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Show .MrrirrrrmmiiiinriiiuiiinTfiTtniiiriiTuunriTTrtf iiinitiiiiiiirrtrf aitiinj rifitiiiitJioinirn uuiHiiiiiiiJau jiihi jmiih jm juji Miintinii r tinFtEiiujji j f Health and Beauty - By - f.iiiiiimiinimiiii i i DE. 80PHIA BRTJNSON '""" """" "A MALARIA CONTROL IN WAR 4 AREAS Man scientists tell us that the most stupendous disease problem that confronts mankind today is malaria. "Malaria has plagued the armies arm-ies of the world from earliest times and has lingered in postwar civilian populations, far from its endemic areas. The present war is unique in its world-wide scope. A map of the malarious areas of the world shows that the training areas and the battle fronts of World War II coincide with the endemic areas of malaria. "Early in the war, emphasis was placed on training. Millions of men were moved from non-malarious areas to the malarious rious South. In the South, the peo pie recognize the onset of chill: and fever as malaria, and begii giving twenty grains of quinine i day, in five grain capsules, on every four hours. If the fever doe: not leave in three or four days they realize they are either deal ing with a severe type of malaric or some other disease. If the doc tor has not already been called they lose no time in trying to gel one. This is not always easy in th isolated rural districts of thf South. hTe Army and Navy physicians with a large force of sanitarians engineers and trained scientists worked most effectively within the military camps to prevent and control con-trol malaria. Their precious hoards r P nninitiQ onrl f V z y onfi tvi 3 1 Q yi Q 1 surrounding territory beyond the military reservations, if they were to protect their military men from malaria. permit year-round maneuvers." Migrant workers, lured by large wages, swarmed into defense plants, ship yards, and factories. Many lived in trailers or crowded together in unsanitary quarters. No such mass migration into malaria ma-laria territory had ever occurred without very serious consequences. Whole populations would be sick with malaria. That there were no such outbreaks in this war was doubtless jluc cOtie 'vigordfls and cooperative antimalarial work of the Medical departments of the Army and Navy, in combination with the Federal and State Boards of Health, throughout the country. The U. S. government secured large stock piles of quinine for the use of its armed forces. Then, too, a law was passed prohibiting the use of quinine for any other purpose pur-pose than the prevention and cure of malaria. Thus there was an ample am-ple supply of quinine on hand for the armed forces as well as a supply sup-ply in the drug stores of the mala- drugs were used to treat cases of , the disease. Every effort was put , forth to protect the military forces for-ces within the reservations against malaria, and so prevent its spread. The physicians suspected malaria in all patients, not only with chills and fever, but also in any obscure illness, febrile or non-febrile, in endemic regions. They knew that ' the symptoms varied in different cases, from mild headaches to dia-rrhsa, dia-rrhsa, -deJir.iuma.nd coma. Blood smears and microscopic work were done on all sick cases, for after all, the finding of the parasites in the blood is the surest proof that the patient has malaria. If the parasites are found, the diagnois of malaria is unquestioned, and the use of quinine to clear it up is the best possible remedy. Though the military reservations reserva-tions were made as malaria free as possible, the time soon came when the medical forces realized that they must extend their work of treatment and prevention to |