Page:The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology-ItsFirstCentury.djvu/162

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
144
ARMED FORCES INSTITUTE OF PATHOLOGY

Figure 47.—Maj. Frederick Fuller Russell (extreme right) vaccinating volunteers against typhoid.

in which he included "modern health regulations" as well as vaccination against typhoid."[1]

In his Annual Report for 1913, Surgeon General George H. Torney expressed the astonishment of a veteran Army medical officer. "It seems more than marvelous," he wrote, "that among the number of men in the camps at Texas City and Galveston, and among those in the numerous camps along the Mexican border, constantly exposed to infection, not a single case has occurred."

On 30 September 1911, vaccination for typhoid was made compulsory for the entire Army, and by the end of 1911, 85 percent of all personnel had received the protection (fig. 48). The reduction in the incidence of the disease which followed was dramatic. In 1909, with fewer than 1,000 men vaccinated, there had been 3.35 cases of typhoid per thousand. In 1910, with 15 percent of the strength vaccinated, there had been 2.43 cases per thousand. In 1911, with 85 percent vaccinated by the end of the year, there were 0.08 cases per thousand. In 1912, the rate was 0.03 per thousand, and in 1913, 0.004 cases per thousand. In the Navy, where vaccination did not become compulsory until 1912, there were 361 cases of typhoid in 1911; 92 cases in 1912; and 33 in 1913.[2]

  1. President Taft and the Medical Profession. Journal of the American Medical Association 56: 1399-1404, 13 May 1911.
  2. (1) Siler, J. F., and others: Immunization to Typhoid Fever: Results obtained in the Prevention of Typhoid Fever in the United States Army, United States Navy, and Civilian Conservation Corps, by the