Sanitation -- Cuba -- Havana; Sanitation -- Panama; Yellow fever -- Cuba -- Havana
it won’t take him long to decide the point. I wanted to come very
much, but I have work here which I feel that I should not neglect.
Else I should have certainly come down. I have been intending to ask
you whether, in dealing with y. f. in Havana, this year, you have
confined your work to simply protecting the sick against bites and
destruction of mosquitoes; and have _omitted_ all disinfection of
bedding and clothing. I sincerely hope that this is true. I shall
probably present, with Carroll, a paper to the next meeting of the
American Public Health Association on the management and prevention
of yellow fever, and I would so like to be able to say that the great
work in Havana was accomplished without the disinfection of any
bedding or clothing. Carroll leaves New York, with Pvt. Springer,
on Ward Line leaving on Wednesday, August 6th. Pardon this lengthy
letter. Please present my kindest regards to Mrs. Gorgas. Keep me
informed of your progress at S. de las Vegas.
Sincerely yours,
REED.
The parasite has not yet been discovered. Dr. Carroll proved by the
experiments which Dr. Reed here refers to that the parasite of yellow
fever is sub-microscopic.
(8)
Havana, Cuba, August 26, 1901.
MY DEAR REED:
Yours of July 29th received. You will see by the last report that
our conditions continue good. So far this month we have had only two
cases belonging to Havana, one of these a Cuban child twelve years
old who had never been out of Havana. Personally, I have not seen a
case since March, belonging to Havana, with which I was perfectly
satisfied as being yellow fever, but I am more confirmed in my
suspicions since we have had the Santiago de las Vegas cases.
You recollect we bit some thirty-four subjects at the time when I
last wrote you without being able to transmit the disease in a single
instance. These mosquitoes we tried to infect on some dozen of these
supposed Havana cases.
We all agreed that the Santiago de las Vegas cases were yellow fever.
While they were not severe, they were well-marked cases of yellow
fever. We bit one man with eleven mosquitoes. He was a well-marked
case, but not dangerously ill at any time. These eleven mosquitoes
have since bitten seven subjects, six of whom have gone down with
yellow fever. Three have recovered and three died. Carroll will no
doubt give you details in these cases, and Guiteras will publish the
matter in detail.
I am very much disappointed. I had hope that through the mosquito
we had a means of giving mild cases which would protect, but these
cases show that the severest form of yellow fever can be transmitted
by one or two mosquito bites.
I suppose I ought to be thankful for the immense good that the
discovery so far has done, and for the great success that our work
this year has had, but the death of these patients, just now, makes
all success taste of gall and wormwood, and casts a gloom over the
Sanitary Department.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account