A similar "experiment," of the utmost importance, was made in 1900 by
Professor Grassi. It concerned the workmen and their families along
the Battipaglia-Reggio railway, 104 in all, including 33 children. The
great majority of them had suffered from malaria in the preceding
year; and only 11, including 4 children, had never suffered from it.
Pending the arrival of the malarial season, quinine was given to all
who needed it. The first _Anopheles_ with its salivary glands infected
was found on 14th June. Twelve days later came a case of malaria
outside the "zone of experiment," in a person who had never had
malaria before. The twelve days correspond to the incubation-period
after infection. _Anopheles_ having come, and the malarial season with
him, the experiment was begun. The houses were carefully protected
with wire netting, chimneys and all; the _siesta_ was taken under wire
netting; the workmen, if they were out in the evening or at night,
wore veils and gloves; and _Anopheles_ was to be killed wherever he
was found. Quinine was altogether given up and forbidden, except for
three workmen who had escaped or evaded its use before June, and had,
indeed, never before been treated with quinine; one of them, moreover,
had been sleeping outside the zone of experiment in July. Except these
three, all the 104 and their doctors remained absolutely free from
malaria up to 16th September, the date of Professor Grassi's report:--
"Rightly to estimate the value of these facts, it is necessary
briefly to describe the surroundings of the protected area.
Towards the north, coming from Battipaglia, three railway
cottages are situated, at a distance of 1, 2, and 3 kilometres
respectively. The 25 inhabitants of these cottages, although
they were put under the tonic and quinine treatment in the
non-malarial season, all without exception were taken ill with
malarial fevers, in many cases obstinate."
Experiments of voluntary exposure to bite from an infected mosquito
were made at or about this time, in London, New York, Italy, and
India. The London "consignment" of mosquitoes had been allowed to bite
a malaria-patient in Rome. The experiment had to be very carefully
planned:--
"To have sent mosquitoes infected with malignant tertian
parasites might have endangered the life of the subject of the
experiment; and quartan-infected insects might have conferred a
type of disease which, though not endangering life, is extremely
difficult to eradicate. The cases, therefore, on which the
experimental insects were fed had to be examples of pure benign
tertian--a type of case not readily met with in Rome during the
height of the malarial season; the absolute purity of the
infection could be ascertained only by repeated and careful
microscopic examination of the blood of the patient." (_British
Medical Journal_, 29th September 1900.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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