South Carolina, Edward Weather walks of New Jersey, and Clyde L. West of Indiana. 30[1]
The first inoculation by mosquito bite which produced yellow fever was that of Kissinger, who was bitten on 5 December, and fell sick on the night of the 8th. "As he had been in our camp 15 days before being inoculated," Reed exultantly wrote his wife, "and had no other possible exposure, the case is as clear as the sun at noonday, and sustains brilliantly and conclusively our conclusions." 31[2] Between the 10th and the 15th, the proof was strengthened by the development of three more cases, after which there were no cases for 10 days, due to a cessation of inoculations— a hiatus which demonstrated that the four cases in 1 week did not mean that the camp itself was infected. " 32[3]
While continuing his experiments with mosquito bites, Dr. Reed was carrying on a rigorous test of the theory that infected clothing and bedding was the transmitting agent of the fever — a theory unquestioningly accepted by the medical profession and acted upon in framing and enforcing quarantine regulations. The very name given to these infected articles, supposed to be capable of passing on the flame of infection— "fomites," a word derived from the Latin term for "tinder" — indicates how seriously they were regarded as a means of spreading the flames of the fever. The fomites theory, as Reed remarked, was "not disputed by anyone." 33[4] To establish the mosquito-infection theory was not enough so long as the theory of infection by fomites was left undisturbed.
Testing the "Fomites" Theory
Consequently, on 30 November the testing of the infective power of fomites was begun in the "Infected Clothing Building"— a tight little structure, proofed against the entrance of mosquitoes, with a minimum of ventilation, and heated
- ↑ 30 The names of the "Participants of Yellow Fever Investigations in Cuba" appear annually in a special "Role of Honor" in the Army Register, in compliance with an Act of Congress approved by President Calvin Coolidge on 28 February 1929. In addition to those who took part in the first series of experiments, the Roll of Honor includes those who volunteered in 1901 to undergo injection of blood from infected persons, as follows: Assistant Surgeon Roger P. Ames of Louisiana, John R. Bullard of Massachusetts, Albert Coyington of North Carolina, Wallace W. Forbes of Illinois, and Paul B. Hammann of Illinois (born in Germany). In special category was Gustaf E. Lambert, male nurse, born in Sweden, who cared for the fomites in the infected clothing experiment. Not to be forgotten also are the five Spanish volunteers, who stayed to the end of the first series of experiments, four of whom developed yellow fever — Jacinto Mendez Alvarado, Antonio Benigno. Micanor Fernandez, Jose Martinez, and Vicente Presedo; and two others who participated in the 1901 experiments — Pablo Ruiz Castillo and Manuel Gutteriez Moran.
- ↑ 31 Kelly, op. cit., pp. 140-142.
- ↑ 32 Reed et al., Journal of the American Medical Association, 36 (1901), p. 435.
- ↑ 33 Baltimore Address, p. 202.
