Sanitation and War

The Sanitary Commission of the United States Army: a succinct narrative of its works and purpose.

I was admittedly quite fascinated with this title.   It was published in 1864 in New York for the benefit of the United States Sanitary Commission.

In reading the introduction it stated “The commission knew that the average annual death-rate in armies in our former wars had been exceedingly high, and that an army of volunteer forces is most liable to fatal diseases.  In our vast armies of volunteers, the problems of sanitary science were to be wrought out as a national and patriotic work….Can the average sickness-rate be kept at a minimum point? Can the average death-rate from disease be reduced to a fraction of that which was registered in the Mexican war?  This result the commission believed possible.”

This is a fascinating book about the Commission and what they achieved, they are harrowing descriptions such as from page 33 “At the time of which I am now writing (Monday afternoon), wounded men were arriving by every train….They were packed as closely as they could be stowed in the common freight-cars, without beds, without straw, at most with a wisp of hay under their heads.  Many of the lighter cases came on the roof of the cars.  They arrived dead and living together, in the same close box, many with awful wounds festering and swarming with maggots.”  The smell apparently reduced the men that cared for them to vomit.

But it also states on page 229

“The Brigadier-General commanding gratefully recalls to the recollection of the troops of this command, and the debt incurred by them during the recent movements, to the Sanitary Commission and its Agent Mr A. B. Day.  Much suffering has been alleviated and many inconveniencies removed by the energy and promptness with which the supplies of the Commission have been paced at the control of our medical officers…”

This book is well worth a read and can be found at shelfmark F1/DA-I.4/3.

Meet me and my microbes

Wednesday 10th April is when I will be giving my final talk dedicated to the fine collection, the Medical History of British India. Exploring the more gruesome aspect of life in British India, the talk explores the diseases the British attempted to combat and how their medicine moved into the lives of the indigenous population. Come along to the National Library of Scotland on George IV Bridge at 6pm and meet me and my microbes! Book online here. It is a free event.

Save Lives : Clean Your Hands Day 5th May 2012

The World Health Organization (WHO) is dedicating the 5th May to its global campaign to improve hand hygiene in health care, led by WHO to support health-care workers. The WHO's website is packed with tools, resources, reports, case studies and even videos and podcasts to support institutions in eliminating diseases such as diarrhoea and influenza and tackling hospital-aquired infections caused by the bacterium MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). (Image from the WHO website).

Another virus eradicated

A few days ago a joint FAO/OIE announcement astounded me.
Rinderpest, a devastating cattle plague, is set to become the first animal virus to be globally eradicated by man. Although it does not infect humans, the virus can wipe out entire livestock herds in days. This has caused famines for many centuries throughout the world.
I first heard of it when working on the digitisation of the India Papers veterinary material; the first book to be scanned was the Report on the Calcutta epizootic or cattle disease of 1864 in Calcutta and its neighbourhood. In Britain 400,000 cattle perished in the Great Cattle Plague of 1865-67 when rinderpest entered the country from the Baltic.
It is clear from the Indian veterinary reports that rinderpest was a serious threat to the Government cattle farms, established to provide dairy products to the colonial army. However, the mid-nineteenth century witnessed a revolution in health sciences, and veterinary science played a key role. The rinderpest virus was discovered in Turkey in 1902 by Nicolle and Adil-Bey.
The Indian Journal of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry (1931-1959) is a fine example of the extensive bacteriological study of animal diseases. Understanding and preventing rinderpest was begun by scientists long ago; it is amazing to consider that, like smallpox, this virus is no longer at large.

(Picture is a typical plate from the Indian Journal, showing examples of Indian cattle.)
The Medical History of British India web feature will be updated in 2011 with over 35,000 pages of veterinary reports.

Sick of football

With the 2010 World Cup football finals in full swing in South Africa there will be many - unlike myself! - who are already tired of football.
However, with around 350,000 people gathering in South Africa there is potential for being really sick because of football.
Mass Gathering Medicine is concerned with large groups of people exchanging diseases at sporting events, conferences and the Haj, and the World Health Organization has published World Cup advice on their website .
The resurgence of H1N1 A influenza and Rift Valley Fever is a particular worry, together with people not being immunised for the variety of infections which they may encounter. The fans will be exposed to more than the drone of vuvuzela horns and players may be swapping more than shirts. Germs cannot be given the red card, but the authorities can make spectators more aware of the health risks.

Of germs and men

The third edition of Communicable disease epidemiology and control by Roger Webber has just been catalogued in OPU.
The steady progress of avian influenza and now the emergence and spread of A(H1N1) influenza ("swine flu") mean that communicable diseases are not just a concern for the medical fraternity. Disease seems to be in the headlines daily.
If you wish to find out more about disease, epidemics, sanitation and public health, this revised and updated book is a comprehensive guide. Clearly laid out, it features causes and characteristics of diseases along with methods of transmission, and includes the essentials of parasitology and entomology. New threats to health such as pox diseases, arboviruses and hospital infections are covered as well as bioterrorism.
Summary tables of clinical presentations, diagrams and maps, plus an extensive list of diseases make this book useful to health professionals, epidemiologists and the casual reader.