 
11 57 
Building C 
171 
2„ 
16 96 
Building D 
75 
46 
61.33 
