OCR Text |
Show TO PROTECT THE ARMY'S HEALTH (ny FRANK W. LECLEnn.) Moro men on tho battlq lfnes of Europe havo been Incapacitated for service by sickness than by wounds DlHoaso has always been tha most dreaded onomy of nrmles. Histories tell of great armloa being almost wiped out by plagues. In moro ro-cont ro-cont years typhus swept through nrmles with terrible destruction un- til medical science discovered the causo and the remedy. During our war with Spain,' lypho!il"and,"dyscri-tory lypho!il"and,"dyscri-tory claimed more victims than the battle field of Cuba and tho Phllp- plnes. i Modorn medical science has abolished abol-ished the great scouragea of smallpox, small-pox, cholera, plaguo, typhoid, typhus, etc., through prevontlYo measures. But In their placo, tuberculosis has become tho great scourage of modern mod-ern warfare. The soldlera, no longor ilvo and fight Jn tho opon. They aro crowdod togethor In wet trenches and bomb-proof dugouts. Tho strain of constant bombardment and Imminent Im-minent attack In time breaks down tho 'totighest constitution. Under such conditions any latent tuberculosis tubercul-osis in tho soldier quickly develops. Slnco this dlsoaso Is communicable, every caso becomo a source of Infcc-tlon'to'othcrs. Infcc-tlon'to'othcrs. V C. ' One significant fact Is that th.5 English soldiers havo sufforod much less from this disease than tho French troops. This probably is be-causo be-causo tuberculosis was less frequent among tho English pcoplo before tho war than among tho Fronch, duo to bettor anti-tuberculosis work in England, Eng-land, and partly becauso'the English army was mobilized more slowly and 'most consumptives woro weeded out by medical examiners. Wo will profit by the blttor experiences ex-periences of Europe. When tho council of national defense wan appointed ap-pointed by the President a division on health was croated. At tho request re-quest of this body, tho national association as-sociation for the study nnd prevention preven-tion of tuberculosis nppolnted n com-mltteo com-mltteo of tuberculosis experts, which has drawn up a plan for tho control of tuberculosis In war time and has submitted this plan to tho government. govern-ment. Tho plan recommended, It Is be-lloved, be-lloved, will protect our boys In khaki from tho ravages of this dread plaguo and at tho samo time provent an Increase In-crease of tuborculosls among tho people peo-ple at homo nnd during the critical period which will follow tho coming of peace. |