364 
MALARIA 
ford reported that parasite and spleen - 
indices were definitely lowered in the towns 
of Anton, La Chorrera, Santiago, Chitre 
and especially in Sona. 
The Republic of El Salvador has under¬ 
taken work of this type also, and during 
the four years from 1935 to 1938 inclusive, 
about 1 per cent of the total budget of the 
Health Department was spent for antima¬ 
laria drainage. This problem was attacked 
in three localities and more than 4000 in¬ 
verts and 25,000 lengths of concrete pipe 
for subsoil drainage were manufactured. 
Until May 1940 the Marianao area near 
Havana was the only control zone under the 
direction of the Malaria Commission of 
Cuba. At that time similar work was begun 
in Bayamo and Santiago in the Province of 
Oriente. The number of linear meters of 
ditches constructed each year in Marianao 
has varied from 1000 to 7000, with an aver¬ 
age annual figure of 5100. Dr Carr says 
that while larvicides were employed as tem¬ 
porary expedients, reliance was placed on 
permanent measures such as drainage and 
filling. 
Gabaldon (1938, 1939a, b) mentions 6 
places in Venezuela where projects for ma¬ 
laria control by drainage are either well ad¬ 
vanced or planned for the immediate 
future. Up to the end of last year each of 
the drainage programs in the cities of Mara- 
cay and Puerto Cabello had cost more than 
$100,000. The per capita cost of malaria 
control in Maracay up to the end of 1939 
amounted to $3.36, and in Puerto Cabello, 
to $5.13. Dr. Gabaldon says that in Puerto 
Cabello the only malaria vector is A. albi- 
manus. The average annual number of 
deaths from malaria in this city in the in¬ 
terval 1926-36 was 66.5; for the interval 
1937-39 after the beginning of drainage for 
malaria control the average was 15. 
Summary 
1. Malaria can be controlled in the Carib¬ 
bean region, but not eradicated, in circum¬ 
scribed areas by measures directed against 
the anopheline vectors. 
2. Wherever possible drainage is recom¬ 
mended, though there are places where 
screening and the temporary use of larvi¬ 
cides are necessary in addition. 
3. Methods found successful in the Pan¬ 
ama Canal Zone have proved effective in 
neighboring countries. 
